Political Science - Associate of Arts Degree

 

Major/Program Requirements

Career and Academic Pathways

Required Courses:

POLIT 100 or POLIT 100H	American Politics	3.00
POLIT 110	Introduction to Political Theory	3.00
	AND
MATH 110 or MATH 110H	Introduction to Probability and Statistics	4.00
	OR
PSYCH 120	Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences	4.00

Students must complete at least three (3) units from the following list:

POLIT 102	California Politics and Culture	3.00
POLIT 104	Introduction to Comparative Politics	3.00
POLIT 106	Introduction to World Politics	3.00

Students must complete at least six (6) additional units from the following list:

HIST 100 or HIST 100H	History of the United States to 1877	3.00
HIST 101 or HIST 101H	History of the United States 1865 to Present	3.00
HIST 170 or HIST 170H	World Civilizations (3500BCE - 1500CE)	3.00
HIST 171 or HIST 171H	World Civilizations (1500CE to the Present)	3.00

Students must complete at least three (3) additional units from the following list:

ECON 100	Introduction to Economics	3.00
ECON 200 or ECON 200H	Principles of Macroeconomics	3.00
ECON 201 or ECON 201H	Principles of Microeconomics	3.00

Recommended Courses

It is recommended that students complete their general education requirements in physical and biological sciences and mathematics by taking the following courses:

ANTHRO 106 or ANTHRO 106H	Biological Anthropology	3.00
ANTHRO 116	Biological Anthropology Laboratory	1.00
GEOG 110 or GEOG 110H	Physical Geography	3.00
GEOG 111 or GEOG 111H	Physical Geography Laboratory	1.00

Total Credit Hours: 22.00

Lower division requirements for students interested in transferring to a four-year institution in this field may differ from associate degree requirements. Prospective transfer students should complete the general education and lower division requirements of the school to which they will be transferring. See a counselor for details. Information is also available at www.assist.org.

A student receiving a degree in this field will be able to:

• Define "politics" and its influence on individuals within society and society as a whole, demonstrating awareness of the context or opportunities for individual or group participation and efficacy in politics.
• Recognize, describe and analyze the significant and usually direct influence of social, economic and cultural factors on political behavior and beliefs.
• Define and distinguish between human rights, civil liberties and civil rights.
• Identify and employ the pertinent vocabulary of political discourse and political science.
• Recognize, describe and analyze liberal democracy in comparison to non-democratic forms of government.
• Recognize and distinguish between the various forms of democracy, as well as between different types of non-democratic governments, movements and ideologies.
• Identify and describe the major political institutions found in both the United States and other nations in the world.