Admission: Admission to the M.A. program in politics is granted for the fall semester only. Admission is limited to students whose academic records and letters of recommendation indicate exceptional promise of success in the advanced study of political science. This means an outstanding undergraduate record or other related evidence. Applicants with lower averages may be admitted where there is indication of a particular strength in political science and clear aptitude for graduate work. The general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all students, including all international students applying from countries in which the GRE is offered. All international students who are not native English speakers are also required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Course of Study: Six departmental fields of study are offered: political philosophy and theory, political methodology, American politics, political economy, comparative politics, and international relations. Students are required to complete eight courses (32 points), of which at least six must be in the department and four must be in one departmental field. Courses in the major field must include the field core course. This core course and one additional core course are required and are usually the first courses taken in the department.

Students must also complete a major project. The M.A. project consists of a seminar paper, which should demonstrate breadth in the conception and mastery of political analysis. Students are required to notify the director of graduate studies at the initiation of research for the master’s project. The director of graduate studies must be notified in all cases, whether the paper is to be written in conjunction with, or independent of, a course. The director of graduate studies must approve the project and designate an adviser to be the first reader, with written notice to both student and adviser. If the paper is written in conjunction with a course, the adviser would also be the course instructor. The director’s approval relates only to M.A.-project status and would in no way interfere with assignment or evaluation of the essay for course credit. Once an M.A.-project topic and adviser are designated, the director of graduate studies must approve changes to them. Once the adviser has read and approved a draft, an M.A.-project evaluations committee, appointed annually by the chair to read all M.A. papers, will evaluate it. If the evaluations committee approves the essay, it is accepted as the major project.

Students are expected to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in work for the master’s degree. Each student should meet with his or her adviser every semester to discuss and agree on a course of study. The director of graduate studies will assign an adviser prior to the start of the student’s first semester.

Foreign Language Requirement: Students must demonstrate proficiency in one language other than English or, with permission of the director of graduate studies, in statistics. Students demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language by passing the GSAS foreign language proficiency examination or by completing an intermediate-level foreign language course with a grade of B or better. Students demonstrate proficiency in statistics by completing Quantitative Analysis II (G53.2127) with a grade of B or better.

Concentration in International Politics and International Business

Students complete up to nine courses, four of which must be in the international relations field, including the international relations core course. The other courses are taken from a designated group in other disciplines in the Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Each student is also expected to write an M.A. major project on a topic related to his or her program work. In addition, students in this concentration register for a 1-point reading and research course (G53.3991), in which they produce a paper detailing how they will apply the methods, skills, or knowledge they obtain in their business courses to political science.