Political science degree

The American politics subfield focuses on the political behavior of the public U.S. political institutions and how they interact. Topics include public opinion, voting, campaigns and elections, political psychology, political identity, Congress, the presidency and bureaucracy, the courts, the media, state and local governments, and interest groups.

Comparative politics seeks to understand and explain socio-political, economic and historical outcomes through comparisons of socio-political, economic and cultural entities and forces between and within countries. Comparativists study political institutions, political organizations, political behavior across state and sub-state venues with a goal of understanding the how and why of politics in a variety of contexts.

The international relations field covers interactions, cooperation and conflict among states and between states and non-state actors. Topics of study include theories of international relations, conflict, foreign policy, national and international security, international law and organizations, global environmental policy, human rights, human security and international political economy.

The political theory area includes political philosophy and its history, contemporary political ideologies, democratic theory and political ethics.

This field includes topics such as foundations of public service, public human resource management, organizational theory and behavior, public budgeting, public policy process, policy analysis, policy implementation and a variety of substantive topics such as environmental policy, and energy politics and policy.

The Department of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno also offers a minor in political science. Students can choose to study from four interest subjects: general, foreign affairs, public administration and public policy, and American government.

In addition, the department offers a minor in political communication and advocacy. This program helps students become more effective political communicators and advocates, developing skills and knowledge that can translate into work in campaigning, policy-making and policy-marketing, and lobbying. Beyond required lower and upper-division coursework, students will work with the political science Internship coordinator to complete three-to-six units of a relevant internship.

The College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Political Science offer outstanding undergraduate students an accelerated path to completion of a Master of Arts (M.A.) or Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. The “B.A./M.A.” and “B.A./MPA” programs employ an accelerated curriculum that allows undergraduate students to take up to 12 graduate credits while completing their BA, which can be applied to an MA or MPA in Political Science at the University, contingent upon acceptance to the graduate program. The M.A. and MPA degrees are suitable for students interested in pursuing careers in public service, public administration, non-governmental organizations or further study in a Ph.D. program.