BA in Political Science with Emphasis in Pre-Law
Degree Program Description
Political science is concerned with government, politics and public policies. In political science students learn how government operates and how to analyze and evaluate public policies and political ideas. This training can help students be more effective as active citizens, as political leaders and as government administrators. The curriculum offers opportunities to link academic study with internships and study abroad. Political Science graduates pursue many careers, some related to politics, but many others pursue other paths in a wide variety of areas such as: law, business and finance, consulting, government, public relations, media, advertising, lobbying, and international relations. The political science emphasis in pre-law is recommended for those who may want to enter law school or to prepare for paralegal careers. It is designed to introduce students to the study of law and judicial process and also provides a general orientation for law school. This program is ideal for those seeking careers in intelligence or law enforcement.
Students pursuing the Pre-law emphasis are strongly encouraged to take courses that will challenge them in the areas of critical thinking, critical reading, and writing skills. Writing Intensive courses are especially recommended.
Major Program Requirements
In addition to University, general education, and College of Arts and Science requirements, students must also meet the following major program requirements. All major requirements in the College of Arts and Science must be completed with grades of C- or higher unless otherwise indicated.
| All majors must take: | ||
| American Government | ||
| Introduction to Political Research - Writing Intensive | ||
or POL_SC 2500 | The Science of Politics | |
| Comparative Government (at least one course required) | ||
| Canadian Politics and Government | ||
| Comparative Political Systems | ||
| Politics and the Military | ||
| European Democracies | ||
| The Politics of Sport | ||
| Latin American Politics | ||
| Latin American Politics through Film | ||
| European Political Systems | ||
| The Politics of Modern Europe | ||
| African Politics | ||
| Middle East Politics | ||
| Canada in North America | ||
| Policies and Institutions of the European Union | ||
| Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy | ||
| Korean Politics: North and South Korea | ||
| Understanding Korea Through Film | ||
| America's Wars in Asia/War and Peace in Asia | ||
| Terrorism: Religious, Ethnic and Ideological Politics | ||
| Politics of Development | ||
| Women and Politics | ||
| Comparative Political Culture | ||
| Power and Money | ||
| Comparative Political Parties | ||
| Comparative Political Behavior | ||
| Dictatorship and Democracy | ||
| The Age of Democratization? | ||
| International Affairs (at least one course required) | ||
| International Relations | ||
or POL_SC 1400H | International Relations - Honors | |
| Globalization, Identity and Citizenship | ||
or POL_SC 2293W | Globalization, Identity and Citizenship - Writing Intensive | |
| The Politics of International Law | ||
| Nation Building through a Barrel of a Gun | ||
| "Chasing Ghost", The History of Irregular Warfare | ||
| Theories of International Relations | ||
| Politics and War | ||
| Genocide, Terrorism and Civil War | ||
| Strategy and Warfare | ||
| Politics of Cyber-Security | ||
| Peacekeeping and Intervention | ||
| Politics of International Economic Relations | ||
| Global Human Rights | ||
| Nationalism and Democracy | ||
| International Organization | ||
| The European Union in the Global System | ||
| American Foreign Policies | ||
or POL_SC 4540W | American Foreign Policies - Writing Intensive | |
| Environmental Conflict | ||
| Political Theory/Methodology (one course highly recommended, but not required) | ||
| Liberty, Justice and the Common Good | ||
| Introductory Statistics for Political Science | ||
| Computing Methods | ||
| Classical Political Theory | ||
| Modern Political Theory | ||
| Contemporary Political Theory | ||
| Developing Dynamics of Democracy | ||
| Scots and the Making of America | ||
or POL_SC 4850H | Scots and the Making of America - Honors | |
| The Politics of Dissent | ||
| Contemporary Political Analysis | ||
| Beltway History and Politics: American Constitutional Democracy in Theory and Practice | ||
| American Politics/Public Policy (at least two courses required) | ||
| Introduction to Black Politics | ||
| State Government | ||
| How Government Affects You | ||
| The Judicial Process | ||
| Missouri Politics | ||
or POL_SC 2250H | Missouri Politics - Honors | |
| Race and the American Story | ||
| The Intellectual World of the American Founders | ||
or POL_SC 2450H | The Intellectual World of the American Founders - Honors | |
| Constitutional Debates | ||
or POL_SC 2455H | Constitutional Debates - Honors | |
| American Political Thought | ||
| Political Parties and Election Campaigns | ||
| Political Behavior | ||
| Politics and the Media | ||
or POL_SC 4120W | Politics and the Media - Writing Intensive | |
| African-American Politics | ||
| Race and Politics | ||
| Race, Immigration, and Urban Politics | ||
| Congress and Legislative Policy | ||
| The History of American Legislatures | ||
| The American Presidency | ||
or POL_SC 4150W | The American Presidency - Writing Intensive | |
| Interest Groups | ||
or POL_SC 4160W | Interest Groups - Writing Intensive | |
| Politics of the American South | ||
| Politics and Hollywood | ||
or POL_SC 4180W | Politics and Hollywood - Writing Intensive | |
| Elections and Democracy in the United States | ||
| The American Constitution | ||
or POL_SC 4200W | The American Constitution - Writing Intensive | |
| Constitutional Rights | ||
or POL_SC 4210W | Constitutional Rights - Writing Intensive | |
| The United States Supreme Court | ||
or POL_SC 4220W | The United States Supreme Court - Writing Intensive | |
| Constitution and Civil Liberties | ||
| Constitutional Litigation | ||
| Comparative State Politics | ||
| Public Policy | ||
or POL_SC 4320W | Public Policy - Writing Intensive | |
| Policy Analysis | ||
| Issues in Public Policy | ||
| Law, Policy, and Regulation | ||
| Politics of Criminal Justice | ||
| United States Health Politics and Policy | ||
| Democracy in America (and Elsewhere) | ||
| Public Policy Analysis | ||
| Pre-Law Emphasis: Minimum of 12 credit hours must be from the following list of courses | ||
| Participatory Democracy * | ||
| The Judicial Process | ||
| The Politics of International Law | ||
| American Constitutional Democracy | ||
| Constitutional Debates | ||
or POL_SC 2455H | Constitutional Debates - Honors | |
| Truman School Internship ^ | ||
| The American Constitution | ||
or POL_SC 4200W | The American Constitution - Writing Intensive | |
| Constitutional Rights | ||
or POL_SC 4210W | Constitutional Rights - Writing Intensive | |
| The United States Supreme Court | ||
or POL_SC 4220W | The United States Supreme Court - Writing Intensive | |
| Constitution and Civil Liberties | ||
| Constitutional Litigation | ||
| Law, Policy, and Regulation | ||
| Politics of Criminal Justice | ||
| Political Science Internship ^ | ||
- *
Requires participation in Mock Trial or Moot Court.
- ^
With a requirement that it be at the Prosecutor's office, the public defender, or a law firm.
Experiential Learning and Internships
The Political Science Department offers POL_SC 1900 credit for participation in Mizzou Mock Trial and/or Mizzou Moot Court through the Office of Participatory Democracy. Participation in Mizzou Mock Trial or Mizzou Moot Court is defined as two semesters of active participation, as confirmed by the Director of the Office of Participatory Democracy. Participation in Mizzou Mock Trial and/or Mizzou Moot Court through the Office of Participatory Democracy will be considered as fulfilling a maximum of three of the 12 required hours for the Pre-Law Emphasis Area. Students must still have 30 hours of Political Science coursework to fulfill the major requirements. Students will not be allowed to earn credit for POL_SC 4985 or POL_SC 4986 for Mock Trial or Moot Court participation.
A maximum of 3 credit hours of experiential and/or internship credit may be counted toward the Pre-Law Emphasis and the major in general.
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| POL_SC 1100 (Missouri State Law Requirement) | 3 | POL_SC, 1000+ level | 3 |
| ENGLSH 1000 | 3 | Behavioral Science from Arts & Science | 3 |
| Behavioral Science | 3 | Humanities, Arts & Science Diversity Requirement | 3 |
| Social Science | 3 | Math and Quantitative Reasoning | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| POL_SC, Pre-law emphasis 1000+ level | 3 | POL_SC 3000W | 3 |
| First Writing Intensive | 3 | Biological, Physical, or Mathematical Science | 3 |
| Humanities | 3 | Second Language Requirement | 4 |
| Second Language Requirement | 4 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| Social Science from Arts & Science, 2000+ level | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| POL_SC, Pre-law emphasis 4000+ level | 3 | POL_SC, Pre-law emphasis 4000+ level | 3 |
| Biological or Physical Science lab | 3 | Biological, Physical, or Mathematical Science | 3 |
| Social Science, 2000+ level | 3 | Humanities | 3 |
| Second Language Requirement | 4 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective, 3000+ level | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective, 3000+ level | 3 | ||
| 13 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| POL_SC, Pre-law emphasis 4000+ level | 3 | POL_SC, 4000+ level | 3 |
| POL_SC, 4000+ level | 3 | POL_SC, 1000+ level | 3 |
| Humanities, 2000+ level | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective, 3000+ level | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective, 3000+ level | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective, 3000+ level | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 120 | |||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
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If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573)884-9700 or through MU Connect Discovery Center service in you success network.
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If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring the major.
- If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center. No Appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit:
- the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog,
- the MU Majors website.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.