Political Science

Political Science AA-T Degree

The Associate in Arts for Transfer in Political Science is designed to provide the transfer student with the opportunity to take lower division courses that could be applied to a political science major at a four year university. Politics is the struggle of who gets what, when and how. A broad spectrum of groups fight for their interests locally, nationally or globally. Political Science looks at the interaction between the individual or group and the government such as local and state governments creating a budget to national governments combating terrorism abroad.

The student who majors in Political Science will become more aware of current events and how those events impact their daily lives. As a Political Science major students may become more politically active and more civic responsible. An AA-T in Political Science would be a stepping stone to many other career fields such as teaching, law, local, state and federal government work and group advocacy.

Upon completion of the political science program, students will be able to:

  • Evaluate and summarize research material without involving their own political beliefs or bias.
  • State different types of governments and explain their historical developments and political processes within a given country.
  • Identify different political theories and apply those theories to contemporary issues
  • Differentiate between different theories.

This program is intended for students planning to transfer to a California State University. Students must fulfill the following requirements to qualify for an associate degree for transfer:

  • Complete CSU GE Breadth or IGETC pattern
  • Complete the major course requirements as specified in the catalog with a C or better
  • Complete electives to reach a total of 60 transferable units
  • Maintain a grade point average of 2.0 overall
  • Complete the English, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Math requirements with a C or better

This program has 50 percent or more of the major courses available via distance education/online

Course # Title Units
Required Core Courses
POLSCI 001 American Government 3
Select Three Courses (9 units):
POLSCI 002 Comparative Government 3
POLSCI 004 Introduction to International Relations 3
POLSCI 005 Introduction to Political Theory 3
POLSCI 010 Modern Politics 3
MATH 025 Introduction to Statistics 4
Select Two Courses (6 units):
Any courses not selected above, any CSU transferable political science courses, and/or other courses that are articulated as lower division preparation for the political science major at a CSU, or any CSU transferable introductory course in the social sciences.
AOJ 001 Introduction to Criminal Justice 3
AOJ 029 Criminology 3
CD 005 Child Development 3
ECON 001A Macroeconomics 3
ECON 001B Microeconomics 3
GEOG 002 World Regional Geography 3
GEOG 003 Cultural Geography 3
GEOG 018 Geography of California 3
HIST 004A Western Civilization to 1700 3
HIST 004B Western Civilization From 1700 3
HIST 017A History of the United States 1492-1877 3
HIST 017B History of the United States 1865-PRESENT 3
POLSCI 020 Legal and Judicial Reasoning 3
PSYCH 001 Introductory Psychology 3
PSYCH 002 Abnormal Psychology 3
PSYCH 003 Developmental Psychology 3
PSYCH 005 Biological Psychology 3
SOC 001 Introduction to Sociology 3
SOC 002 Critical Thinking and Social Problems 3
SOC 003 Marriage and Family Relations 3
SW 020 Introduction to Social Work and Human Services 3
Total 18-19
Units to be double-counted as General Education 6-18
CSU GE Bredth or IGETC Units 39
Transferable Elective Units 8-21
Total  60

Click here to see the recommended course sequence for the Political Science AA-T Pathway.