Government

Government majors should emerge from the program with an understanding of the factors that shape a variety of political systems and influence policy outcomes at both the domestic and international level. They should be able to assess critically political actions, and to be attentive to the social forces that shape the exercise of power. They should have frameworks within which to think about the purposes of politics, the aims and responsibilities of governments and the rights and duties of citizens. Consistent with the mission of a liberal arts college, the government department seeks to prepare its majors for a variety of postgraduate options, including law school and graduate study in political science.

Teaching students to:

• Articulate arguments orally and in writing
• Understand and engage in original research
• To evaluate the validity of information
• Become familiar with, and be able to understand, diverse perspectives on political issues, taking into account differences such as those based on ethnicity, race, gender and culture.

Advisers: Members of the department

Requirements for the Major 

Eleven semester courses distributed as noted below. Structuring your major in government, and properly sequencing your courses, will depend upon your interests and advice from your adviser. 

1. Basis100
2. One course at the 200 level in each of the following fields: American government, comparative government, international relations, and political theory
3. Gov 203 or an equivalent statistics course taken in another department
4. Two additional courses, one of which must be a seminar, and both of which must be related to one of the courses taken under (2); they may be in the same subfield of the department, or they may be in other subfields, in which case a rationale for their choice must be accepted by the student and her adviser
5. Three additional elective courses.

Navigating the Major

There is no single paradigm for the study of government, no one ideal way for everyone to structure a major. Within the overall framework of our major requirements, here are some ways in which students, in consultation with their major adviser, can shape their program of study.

Concentrations

Every government major is required to choose a concentration within the major, either by subfield or by theme. We also encourage students to deepen and broaden their understanding of these concentrations by taking related courses outside the major.

Subfields

The subfields of study within the government department are representative of the way the academic study of political science is normally divided.

• American Politics is the study of institutions, policies and processes within the United States.
• Political Theory is the study of fundamental ideas that underlie political life.
• Comparative Politics is the study of institutions, policies and processes within individual countries, as well as cross-regional and cross-country comparisons.
• International Politics is the study of patterns of interaction and relationships between sovereign states and other actors in the international system, as well as global processes that shape relations between them.

Themes

The following are examples of possible themes that can be developed from some combination of the subfields.

• Politics of a specific country or region of the world
• Institutions
• Political processes and behavior
• Gender and sexuality
• History of political thought
• Public policy
• Environment
• Political economy

Advisers: Members of the department

The minor consists of six courses: Gov 100 plus five additional courses, including at least one course from two of the four following fields:

• American government
• Comparative government
• International relations
• Political theory

Director: Erin Pineda

The honors program consists of a yearlong intensive research project resulting in a thesis. The core of the program is a thesis paper, a complete draft of which is due on the first day of the second semester. Students will spend the spring semester revising their papers and will submit the final version by April 1.

Eligibility Requirements

• Students who have at least a 3.3 grade-point average (GPA) in courses outside of the major and 3.5 GPA in courses within the government major are eligible for the honors program.
• Students must have successfully completed six courses in their major prior to being accepted to the honors program; under normal circumstances, these six courses will have been completed in the government department at Smith College.
• Students must complete the application form and receive departmental approval to be admitted to the honors program.
• On the application form, students will be asked to identify three courses taken that are related to their specific honors project.

How to Apply

See the class deans website about applying for departmental honors. In order to begin the application process, the student will need to request a Calculation of GPA by emailing honors@smith.edu. A personalized listing of all courses and grades that are eligible for calculation will be sent as a PDF by email to enable the student to determine the gradepoint averages both inside and outside the major.

Eligible students are encouraged to apply in the spring of their junior year, but fall applications are allowed as long as they are received before the end of the first week of classes in September. January graduates are on a different schedule.

Students may register for departmental honors when choosing courses in April if their applications have been approved. The spring deadline to submit completed applications, with departmental endorsement, is the last day of final exams. Applications to enter the departmental honors program from current second-semester juniors will be considered only after the grades for this current semester have been calculated into the GPAs.

First-semester seniors must submit completed applications, with departmental endorsement, no later than the end of the first week of classes in the fall semester.

Requirements to Fulfill the Honors Program

• Students admitted to the honors program will register for a yearlong, 8-credit honors course (GOV 430, 4 credits in the fall and 4 credits in the spring).
• Students in honors must successfully complete all the requirements for the major and a total of at least 11 courses in the field of government. The yearlong thesis course (GOV 430) may be counted as two courses toward the 11 courses required for honors students.
• Students in honors are expected to participate in Collaborations by making a public presentation of their thesis.

Oral Examination

Following submission of the final paper, students will take an oral examination administered by three members of the government faculty. This exam will be based on the thesis and on the field in which it was written. The field is defined by the student herself, who at the time of the exam will identify three courses which she believes bear upon the topic of her thesis.

Honors Project Description

An honors applicant must submit to the government department a thesis proposal consisting of 500 to 1,000 words (two to four pages) containing the following information:

• a description of the broader scholarly issue to be investigated
• the specific question or hypothesis to be treated
• an explanation of the approach to be taken and evidence of experience using this approach
• documentation of relevant background, preparation, special facility or skills necessary to undertake the proposed thesis (e.g., previous course work related to the thesis topic, quantitative skills, foreign language ability, etc.).

GOV 100 Introduction to Political Thinking
Three sections: Gary Lehring, Alice Hearst and Erin Pineda

GOV 201 American Constitutional Interpretation
Alice Hearst

GOV 208 Elections in the Political Order
Howard Gold

Gov 214 Colloquium: Free Speech in America
Marc Lendler

GOV 215 Colloquium:  The Bush Years
Marc Lendler

GOV 221 European Politics
Mlada Bukovansky

GOV 224 Globalization from an Islamic Perspective
Bozena Welborne

GOV 228 Government and Politics of Japan
Dennis Yasutomo

GOV 230 Chinese Politics
Sara Newland

GOV 232 Comparative Political Economy
Sara Newland

GOV 238 Elections Around the World
Anna Kapambwe Mwaba

GOV 241 International Politics
Gregory White

GOV 247 International Relations in Africa
Anna Kapambwe Mwaba

GOV 257 Refugee Politics
Zumray Kutlu

GOV 262 Early Modern Political Theory, 1500-1800
J. Patrick Coby

GOV 272 Conceptualizing Democracy
Erin Pineda

Seminars

GOV 312 Political Behavior in the United States
Howard Gold

GOV 341 The Middle East in World Affairs
Bozena Welborne

GOV 343 Humanitarianism
Mlada Bukovansky

GOV 347 Comparative Regionalizations
Anna Kapambwe Mwaba

GOV 348 Conflict and Cooperation in Asia
Dennis Yasutomo

GOV 367 Politics, Wealth, and Inequality
Gary Lehring

GOV 100 Introduction to Political Thinking
Two sections: Donald Baumer and J. Patrick Coby

GOV 200 American Government
Donald Baumer

GOV 202 American Constitutional Law:  The Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
Alice Hearst

GOV 203 Empirical Methods in Political Science
Howard Gold

GOV 205 The Return of the Native Indigenous Peoples in the New Global Order
Alice Hearst

GOV 206 The American Presidency
Marc Lendler

GOV 281 The Obama Years
Marc Lendler

GOV 220 Introduction to Comparative Politics
Sara Newland

GOV 227 Contemporary African Politics
Anna Kapambwe Mwaba

GOV 241 International Politics
Mlada Bukovansky

GOV 248 The Arab-Israeli Dispute
Bozena Welborne

GOV 251 Foreign Policy of Japan
Dennis Yasutomo

GOV 252 International Organizations
Mlada Bukovansky

GOV 264 American Political Thought
J. Patrick Coby

GOV 267 Problems in Democratic Thought
Gary Lehring

GOV 268 Utopian/Dystopian Visions and Political Theory
Gary Lehring
 

Seminars

GOV 327 East Asian Politics
Sara Newland

GOV 369 African American  Political Thought
Erin Pineda

Director: Brent Durbin

The Jean Picker Semester-in-Washington Program is a first-semester program open to Smith junior and senior government majors and to other Smith juniors and seniors with appropriate background in the social sciences. It provides students with an opportunity to study processes by which public policy is made and implemented at the national level. Students typically reside in Washington from the month of June preceding the fall semester through December.

The program is directed by a member of the Smith College faculty who is responsible for selecting the interns and assisting them in obtaining placement in appropriate offices in Washington, and directing the independent research project through tutorial sessions. The seminar is conducted by an adjunct professor in Washington.

Cost of the Program

Students participating in the program pay full tuition for the semester. They do not pay any fees for residence at the college but are required to pay for their own room and board in Washington during the fall semester.

Eligibility

Before beginning the semester in Washington, the student must have satisfactorily completed at least one of the following courses in American national government: 200, 201, 202, 206, 207, 208 and 209. A successful applicant must also demonstrate a capacity for independent work. An applicant must have an excess of two credits on record preceding the semester in Washington.

How to Apply

Applications should be submitted to the director of the Semester-in-Washington Program no later than November 6 of the preceding year. Enrollment is limited to 12 students, and the program is not mounted for fewer than six. An informational meeting for interested students is scheduled in October.

Jean Picker Semester in Washington Application

Jean Picker Semester in Washington Application

Requirements fo Fulfill the Program

For satisfactory completion of the Semester-in-Washington Program, 14 credits are granted:

• 4 credits for a seminar in policymaking (411)
• 2 credits for GOV 413 seminar on political science research
• 8 credits for an independent research project (412), culminating in a long paper*

* No student may write an honors thesis in the same field in which she has written her long paper in the Washington seminar, unless the department, upon petition, grants a specific exemption from this policy.