Curriculum

The political science curriculum at Duke is divided into four fields:

American Politics (A)

The American politics area includes all facets of the American political system: elections, parties, the presidency, the legislatures, the courts, the media, the bureaucracy, state and local government, public administration, and interest groups. American politics courses also consider the effects of different institutional arrangements and decision rules.

Comparative Politics (B)

The comparative politics area includes general comparative analysis of political systems, comparative topics such as women in politics, revolution, militarism, and political development, and the study of politics in specific areas: Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, Japan, China, and Canada.

Political Theory (C-E, C-N)

The political theory area includes political philosophy and its history, contemporary political ideologies, democratic theory, political ethics and evaluation.

International Relations (D)

The international politics area covers interaction, cooperation, and conflict among nations. It includes theories of international relations, great power politics, foreign policy, defense and national security, international law and organizations and international political economy.

In addition, there are several courses in methodology that deal with research methods and techniques for data gathering and analysis.

Within each area there are four categories of courses:

The 90-level courses are open without any prerequisite to all students. They are intended to provide an overview of the different fields of the discipline without assuming previous knowledge on the part of the student.
The 100-level courses focus on specific topics. Some previous knowledge may be required. Therefore, students should usually take at least one of the introductory courses before enrolling in 100-level courses.
The 200-level A, B, C, and D courses are senior seminars. They provide an opportunity for intensive analysis of specific issues and problems in political science. Students should enroll in these seminars only after taking at least one 100-level course in the relevant field.
The 200-299 level classes are senior-graduate courses. These courses vary in scope and content. Some are intended to accommodate the academic needs of graduate students in political science and, therefore, require extensive previous preparation. These classes may be open only to seniors or not at all to undergraduates. To guide students, explicit prerequisites as well as permission of the instructor may be stipulated.