Political Science/Criminal Justice

Group Responsibilities

Political Science/Criminal Justice History

Political Science and Criminal Justice are not exactly the same, but the two degree programs are fairly similar. Both Political Science and Criminal Justice are subjects that revolve around the laws and governmental structure of our country. Comparatively speaking, Criminal Justice and Political Science degree programs in our country’s higher level education system are both fairly young areas of study, and both came to be degree programs around the same time. The first school to incorporate a Criminal Justice degree program for students was the University of California at Berkeley in 1916. The famed professor August Vollmer is the professor accredited with beginning the first Criminal Justice degree program. It is believed that the Political Science degree program had its beginning around the year 1959, which, surprisingly, is also the year which Georgia Teacher’s College became Georgia Southern College. It is believed that it was around this year that Political Science was introduced as a degree program. Political Science and Criminal Justice both currently belong to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences here at Georgia Southern University. Criminal Justice and Political Science are fairly closely related. Both subjects revolve around the government of the United States, and the decisions made and laws created by our government. As Political Science and Criminal Justice majors we study our government and analyze how people interact with it. This is where Criminal Justice and Political Science take slightly different directions. Criminal Justice majors are preparing for a different career path (in most cases) than Political Science majors. Criminal Justice majors are more concerned with/focused on the established laws of our country and how to interpret them and be able to use what we learn for a more law enforcement based purpose, whereas Political Science majors are more interested in the development and improvement of the government and politics themselves. Both of these majors almost completely revolve around government and interacting with people, and seem to go hand-in-hand.
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

Education

EDUCATION
Justice Requirements at Southern

Kim Simpson CJ Academic Advisor 1087A 478-1542

Criminal Justice Homepage for Georgia Southern University

POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science is defined by Harold D. Lasswell as "who gets what, when, and how." The study of Political Science is a degree in which the very foundational principles of our political society and government are analyzed and studied. Political Science takes a close look at authority and the role of government in our society as well as societies across the globe. Political Science is a degree most closely associated with those interested in the study of law.
Political Science Homepage for Georgia Southern University
Political Science advisement at Georgia Southern
The CLASS Office of Pre-Law Advising (OPLA) is located in Carroll Building 2213
Monday 9:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. Daniel Spruill - Open
Tuesday 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Rebecca Davis - advising
2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Rebecca Davis - advising
Wednesday 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Kathleen Comerford - advising
12:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Daniel Spruill – Open

Degree PLAN

POLITICAL SCIENCE, B.A., 126 HOURS

See for required courses in Area A1 through Area E.
Area A1 - Communication Skills
6 Hours
Area A2 - Quantitative Skills
3 Hours
Area B - Global Engagement
4 Hours
Area C - Humanities, Fine Arts, and Ethics
6 Hours
Area D - Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Technology
11 Hours
Area E - Social Sciences
12 Hours
Area F - Courses Appropriate to Major
18 Hours
Foreign Language 2001 - Intermediate I (3)
Foreign Language 2002 - Intermediate II (3)
PHIL 1030 - Introduction to Philosophy (3)
POLS 2101 - Introduction to Political Science (3)
STAT 2231 - Introduction to Statistics I (3)
Select one of the following. If any of the above are taken to satisfy Areas C-E, also select from the following:
ANTH 1102 - Introduction to Anthropology (3)
ECON 2106 - Business Economics (3)
GEOG 1130 - World Regional Geography (3)
PSYC 1101 - Introduction to Psychology (3)
SOCI 1101 - Introduction to Sociology (3)
Health and Physical Education Activities
4 Hours
HLTH 1520 - Healthful Living (2)
Physical Education Activities (2)
Orientation
2 Hours
FYE 1220 - First Year Seminar (2)
Major Requirements
24 Hours
POLS 3130 - Qualitative Research Methods (3)
POLS - Senior Seminar (3)
Select one of the following:
POLS 3135 - Congressional Behavior (3)
POLS 3136 - The Presidency (3)
POLS 3137 - Judicial Process (3)
POLS 3138 - Constitutional Law I (3)
POLS 3139 - Constitutional Law II (3)
POLS 3233 - Politics and the Media (3)
POLS 3235 - Gender and Politics (3)
POLS 3237 - African American Politics (3)
POLS 3238 - Southern Politics (3)
POLS 3330 - State and Local Government (3)
POLS 3332 - Political Parties (3)
Select one of the following:
POLS 3132 - Asian Politics (3)
POLS 3133 - Latin American Politics (3)
POLS 3431 - African Politics (3)
POLS 4136 - Comparative Politics of Industrialized Nations (3)
POLS 4137 - Industrializing Nations (3)
Select one of the following:
POLS 3234 - Introduction to European Union (3)
POLS 3236 - International Relations (3)
POLS 3239 - Human Rights in International Relations (3)
POLS 4132 - U.S. Foreign Policy (3)
POLS 4133 - International Political Economy (3)
POLS 4134 - International Law and Diplomacy (3)
POLS 4135 - International Organizations (3)
POLS 4138 - International Terrorism (3)
Select one of the following:
POLS 3230 - Modern Political Thought (3)
POLS 3336 - Classical Political Thought (3)
POLS 4130 - American Political Thought (3)
POLS 4139 - Contemporary Political Thought (3)
Select 6 hours of Upper Division electives from any of above or:
*POLS 2130 - Scope and Methods in Political Science (3)
POLS 3231 - Environmental Politics (3)
POLS 3232 - Public Opinion and Political Behavior (3)
POLS 3331 - Introduction to Public Administration (3)
POLS 3334 - Film and Politics (3)
POLS 3335 - Politics of Ethnicity (3)
POLS 3338 - Language and Law (3)
POLS 4031 - Selected Topics in Political Science (3)
POLS 4131 - Public Policy (3)
POLS 4791 - Field Internship in Political Science (6)
POLS 4890 - Independent Study in Political Science (3-12)
Minor - Required: Area of Study Chosen in Consultation with Major Advisor
15 Hours
Electives
21 Hours
(A maximum of 9 hours of Internship may be taken.)
ADVISEMENT: Political Science majors are advised in the CLASS Advisement Center - Foy 3060, (912) 478-7740 - until they have earned 30 hours. At that time, they are assigned an academic advisor in the Department of Political Science, Carroll Building, (912) 478-5698. Political Science majors in the University Honors Program (UHP) are advised in the Department beginning their first semester of enrollment at Georgia Southern University.
OTHER PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
Majors must earn a minimum grade of “C” in all upper level POLS courses.
*POLS 2130 - Scope and Methods in Political Science is only offered during spring term.
HONORS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
To graduate with Honors in Political Science, a student must:
be admitted to the University Honors Program;
successfully complete at least three credit hours of UHON 4191 over three semesters;
successfully complete and present an Honors Thesis or Capstone Project;
be in good standing in the University Honors Program at the time of graduation.
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

Research and Writing in Political Science/Criminal Justice

Political science is almost 90 percent writing. There are multiple types of writing requirements needed for political science. Case study reviews are multiple page papers that are full of mainly factual evidence that support a certain idea. Most of the time a case study is over a single situation that is not common in the everyday world. This means that an extraordinary claim requires extraordinary evidence. Another type of writing in political science is research papers. Research papers are the most common type of writing in political science. This is because political science is a living major. It changes along with the world, so you always need to keep up to date with what is going on. The final type of writing in political science is persuasive essays. The only times persuasive essays are useful in political science are when it is needed to take one side of an argument and prove your point. This happens a lot in pre law but not so much in political science. Because it happens a lot in pre law and law programs political science majors are introduced to writing them in their major courses. Criminology and political science are very similar majors. The writing required in both majors is almost identical. There will be a lot of reflecting on current events in the Criminal Justice world, and doing a lot of research papers. Criminal Justice students are required to write reports, review scholarly journals and articles, term papers, and literature reviews. The only piece or writing that is different between Political Science and Criminal Justice majors is current event reviews. The papers on current events are fairly straightforward. Any current event you can think of whether it is in news, radio, or in print form can be broken down and brought into simplest terms. Writing is one of the most important things that will be required of you in these majors.
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

Non-Traditional Research and Writing

There any many non-traditional means of the communication of political science related information. Examples of some of these alternative mediums are blogs, wikis, videos, and forums.
+Blogs
Blogging is a very popular method for communicating ideas. A popular Political science blog is called the monkey cage. It is called this because of the famous quote by H.L. Mencken where he says, “Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage.” The latest blog post was an argument about the “one percent” theory. Another hot spot in the blogging world is Science Blogs. Science Blogs is unlike the monkey cage because it contains blogs on all areas of science from chemistry to political science. This is very helpful though when to majors cross over to one another. Being a social science some political science ideas combined with psychology ideas making this website a very easy and effective way to communicate.
+listservs
Listsevs are emails that allow the sender to send one message to an entire list of subscribers. This is every helpful because it they can keep you up do date on the new information happening in your field.
H-teachpol Listserv
APSA-CIVED Listserv
PSRT-L Listserv
+Other types of Non-Traditional writing and research
More great examples of non-traditional forms of
communication between the people of the law enforcement and criminal justice community. Most of
the contributors to these pages are police officers, but there are also some corrections officers, and
sometimes a couple of lawyers, judges, etc.

Fraternal Order of Police Blog
The Fraternal Order of Police is a very similar to a union organization for a group of factory workers.
The F.O.P is a fairly large group of police officers from across the United States who discusses
current events happening in the world of law enforcement amongst each other.

Motor Cop Blog
MotorCop is an online blog for police officers. This site is more specifically intended for law
enforcement officers in the state of California, but nevertheless open to hear from any law
enforcement officers who want to submit and have their stories heard.

Corrections Nation Blog
Corrections Nation is one of the first social networking sites intended for correctional officers across
the country. This site provides a blog database for officers in the corrections field. Corrections
Nations provides a good opportunity for corrections officers to share events which were positive or
negative to other members so that they can use, or not use, these tactics in the future.
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

Publication Manual(s) and Style Guide(s)

The Proper style to write in Political Science is APSA. APSA stands for American Political Science Manual. Here are two publication manuals, the first one is the official and most recent version.
APSA Style Manual

APSA Style Manual
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

Jobs/Graduate School

Activist, Advocate/Organizer
Administration, Corporate, Government, Non-Profit, etc.
Archivist, Online Political Data
Budget Examiner or Analyst
Attorney
Banking Analyst or Executive
Campaign Operative
Career Counselor
CIA Analyst or Agent
City Planner
City Housing Administrator
Congressional Office/Committee Staffer
Coordinator of Federal or State Aid
Communications Director
Corporate Analyst
Corporate Public Affairs Advisor
Corporate Economist
Corporate Manager
Corporate Information Analyst
Corporate Adviser for Govt'l. Relations
Corporate Executive
Corporation Legislative Issues Manager
Customs Officer
Editor, Online Political Journal
Entrepreneur
Federal Government Analyst
Financial Consultant
Foreign Service Officer
Foundation President
Free-lance writer
High School Government Teacher
Immigration Officer
Information Manager
Intelligence Officer
International Agency Officer
International Research Specialist
Issues Analyst, Corporate Social Policy Div.
Journalist
Juvenile Justice Specialist
Labor Relations Specialist
Legislative Analyst / Coordinator
Lobbyist
Management Analyst
Mediator
Plans and Review Officer, USIA
Policy Analyst
Political Commentator
Pollster
Public Affairs Research Analyst
Public Opinion Analyst
Publisher
Research Analyst
State Legislator
Survey Analyst
Systems Analyst
Teacher
University Administrator
University Professor
Urban Policy Planner
Web Content Editor
-found on Careers in Political Science
+Grad School
The political Science graduate school program is for those wanting to acquire a masters or doctorates degree in political science. The Grad program is much like the undergrad program but much more in-depth and challenging.

Top 100 Political Science Graduate Programs in the United States
U.S. News Top Graduate Programs
+Law School
Law school is an extremely common road taken after graduating from college for the student of Political Science. Many enter the study of political science simply for the preparation that is given for law school. The association between political science and law is inseparable in the view of college education.
Top 100 Law Schools in the United States
Top Law Schools Law School Rankings
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

References

These are the references to the sites which we used to gather our information for this Wiki page:

George Mason Class Web Directories
Writing in Political Science from Depaul University
Student Affairs & Enrollment Management at Georgia Southern University
History of Georgia Southern University
Academic Earth Online Education
Academic Earth Political Science Homepage
Political Science Blogs
Monkey Cage Blog

Criminal Justice Degree Overview
History of Criminal Justice Degree
Criminal Justice Degree Information
Criminal Justice home page for Georgia Southern University
UNC Charlotte Criminal Justice Program
Radford University Criminal Justice Program
Fraternal Order of Police
Motor Cop Blog
Corrections Nation Blog
Hilbert Online Education
[Contributors: Chris Katt, Stefan Jatindranath, Kurt Osgood]

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