US GOVERNMENT, LAW, AND PUBLIC POLICY CONCENTRATION

The Department’s U.S. Government, Law, and Public Policy concentration is designed to prepare students to become future leaders in the public sector. The skills gained in this concentration help prepare students for a variety of careers (for example, government agencies, nonprofits, community organizations, lobbying firms, elected office, political communication, research and policy analysts) as well as prepare students for law and graduate schools. The courses in this concentration educate students about the political processes and the legal environment of all levels of American government as well as the processes of policy making and the administrative apparatus used to implement public policy. Students will also be exposed to a variety of substantive policy issues including urban policy, energy policy, and environmental policy in the United States. U.S. Government, Law, and Public Policy students are strongly encouraged to complete an internship in one of the many organizations in the broader community. Past students have completed internships with a variety of law firms, the Cities of Fort Collins, Windsor, Loveland, and Westminster, the Colorado General Assembly, and Woodward Governor among others.

Requirements

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science – U.S. Government, Law, and Public 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) comparative politics, and 3) international relations.

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 U.S. Government, Law and Public Policy concentration: