Undergraduate Programs
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Colorado State University’s Bachelor of Art’s degree in political science covers a breadth of the political science discipline, teaching students to think critically and solve complex problems, while preparing students for a wide variety of careers both nationally and internationally. Check out our undergraduate program brochure here!
Concentrations
Effective Spring 2025, we offer six areas of concentration, offering opportunities for a broad degree or one with a more focused area of politics and policy. CSU's political science students can choose a broad Political Science B.A. or a focused degree in Environmental Politics and Policy; Global Politics and Policy; Law, Politics, and Government; Power, Justice, and Democracy; or Public Policy and Service.
Political Science
Gain a broad understanding of government, politics, and public affairs.
About the Concentration
The Political Science Major provides students with broad training across the five subfields of the discipline: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and public policy and administration. The Political Science major, like all studies in the Liberal Arts, equips students with knowledge and skills applicable across a broad spectrum of employment in the public and private sectors. Political Science majors are trained to be independent and critical thinkers; to be discerning and active observers and listeners; to communicate persuasively; to constructively engage and solve intellectual and practical problems; to adapt and function effectively in a number of distinct occupational and institutional settings; and to function comfortably in a multiethnic, multiracial, and globalizing society. Political Science students are strongly encouraged to complete an internship and/or study abroad.
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52-54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college, and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
- Introductory Courses (12 Credits)
- POLS 101 American Government and Politics
- POLS 103 State and Local Government
- POLS 232 International Relations
- POLS 241 Comparative Politics
- Upper-Division Courses (21 credits)
- Students must take at least one course in each sub-field:
- 1) American politics
- 2) comparative politics
- 3) international relations
- 4) political theory
- 5) public policy and administration
- Students may apply up to 3 credits for POLS 486 Political Science Internship toward the major requirements.
- Students must take at least one course in each sub-field:
- Capstone Seminar (3 credits)
- Special topics courses that allow students to apply their political science knowledge to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue.
- Support Option
- Political Science majors are required to add a second major or minor in another field to complement their political science training with additional skills and knowledge.
Environmental Politics and Policy
Analyze the connections between politics and the natural world.
About the Concentration
The Department’s Environmental Politics and Policy concentration is designed to help students develop the knowledge and skills to analyze the connections between politics and the natural world and pursue careers in environmental politics and policy-making. The Political Science Department at Colorado State University is one of the few political science departments in the world with a particular specialization in environmental politics and policy. More than half of our faculty and graduate students actively teach and conduct research in this area. Graduates may work as policy analysts, advocates, planners, educators or decision-makers in government agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses and consulting firms at the local, state, national and international levels. Students will learn about how political forces contribute to environmental degradation, the process for developing environmental policies, strategies to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different policy approaches, and how political forces can be harnessed to develop effective responses to problems such as climate change, water and air pollution, food security, and energy provision. Students will explore these issues from both domestic and global perspectives. Environmental Politics and Policy students are strongly encouraged to complete an internship to gain practical experience working in the field.
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – Environmental Politics and Policy Concentration include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52 - 54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college, and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
- Introductory courses (12 credits)
- POLS 101 American Government and Politics
- POLS 103 State and Local Government
- POLS 232 International Relations
- POLS 241 Comparative Politics
- Upper-division course in general political science (9 credits)
- Students must take one course in political theory as well as one course in two additional sub-fields (American politics, comparative politics, and international relations).
- Upper-division courses in environmental politics and policy (12 credits)
- Students may choose from political science courses focused on environmental politics and policy. Students may substitute 3 credits with a related course in History, Sociology or Agricultural and Resource Economics. Students may apply up to 3 credits for POLS 486 Political Science Internship toward the major requirements.
- Capstone Seminar (3 credits)
- Special topics courses that allow students to apply their political science knowledge to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue. The department offers at least one capstone seminar focused on environmental politics and policy each year.
- Support Option
- Second major in
- Interdisciplinary minor in Environmental Affairs
- Interdisciplinary minor in Global Environmental Sustainability
Global Politics and Policy
Focus on the political relationships between and within countries.
About the Concentration
The Department’s Global Politics and Policy concentration is designed to help students develop the knowledge and skills to analyze political relationships between and within countries and to pursue careers in international affairs (such as working for government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, international businesses, consulting firms or non-profit organizations in the US and abroad). Students will learn about different systems of government, state-society relations in various parts of the world, the ways that public and private actors interact through international institutions and the global economy, as well as the causes of and responses to domestic and international conflict. Global Politics and Policy students are strongly encouraged to study a second language and to complete some of their coursework in one of CSU’s many education abroad programs.
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – Global Politics and Policy Concentration include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses, as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52 - 54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
- Introductory courses (12 credits)
- POLS 101 American Government and Politics
- POLS 103 State and Local Government
- POLS 232 International Relations
- POLS 241 Comparative Politics
- Upper-division courses in general political science (9 credits)
- Students must take one course in each of the following sub-fields: 1) political theory, 2) American politics, and 3) public policy and administration.
- Upper-division courses in global politics and policy (12 credits)
- Students may choose from political science courses in the international relations and comparative politics sub-fields (students must take at least one course in each sub-field). Students may apply up to 3 credits for POLS 486 Political Science Internship toward the major requirements.
- Capstone Seminar (3 credits)
- Special topics courses that allow students to apply their political science knowledge to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue. The department typically offers two capstone seminars focused on global politics and policy each year.
- Support Option
- Political Science majors are required to add a second major or minor in another field to complement their political science training with additional skills and knowledge. These are some suggestions that may be of particular interest to students in the Global Politics and Policy concentration:
- Second major in International Studies
- Second major or minor in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
- Interdisciplinary minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- Interdisciplinary minor in Arabic Studies
- Interdisciplinary minor in Global Environmental Sustainability
- Interdisciplinary minor in International Development
- Interdisciplinary minor in Italian Studies
- Interdisciplinary minor in Linguistics and Culture
- Interdisciplinary minor in Russian Studies
US Government, Law, and Public Policy
Study the political processes and the legal environment of all levels of the American government
About the Concentration
The Department’s Law, Politics, and Government concentration is designed to give students the knowledge and skills to analyze the connections between public law, political science, and government, and pursue careers in government or the legal profession. Learn about campaigns and elections, public opinion and voting behavior, American political institutions, American constitutional law, and how political forces contribute to public law in the United States.
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – Law, Politics, and Government Concentration include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52-54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college, and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
- Introductory courses (12 credits)
- POLS 101 American Government and Politics
- POLS 103 State and Local Government
- POLS 232 International Relations
- POLS 241 Comparative Politics
- Upper-division courses in general political science (9 credits)
- Students must take one course in each of the following sub-fields:
- 1) political theory
- 2) comparative politics
- 3) international relations.
- Students must take one course in each of the following sub-fields:
- Upper-division courses in US government, law and public policy (12 credits)
- Students may choose from political science courses in the American politics and public policy and administration sub-fields (students must take at least one course in each sub-field). Students may apply up to 3 credits for POLS 486 Political Science Internship toward the major requirements.
- Capstone Seminar (3 credits)
- Special topics courses that allow students to apply their political science knowledge to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue. The department typically offers two capstone seminars focused on U.S. government, law, and public policy each year.
- Support Option
Political Science majors are required to add a second major or minor in another field to complement their political science training with additional skills and knowledge. These are some suggestions that may be of particular interest to students in the Law, Politics, and Government concentration:
- Second major or minor in History
- Second major or minor in Sociology
- Second major or minor in Economics
- Interdisciplinary minor in Legal Studies
About the Concentration
The Department’s Power, Justice, and Democracy concentration gives students the knowledge and skills to analyze the connections between power, authority, and democratic processes. Designed to help students pursue careers in the non-profit sector, legal profession, and political activism
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – Power, Justice, and Democracy Concentration include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52 - 54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college, and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
Public Policy and Service
About the Concentration
The Department’s Public Policy and Service concentration gives students the knowledge and skills to analyze the connections between politics, public policy, public administration, and public service. Designed to help students pursue careers in the public sector and non-profit sectors, domestically and internationally.
Requirements
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – Public Policy and Service Concentration include a minimum of 36 credits of political science courses as well as a support option such as a second major or minor. An additional 52 - 54 credits are required to meet college-wide and university-wide distribution requirements. Many of the department, college, and university requirements can be met in a number of ways, thereby affording students the opportunity to shape their own programs of study. Further unrestricted choice of courses is provided in the free electives that students take in meeting the minimum total of 120 credits required for the B.A. degree.
For a detailed description of university, college and departmental requirements as well as course descriptions, please consult the current Colorado State University catalog.
Capstone Seminars
Learn more about our special topics courses that allow students to apply their political science knowledge to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue. The department offers at least one capstone seminar focused on environmental politics and policy each year.
Capstone Seminars
Fall 2024 Capstones
Politics and Culture of the 1960s
POLS 492-001, Prof. Bradley Macdonald
At a time when the controversial decade of the 1960s is being widely reexamined, this seminar will illuminate fundamental experiences, sensibilities, and themes associated with this volatile and influential epoch. In particular, we will explore the nature and impact of such topics as the growth of affluence; the political struggles for African American equality and liberation; the Vietnam War; student radicalism; the counterculture; rock music; and, the incipient movements associated with women’s liberation, the New Right, and the ecology. Students will explore these issues by reading primary documents from the period, secondary sources on the period, and interpreting various mass media (music and films). As we will see, the 1960s provides a fertile ground from which to understand past and present developments in American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory, and is a productive focus for applying our skills and knowledge developed as political science majors.
Risk and Environmental Policy
POLS 492-002, Prof. Ryan Scott
This capstone explores the concept of risk in environmental policy. Policymakers must constantly assess and prepare for a wide range of adverse events.
Students in this capstone will engage with theories of risk perception, practice risk analysis, and apply principles and methods of risk management to community issues. We will use local cases such as Poudre River flooding, Colorado drought planning, zoonotic disease, ozone management, and heat events to develop applied skills in using the concept of risk to inform community outcomes.
LGBTQ Politics
POLS 492-003, Prof. Courtenay Daum
This course will explore LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) politics broadly-defined. We will begin with a historical review of social movement formation within LGBTQ communities in the U.S. during the mid-twentieth century and progress to a discussion of the current mobilization strategies and priorities for LGBTQ individuals in the twenty-first century. We will focus attention on 1) the antagonisms within the LGBTQ communities throughout the modern era, and 2) political strategies (ranging from protest to electoral politics and legal mobilization to policymaking). Topics to be covered include the politics of AIDS, marriage equality, workplace discrimination, and current debates about trans rights.
Spring 2025 Capstones
The Politics of Public Policy
POLS 492-001, Prof. Clare Brock
One of the primary purposes of government is to serve the public good by developing and executing policies that benefit society. As students of public policy, we often advocate for evidence-based policy. However, the process of determining what is best for society – even what constitutes “evidence” – often generates debates and controversy. The give and take, bargaining, competition and compromise that arise from this process are called politics. All in all, The Politics of Public Policy is concerned with the ways in which politics advances, hinders, encumbers, enhances, or just plain screws up meaningful and necessary public policy.
The purpose of the class is threefold. First, the class provides a framework for analyzing and understanding the politics of public policy formation. Second, the course assesses the implementation of policy: How well are the policies working? Do they affect different groups of people differently? Third, the course provides you with the tools to allow you to analyze American public policy and politics more critically in your day-to-day life.
Just Transitions, Democracy, and Justice
492-002, Prof. Dimitris Stevis
What obligations, if any, do we have towards workers and communities that are affected by the closing of a coal plant any other major economic facility which provide employment and pay the taxes that fund schools and hospitals? What obligations do we have, if any, towards communities that host the least desirable and profitable components of the renewable energy or electric vehicle lifecycles? What are the implications of unjust transitions for democracy, justice and nature? These are the kinds of questions addressed by the strategy of Just Transition, a strategy that has become one of the most prominent and contested local, national and global issues over the last decade.
In this capstone seminar we will explore several questions through research on existing just transition policies and well-developed proposals.
- How can we differentiate amongst transitions in terms of their social and environmental impacts?
- How can we distinguish superficial uses of just transition from more transformative ones that address social and environmental injustice?
- What are the main approaches to just transition today, more than thirty years after the strategy was first proposed?
- What are some of the main examples of just transition policies, like the one in Colorado, and policy proposals?
- Is just transition limited to energy transitions or can it be applied to all transitions, whether due to social changes, automation, economic agreements, or disasters?
- What are the impacts of not addressing the impacts of transitions on democratic politics and systemic inequalities?
We will address these questions by carefully examining specific just transition policies and well-developed policy proposals. We will do so from the angle of the various stakeholders e.g., workers, the poor, communities, governments, corporations, environmentalists and others. Moreover, we will pay particular attention to the stakeholders involved across the value chains of the transitions proposed and not only where they are formally taking place.
While energy transitions will provide many of the cases you can also explore just transitions in any sector in which the strategy is being developed and seriously discussed.
The seminar is appropriate for students in all POLS concentrations, form the local to the global. The work for the seminar will be both individual and collaborative but it is structured in a manner that student evaluations are based on each person’s contribution and quality of work. We will also seek and create opportunities to present your work in public in an appropriate format that you are most comfortable with.
Love & Madness: From Politics to Metapolitics
POLS 492-003, Prof. David McIvor
We live in mad and maddening times. The political landscape is marked by conspiracy, invective, and uncertainty. Instead of finding the virtues of moderation, deliberation, and wisdom, we see discord and immoderation—in short, madness.
Madness, however, also implies mutation, or transformation. In this capstone we will try to think beyond the standard descriptions of our contemporary political order, not by pushing its madness to the side but by exploring the potentials for transformation carried by that madness. Our first guide in this task will be the work of Norman O. Brown, a 20th century thinker who argued that the task confronting modern humans is to shift from politics to metapolitics, or to rise “from history to mystery.” We will spend the first five weeks of the semester engaging in a close reading of Brown’s 1967 text Love’s Body. After that we will explore different ways of thinking about metapolitics, ranging from ecology to mythology and from spirituality to somatics. Assignments will consist of short reflections, group presentations and a creative project centered on the themes of the course.
If you have questions, please contact the professor: david.mcivor@colostate.edu
Accelerated Degree Programs
Accelerated Bachelor’s Degree
Colorado State University’s Accelerated Program offers political science students a pathway to graduate in 3 to 3.5 years instead of 4 years. Students who choose the Accelerated Program typically take 15-16 credits each fall and spring semester for three years, plus 6-9 credits over two or three summer sessions to earn their bachelor’s degree quicker.
Accelerated Master’s Degree
The Accelerated Master’s Degree provides a pathway for qualified political science undergraduate students to complete a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in political science in one year.
Minors
Students not majoring in political science can choose a general-interest political science minor focusing on government, politics, and public affairs. Political science majors are encouraged to pursue a minor. Some recommended interdisciplinary minors include Environmental Affairs, Latin American/Latinx Studies, or Political Communication.
For questions regarding minors, please contact:
Lauren Tighe
lauren.tighe@colostate.edu
970-491-5156
Political Science
Gain a broad understanding of government, politics, and public affairs.
Students pursuing the interdisciplinary liberal arts major through CSU Online can complete a minor in political science. Learn more on the CSU Online website.
Environmental Studies in the Liberal Arts
Investigate environmental issues from the social sciences and humanities perspective.
Latin American/Latinx Studies
The minor compares the multiplicity of cultures and the historical and sociopolitical processes that influence both the Latin American and Latinx experiences while analyzing the connections between these populations. The program offers courses in a variety of disciplines, enabling students to gain a broader and deeper appreciation of the diverse regions of Latin America and the different processes impacting Latino populations in the US. Program details are available from the Department of Political Science.
Political Communication
Learn how ideas are communicated and shape the political process.
Undergraduate Advising Resources
The political science department pairs students with an Academic Success Coordinator (or ASC). Your ASC will be with you throughout your entire time as an undergraduate and is here to help you get the most out of your college experience. Your ASC will help you register for classes, recommend courses based on your interests, and familiarize you with other opportunities both within the department and on campus, such as education abroad, clubs, internships, and minors.
The College of Liberal Arts Academic Support Center is here to help you start the process.