Political science and sub-fields such as public administration, international relations, and law, offer students a wide range of avenues to fulfill an interest in public affairs. Study focuses on institutions and processes by which people govern themselves or are governed and on methods of resolving issues from local to international levels. MTSU combines classroom learning with practical training through fieldwork, internships, student organizations, and intercollegiate academic teams.
Students benefit from special advanced studies courses, with recent topics like Sustainable Development in Cities, India on the Eve of Independence, and American Politics in the Information Age. Guest speakers have included Jackie Sims, founder/director of “Beloved Community” Sustainability Project; Dr. Charles Lamb, constitutional law/civil rights expert; and Joseph Ingle, prison reform activist.
To say recent Middle Tennessee State University spring graduate Dalton Slatton “fit the bill” during his legislative internship would be somewhat of an understatement. Slatton, 21, of Whitwell, Tennessee, interned during the most recent session of the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville, Tennessee, for state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, the Senate Democratic leader. Before graduating with a degree in political science (pre-law concentration) and a minor in criminal justice, Slatton finished up his paid internship, obtained through MTSU’s legislative intern program, knowing that he had successfully crafted and lobbied for a bill that passed both houses of the General Assembly — a feat veteran Capitol staffers told him may very well have been a first for an intern. Read about it here.
Programs in Political Science and International Relations offer preparation to students for a wide range of careers in government, law, public service, public affairs, international affairs, non-governmental organizations, and education. The programs also help prepare students for more advanced degrees in the area. Students of political science also use their skills in the private sector, especially in the areas of international business, trade, and labor. Following are examples:
Undergraduates can pursue a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Political Science with a general focus, with a concentration in Pre-Law or Public Policy and Management, or with Teacher Licensure; or a Bachelor of Science (B.S) degree or a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in International Relations.
For complete curriculum details, click on the REQUIREMENTS tab above.
A new Master of Arts (M.A.) in International Affairs is now offered, with a concentration in either Security and Peace Studies or Development and Globalization.
Minors are available in Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy and Management, Paralegal Studies, and Political and Civic Engagement. The department also coordinates interdisciplinary minors in Urban Studies, Russian Studies, and African Studies.
Students who want to teach government in high school should minor in Secondary Education; complete 12 hours of history (may include General Studies requirements); minor in History (highly recommended), Economics, or Geography; and take 33 hours in political science.
Students with teacher licensure in History, Geography, and Economics may also seek an add-on endorsement in government.
The Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) College of Education’s teacher licensure preparation programs are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and are eligible for accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Political Science with teacher licensure programs at MTSU are designed to meet the licensure requirements set by the Tennessee Department of Education. Students should be aware that licensure requirements vary from state to state and are subject to change. MTSU has not made a determination whether a specific program will meet all of the requirements of another US state or territory. MTSU recommends that students who plan to seek licensure outside the state of Tennessee contact the appropriate licensing agency and discuss their plans with their advisor. To obtain current information about each state’s and territory’s licensure requirements and any additional regulations, students should consult the US Department of Education’s website for state contacts at https://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/state/index.html.
Graduates of MTSU teacher education programs certified to teach in Tennessee are eligible for certification reciprocity in many states. Reciprocity is not an automatic or complete transfer of certification, thus individuals should consult the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) site at https://www.tn.gov/education/licensing.html and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) site at https://www.nasdtec.net/page/Interstate as well as the US Department of Education state contacts site for information about any additional state requirements.
Our adjunct faculty bring outstanding professional experience to our programs. Many are industry leaders with decorated careers and honors. Importantly, they are innovative educators who offer hands-on learning to our students to prepare them to enter and thrive in a dynamic, and oftentimes emerging, industry and professional world. They inspire, instruct, and challenge our students toward academic and professional success.
Constitutional principles, functions, and administration of American federal government; Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court. A General Education Social/Behavioral Sciences course.
Meets part of the General Education Social/Behavioral Sciences requirement. Comparative theories and institutions of government. Law, constitutions, power, political socialization, ideologies, and the media.
Study and analysis of significant political thinkers and political ideas. Covers the three historical periods of political thought: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Representative thinkers and ideas from each period used to illustrate important insights differentiated in a variety of historical circumstances. Among the major theorists covered are Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Burke, Mill, Marx, Voegelin, and Rawls.
To be taken as early as possible by Political Science and International Relations majors. Provides practical information for majors on career planning and development, including potential careers in law, graduate school and research, government, policy analysis, political campaign management, lobbying, and non-profit management.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Politics and administration at the state and local level. Legislative, judicial, and administrative structures and processes; major issues and problems.
For students interested in developing trial advocacy skills; practical course offering preparation for mock trial competition. May be repeated for up to four hours credit. Pass/Fail.
(Same as SPAN 2105, SOC 2105, ART 2105, ANTH 2105, GEOG 2105.) A multidisciplinary, team-taught introduction to Latin America. Covers the cultures and societies of the region: pre-history, history, geography, politics, art, languages, and literatures. Required course for all Latin American Studies minors.
Students conduct research of legal controversies, prepare briefs, and argue cases before a mock judicial panel. May be repeated for up to four hours credit. Pass/Fail.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of department chair. For students interested in developing skills as mediators and advocates in mediation settings. Practical application of theories, methods, and ethical components of mediation. Participation in intercollegiate mediation competition. May be repeated for up to four hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
For students interested in developing skills in negotiation and conflict resolution involving international issues. A practical application of negotiating skills, policy process, and understanding of international conflicts and problems through participation in intercollegiate MUN/crisis simulation competition. Course may be repeated for up to 4 hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
Students work through content and activities on legislative procedures designed to prepare them to participate in the annual Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL). May be repeated for up to 4 hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A general introduction to American law and the American legal system; focus on the case system.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or PS 1010. Fundamentals of quantitative methods in empirical research problems in the social sciences.
Analysis of the legal treatment of women in the home, school, and workplace. Examines development of law, relationship of law to political movements, and current state of law and legal theory on women's rights and gender equality.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A comprehensive analysis of the presidency; includes origins of the presidency, political power, the nature of the institutionalized presidency, campaigns and elections, and a careful look at selected presidents.
Prerequisite: PS 1005. An analysis of the United States Congress; its origins, political power, the nature of the institutionalized Congress, campaigns, and elections.
Analysis of political ideas as expressed in motion pictures. Topics include leadership, political biographies, campaigns and elections, ideology, and war.
A study and analysis of the intersection of politics and literature. Uses imaginative fiction to analyze central aspects of political theory, (e.g., human nature, community, power, constitutionalism, justice, equality, liberty).
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Examines the politics of humanitarianism in domestic and society. Considers state-centered humanitarianism as well as the efforts of NGOs and IOs. Participants will lead a peer education program sponsored by the American Red Cross.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Examines the public policy-making process in the United States, the stages of policy development and the problems inherent in policymaking. At least one substantive policy area examined in depth; examples: health care, environmental, welfare, agricultural, poverty, or budgetary policies.
Assesses the institutional impact--past and present--of the civil rights movement on American political institutions (the presidency, Congress, the courts, the executive cabinets, the administrative regulatory agencies, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights). Events and topics include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 1991 Civil Rights Act, voter dilution, felony disenfranchisement and sentencing disparities, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, disability rights, gender discrimination, and majority-minority congressional districts.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The state system and national power, balance of power, balance of terror, game theory, psychological aspects of international conflict, decision making, diplomacy and negotiation, war, disarmament, and collective security.
Prerequisites: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Seminar covering the theoretical literature, methodological debates, and current issues in the field of comparative politics. Offers preparation for upper-division courses in comparative politics.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Fundamentals of public management--organization theory, leadership, policy making, planning, budgeting, personnel, administrative law, bureaucratic behavior.
Examines the two major ideologies in contemporary American politics. Designed to illustrate how liberalism and conservatism provide the ideological context in which American politics conducted. Focuses on how public policy, law, political culture, and public discourse shaped by liberal and conservative ideas provide the theoretical foundation and the philosophical assumptions for political action.
The nature of public opinion and its role in the political and social process. How opinion is shaped, created, and measured.
Prerequisite: PS 1005. The nature of democracy, politics, and political parties; party organization and role in government; campaigning; primaries, conventions, general elections; the Electoral College; voting behavior and pressure groups.
Examines development challenges of the Global South, their origins, the role of globalization in perpetuating them, and the continuing efforts-both domestic and international-being made to resolve them.
An analysis of applied politics; how to plan and manage a modern political campaign. Readings, discussions, and hands-on projects; students will learn the strategies, tactics, and varied techniques of political campaigning.
Examines role of interest groups in American politics and the policymaking process, including the role of lobbyists, money, and politics, and case studies of several specific interest groups.
Addresses the relationship between courts, policy, and society through the lens of different actors and state institutions. Utilizes legal, policy, and sociolegal scholarship that touches on issues such as bureaucracy, criminal justice, education, environmental regulation, injury litigation, and more.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Analysis of theories of judicial decision making as well as the establishment of judicial review itself, followed by case studies of major Supreme Court decisions in federalism. Issues covered include commerce, contracts, police, and war powers as well as restrictions placed on state governments after the ratification of the Civil War Amendments. Offered fall only.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. The Supreme Court as a policy-making body in the governmental system. Focuses on case studies of major Supreme Court decisions dealing with civil liberties. Issues covered include racial and gender discrimination, freedom of speech and religion, as well as rights of the criminally accused and the right to privacy. Offered spring only.
Powers, functions, and politics of municipal governments from the standpoint of city management. Attention is given to problems related to the execution of municipal policy. Offered infrequently.
The unique history, content, and form of African American political participation; examines the nature of consequences of African American influence within, or exclusion from, the workings of various American political institutions; the nature and types of issues that influence contemporary discussions in American and African American politics related to the socioeconomic conditions of African Americans. Students who have taken PS 4390 - Special Topics in Political Science (Black Politics in America) may not take PS 3420 for credit.
Survey of a variety of primarily black thinkers who examine important topics related to race, equality, slavery, black nationalism, integration, affirmative action, and racial harmony. Thinkers include Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, William Du Bois, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and President Obama.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Explores the politics of policymaking. Examines the factors influencing public policies and why countries have different policies, how domestic factors shape these policies, and how international factors influence these policies. Looks at the role of institutions, interests, and ideas in policymaking.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Analysis of the legal and social nature of government budgets emphasizing the procedures and administrative methods of fiscal control. Budget documents at state and local levels. Offered infrequently.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Overview of the structure and functions of welfare states in the rich, industrialized democracies (primarily European); covers key arguments and debates about the emergence and contemporary fate of these welfare states. Emphasizes drawing ideas from the experiences of other countries to inform policy solutions to problems we confront in the US.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of the department chair. Theory, methods, and ethical components of alternative dispute resolution (ADR); emphasis on various forms of mediation, but including other ADR formats such as arbitration, negotiation, and summary jury trial.
General principles of modern international law taught by the case study method in a seminar format encouraging debate and discussion. Issues concerning the development of international law and human rights will be studied.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A specialized composition course for the student planning to attend law school or paralegal school or to become a legal secretary. Practice in legal research, documentation, and a variety of legal problems.
Focus on theories of democratic participation, the role and impact of participation in a democracy, and practical approaches to building and working through organizations advocating for candidates or particular policies or working with the government in crafting and implementing public policies.
Prerequisite: PS 1005. Comprehensive introduction to U.S. environmental policy. Explores federal environmental policy, focusing on the legislation of the 1960s and 1970s, critiques of command and control regulation, the effects of conservatism on environmental policymaking, and the turns to state-level governance, market-based solutions, and collaborative governance.
Focuses on environmental harms unequally distributed across both U.S. and global populations--low income communities, communities of color, and women suffer disproportionately from environmental harms. Explores a range of conceptual approaches to environmental justice and case studies, including Hurricane Katrina.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Supervised study in a foreign country; familiarizes students with foreign cultures and political systems. Three to six hour classes may be repeated once if country of destination varies. No more than 6 hours may count toward a political science major. Pass/Fail.
Development and prospects of the United Nations Organization and its major approaches to peace--pacific settlement, collective security, international law, arms control, trusteeship, preventive diplomacy, international conferences, functionalism. Offered infrequently.
Special topics in the areas of law, courts, and society. Subject matter varies by instructor and semester. Course may be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
(Same as GS 4030.) Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Fosters critical thinking about human rights by developing skills in weighing powerful but opposing arguments in complex moral situations. Familiarizes students with the role of both national and international organizations in global politics.
Prerequisites: Senior standing, competitive selection, PS 2440, or by permission of instructor. Familiarizes pre-law students with general law office procedures and an active law environment.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Examines political violence, including assassination, terror, repression, and genocide, in comparative and international perspectives. Theoretical and case study approaches used to examine forms, goals of, tactics, and responses to political violence.
Prerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Structure, functions, and processes of Tennessee's governmental and political institutions. Policy issues studied.
(Same as GS 4000). Human trafficking examined globally in regards to issues of recruiting, transporting/transferring, and harboring/receiving persons through force for the purpose of exploitation. Laws and preventative measures also examined. Students research trafficking issues in global contexts and engage in Experiential Learning activities by volunteering in service projects with registered and certified local non-profit organizations, whose missions are to combat human trafficking locally and globally.
Comparative study of selected African political systems with different colonial traditions in the process of rapid change; trends, issues and common themes in African politics. The ideology and politics of development, political system forms and processes, development efforts, and the challenges of state and nation-building.
Comparative study of political institutions, political processes, political dynamics, and behavior in the Middle East and North Africa. Emphasizes historical, socio-cultural, and ideological forces that have shaped politics in the region, including Zionism, Islamism, Arab nationalism, colonialism, and the Palestinian Conflict.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Independent readings in a particular area under the supervision of a faculty member. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding the causes of interstate war, intrastate war, and transnational terrorism as well as the social consequences of and policy responses to international conflict.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Experiencing contemporary international politics through the medium of simulation. Particular focus areas include the U.S., F.S.U., People's Republic of China, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southern Africa.
Prerequisite: PS 1005, PS 1010, or PHIL 1030. Western political theory from the ancient Greeks through the medieval Christians. Includes Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, stoicism, skepticism, Lucretius, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More.
Foreign policies in the nuclear age from Kennan and Containment to the present with particular emphasis on contemporary problems and policies.
Explores the relationships between women and contemporary public policy in in the Global North and Global South. Topics include how public policy is made and women's political roles in the making of public policy, as well as women's administrative roles in the implementation of public policy. Focuses on theories of representation, whether women have identifiable policy interests, the diversity of women's policy interests, how those interests expressed, and whether women's policy interests differ from men's (e.g., the gender gap in voting and public opinion).
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, PS 1005, and a 2.50 minimum GPA. Students work for a political campaign, a non-profit or NGO, or an interest group as a volunteer under the joint administration of the organization and the department. Only six hours may count toward a political science major and three hours toward a political science minor. Arrangement for this course must be made in advance.
Students work for a political campaign, a political party, a lobbying firm, or an interest group engaged in politics, or otherwise engage in political activism. Only six hours may count toward a political science major or a political science minor. Arrangements for this course must be made in advance.
(Same as GS 4275.) Key topics and issues surrounding the political environment and competing pressures that international non-governmental organizations and domestic non-profits confront. Formal readings paired with discussions from practitioners in the field and hands-on professional exercises.
A cooperative program with the Washington Center that provides for student service with a governmental office in Washington, D.C., on a full-time basis during the fall or spring semester. On-the-job training will be supplemented with lectures and other activities. Students selected on a competitive basis. Only six hours count toward a Political Science major or minor.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and 2.50 minimum GPA. Student assigned to a public service agency as an employee under the joint administration of the agency and the department. May be repeated for up to 12 hours of credit, but only six hours of internship credit may count toward a Political Science major or minor. Arrangement for this course must be made in advance.
Adopts a public policy perspective on the process of planning and implementation of the EU policies and focuses on how EU policies work in practice on the ground, mechanisms of policy-making and implementation, and effects on national public policymaking systems, public administrations and bureaucracies, and on citizens.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Comparative analysis of the governmental forms and practices of China, Japan, India, and other governments in the region.
Content structured into two sections: domestic and global. The first section examines the origin, development, and future prospects of China's economy and politics. The second section focuses on China's global impact by analyzing the nature, extent, and implications of China's power on the world stage. Students will assess China's global impact along four major dimensions-economic, political, security, and cultural.
A cooperative program with the State of Tennessee that provides for student service with the legislature on a full-time basis during the spring semester. Students selected on a competitive basis. Only six hours may count toward a Political Science major or minor.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or PS 1005 or permission of the instructor. An in-depth study of a special topic significant in contemporary political developments or political science literature. May be taken more than once, as topics change, with up to six credit hours applied to a Political Science major.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The relation between politics and economics in international affairs and its implications for global peace, security, ecology, and social welfare.
Prerequisite: PS 1005. Covers climate policy at the international, national, state, and city scales; public opinion on climate change; relationship between partisanship and climate change; climate justice; geoengineering; and climate activism.
Covers how laws and policies create and reinforce identity groups during the creation, implementation, and interpretation of laws and policies, including how government institutions have defined rights and responded to individuals on the basis of their identities.
Prerequisite: PS 1005, PS 3250, or permission of instructor. Procedural aspects, substantive issues, judicial review of the type of law concerned with the powers and procedures of government agencies and the rights of citizens affected by them.
Introduces students to the fundamentals of environmental law. Covers the development of U.S. environmental law, critical environmental cases in U.S. case law, litigation over major federal environmental laws, the basics of international environmental law, and case studies of environmental law.
Prerequisite: PS 3250 or permission of instructor. Human resources administration in government agencies. Patterns of position classification, compensation, recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, promotion, discipline, separation, collective bargaining.
Examines framework within which to understand Middle East international relations. Includes Arab/Israeli conflict; oil and Middle East international relations; political Islam; the war on terror; and United States, European, Chinese, and Russian policies in the Middle East.
Prerequisite: PS 1005, PS 1010, PHIL 1030, or permission of instructor. Major thinkers and movements in American political thought from colonial times to the twentieth century with special emphasis on the thoughts of the framers of the American Constitution and their contemporaries.
The formation and evolution of the Russian state from the pre-Communist to the Soviet (Communist) and post-Soviet stages of its development. Special attention given to the historical origins and the role of authoritarianism in the Russian political culture and to the ideological foundations, formation, evolution, and the reasons for decline of the Communist system.
Prerequisites: PS 1005 and 12 additional hours of upper-division political science courses. A reading and discussion seminar designed to integrate knowledge of the subfields of political science through critical reflection on politics, law, ideology, and culture from both a domestic and global perspective.
Prerequisites: PS 1010, PS 3001, PS 3210, and PS 3220 as well as 6 hours electives in the major. A reading and discussion seminar focused on the subfields of international relations and comparative politics, the practical application of theories, preparation for professional work or graduate study following graduation, and assessment of student learning outcomes for the program.
Special topic in the area of American politics. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Special topics in the area of public policy and management. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Advanced study in the area of comparative politics. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Prerequisites: PS 1010 and PS 3210. Advanced study in the area of international relations. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Advanced study in the area of political theory. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Emphasis on the comparative analysis of structures, functions, and aspects of Latin American political cultures and systems.
Prerequisite: PS 1010, PS 1005, or PHIL 1030 or permission of instructor. Western political theory from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Includes Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, J.S. Mill, Marx and Engels, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, facism, existentialism, Strauss, Arendt, and contemporary thought.
Prerequisite: PS 1005, PS 1010, or PHIL 1030 or permission of instructor. Aims to foster critical thinking about contemporary political philosophy by introducing students to four main approaches: Aristotelianism, Utilitarianism, Contractarian Liberalism, and Marxism. Familiarizes students with certain philosophical arguments about important issues in both national and global politics such as multiculturism, justice, democracy, and freedom.
Supervised planning and carrying out applied social research project defined in partnership with a local civic group, nonprofit agency, or public department. Students may work individually or in groups or up to six. A final report is presented to the community partner at the end of the course. Projects must be approved prior to enrollment by the department's student research committee.
Students pursue their own topics and fields of concentration under the supervision of a political science faculty member. Working with the faculty member, the student will design and conduct independent research, with the final paper presented at a conference or a public forum on campus.
This program is available fully online.
Contact your department / program coordinator or advisor for more details about the program OR work one-on-one with your advisor to explore your options.
With over 25 years of experience in online teaching and learning, MTSU Online offers students access to innovative, high-quality programs. Designed with students in mind, our courses allow maximum flexibility for those unable to participate in person.
Resources and services for online students are available from MTSU Online or contact us at distance@mtsu.edu.
