Undergraduate Political Science

Political science students at Baylor learn about American political history and institutions, study the development of our constitutional law from the founding era to the latest Supreme Court decision, master the techniques of rigorous political analysis, examine the causes and effects of political change around the world, and survey the writings of great philosophers (such as Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Locke).

Political Science is one of the most comprehensive and versatile majors in the undergraduate curriculum. Our students bring diverse methods to bear on understanding the political world, from historical and philosophical analysis to statistical analysis. Students who want to understand politics, become effective citizens, and make a difference, study political science.

Our majors and minors have gone on to become lawyers, journalists, politicians, lobbyists, diplomats, political analysts and teachers. We place students in top law schools around the country, in top graduate programs such as Yale and Princeton. We offer a well-rounded education in all the major subfields in political science, numerous opportunities for hands-on political experience, and exciting study abroad programs.

We offer courses in all the major sub-fields of the discipline: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, public administration, political theory, public policy, and public law. Students are required to take courses from at least three of these areas, and our graduates are well prepared across the political science discipline.

This preparation results not only from the breadth of our course offerings, but also from our determination to maintain our class sizes at a level that encourages you to get to know your professors on an individual basis. Aside from our course on American constitutional development, which is required of almost all Baylor undergraduates, our classes generally run from fewer than twenty students to about twice that.

Our majors are active in a variety of organizations, such as Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honorary society, and Sigma Iota Rho, the honor society in international studies. Our students participate in many prestigious organizations, including Model United Nations and Model Organizations of American States. For those interested in pre-law preparation, the department offers a new pre-law track for majors in political science, as well as a course that prepares students for participating in Moot Court competition.

Baylor offers students a wide range of opportunities for studying abroad. Programs with special relevance to political science include "Baylor in Oxford" and "Baylor in Great Britain." You may explore the full range of programs at the website for the Center for International Education.

Our Public Service Internship Program places students in governmental and other public organizations, our Washington Internship Program provides academic credit for a summer internship in our nation's capital, and our Bullock Scholars Program allows students to spend an entire semester interning in the Texas Legislature. "Law, Justice, and Community" places undergraduates as interns working in local law offices.

Dr. Jerold L. Waltman, the R.W. Morrison Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science highlights the many career directions a student could take with a degree in political science and describes areas of study within the program. Political Science (MP3 11:28)