Ph.D. in Political Science and International Affairs

Effective Fall 2015. General Examination Rules. (Approved by Graduate Council Nov. 11, 2014). 

Program of Study

The PhD in political science and international affairs prepares students for research careers in political science, with an emphasis in international policy and comparative policy analysis. The program combines the analytical skills of political science with political economy, institutional analysis, policy analysis (especially economic policy) and regional training, with special attention to East Asia and/or Latin America.

Course Requirements

The PhD curriculum in political science and international affairs is designed to provide students with basic training in the disciplinary skills of political science, as well as applications to specific policy areas and countries or regions.

Eighteen courses are required prior to advancement to candidacy at the end of the second year. There is a common core sequence made up of four courses in the Department of Political Science: Political Science 203A-B and 204A-B. No other courses may be used to substitute for these courses. The remaining course work in research skills, language, regional expertise and/or a field of specialization may be taken at GPS or in Political Science with the approval of the faculty adviser. Two of the elective courses must be in international relations and/or comparative politics/policy of an Asia-Pacific country or region.

Requirements:

First Year

Fall 

• 203A. Analytic Theory I
• 204A. Research Design 
• Field requirement or skills course
• Integrated Workshop

Winter  

• 204B. Quantitative Methods I 
• Field requirement or skills course
• Field requirement or skills course
• Integrated Workshop

Spring 

• 203B. Analytic Theory II
• Field requirement or skills course
• Field requirement or skills course
• Integrated Workshop

Second Year

Fall 

• Field requirement 
• Skills course
• Substantive course
• Integrated Workshop

Winter 

• Field requirement 
• Skills course 
• Substantive course
• Integrated Workshop

Spring 

• Field requirement 
• Skills course 
• Substantive course/directed reading
• Integrated Workshop

Optional Specialization: Program in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research (PIER). 

For more information please visit: SIO’s Website.

General Examination

By the end of the second year, a student must stand for the general examination. The general examination consists of written examinations in each of two fields and an oral examination. The department offers examinations in five fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and methodology. It is expected that students complete their field requirements prior to sitting for the general examination. By the first day of spring quarter of the second year each student must submit to the graduate coordinator a general examination plan identifying the two fields within which exams will be taken. The general examination will normally take place during the seventh week of spring quarter. Normally, each written examination will be taken on a separate day within a one-week period, and the oral examination will be given within two weeks of the completion of the written examinations.

Written Examinations

Written field examinations last six hours. These examinations cover major theoretical approaches in a field. They are structured so that passing requires general knowledge and understanding of important work in the field as a whole. These examinations cover in greater depth one subfield within a major research literature. Written examinations are open-note and open-book. Students are expected to do their own work, and to compose their answers on the day of the examination. Text from computer files may not be downloaded into these answers.

Oral Examinations

The oral examination normally lasts between one and two hours, and covers two written examinations and the student’s seminar paper. A student must take the oral examination, even if one or two of the written examinations or the seminar paper is such that it is deemed impossible to pass the entire examination.

Each field has a designated field coordinator, appointed by the department chair in consultation with the director of graduate studies. The field coordinator, in consultation with the faculty in the field, prepares the written examinations. Each general examination is graded by a committee of four faculty members, with two from each of the student's examination fields. These examiners are nominated by the field coordinator and appointed by the department chair. Students are normally informed of the composition of general examination boards during the fourth week of the spring quarter.

Each general examination is graded in its entirety. A student passes or fails the entire examination, not simply parts of it. The examination committee may assign a grade of fail, pass, or distinction. A student passes the general examination if at least three examiners vote to assign a grade of pass or better. A student receives a grade of distinction by vote of at least three examiners. The student will receive written notification of the examination committee's decision. A student who fails the general examination must retake it at least one week prior to the start of the fall quarter of the third year. A student who fails the general examination twice will not be permitted to continue in the graduate program in political science.

Good progress toward the PhD requires that a student complete the general examination by the end of the second year. A student who has not attempted all parts of the general examination by the end of the second year may not continue in the program.

A student must complete one seminar paper in one of his or her examination fields. This paper may be written as part of the requirements for a regularly scheduled seminar course or in an independent research course.

Guidelines for the Seminar Paper

• Acceptable article length for most journals is eight thousand to ten thousand words and seminar papers should be a similar length.
• The basic structure of the article should include:
  • An introduction framing the significance of the question, sketching the answer, and (where subfield appropriate) delineating the research design and empirical findings
  • A comprehensive yet succinct literature review placing the research in the context of prior work on the subject
  • A discussion of research design (where subfield appropriate)
  • Appropriate empirical analysis (where subfield appropriate)
  • A conclusion highlighting the contributions of the research and returning to general questions
  • Papers must be solo authored.

Examples of recent published articles written by UC San Diego graduate students will be available to students upon request.

Papers may draw from papers originally written for courses. However, it is generally the case that course papers will need substantial revision before becoming suitable seminar papers. Students may write papers in fields other than their first or second exam fields.  

Students must identify an adviser for the seminar paper. Seminar paper advisers may be the first-year adviser but are not required to be. Seminar paper advisers may go on to supervise dissertations but are not required to do so. Advisers must agree (certified in writing, to the graduate program coordinator) to serve this purpose by 4:00 p.m. on Friday of the eighth week of fall quarter. Penalties for failing to identify an adviser by this due date are at the discretion of the director of Graduate Studies. Students are advised to contact the director of Graduate Studies or their field chair if they are having difficulty identifying an adviser.  

Students must submit a rough draft of the seminar paper (in hard copy and electronic form) to the graduate program coordinator by 4:00 p.m. on Friday of the first full week of spring quarter. The graduate program coordinator is responsible for ensuring that a copy of the paper is provided to the seminar paper adviser. Students failing to submit a draft of the paper by this deadline will not be permitted to take the comprehensive exam in the spring quarter. Please note that this implies leaving the program.

Students should submit a penultimate draft of the paper to the seminar paper adviser one week prior to the final draft due date. Students must submit a final draft of the seminar paper (in hard copy and electronic form) to the graduate program coordinator by 4:00 p.m. on Monday of the week prior to the written exams. Students failing to submit a final draft of the paper by this deadline will not be permitted to take the comprehensive exam in the spring quarter. Please note that this implies leaving the program.   

1. All registered students-in-residence must be enrolled in their field workshop of choice (POLI 280-289) and attend both integrated and field workshops regularly. This includes first-year through Nth-year students. Students who do not attend the workshops regularly will receive a grade of U for that quarter.
   
   The Integrated Workshop is an effort to build an integrated scholarly community across all substantive subfields in our Ph.D. program. The integrated workshop and subfield workshops are designed to promote intellectual engagement and conversations across fields, so as to better prepare our students to conduct research that scholars across fields will care about. Workshops typically meet on a weekly basis, and include discussion of common readings, public talks, professional development seminars, and student presentations.
   
   
2. All third-year students are required to present a draft dissertation prospectus or an original piece of research to a workshop at least once, either in the Fall or the Winter quarter. Second-year students who have far-advanced seminar papers are encouraged to present their work, schedule permitting. A form indicating that the third-year student has completed this requirement must be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator by the end of the third year.
   
   A third-year student who has not completed the above requirement by the end of the third year may receive no more than a 33%. teaching or research assistantship from the Department until the quarter after the workshop requirement is fulfilled. Students on a UCSD fellowship may receive no more than two-thirds of their stipend until this requirement is fulfilled.
   
   
3. For all registered students-in-residence, good progress toward the PhD requires that a student enroll in a departmental workshop in every quarter for which they are in residence. Students who do not attend regularly will receive a grade of U for the workshop. Students who do not participate regularly may be failed by the course instructor.

1. By the end of the sixth year, good progress requires completion of the dissertation and defense (please refer to Forming Committees)
   
   
2. A student who fails to complete the dissertation by the end of the sixth year may be denied all departmental financial assistance.

Effective Fall 2015. General Examination Rules. (Approved by Graduate Council Nov. 11, 2014). 

Students intending a field specialization in comparative politics and/or policy should assume that fluency in a relevant regional language, sufficient for the conduct of research, will be expected. Language training will be credited toward the degree.

Each incoming student to the PhD program in political science and international affairs will be assigned a faculty adviser in GPS. By the beginning of the third year, each student must select a faculty member from the department to serve as prospectus adviser. The prospectus adviser will help guide the student in writing the prospectus and selecting a dissertation committee. The prospectus adviser will not necessarily become the chair or a member of the dissertation committee.

During the spring quarter, each student is evaluated by his or her adviser in consultation with the departmental faculty. The student will receive a written evaluation from the adviser each year. The student must sign this evaluation for it to become an official part of the student’s departmental file. As part of the first-year review, each student must complete a plan of study that identifies a faculty seminar paper supervisor, two examination fields, a focus area, and intended preparation in each. This plan must be signed by the student’s faculty adviser and submitted to the graduate coordinator by the end of spring quarter of the first year.

The dissertation committee must have at least five members, made up of both GPS and Department of Political Science faculty and one tenured professor from outside those programs. For students whose research is intended to establish a regional or country specialization, it is expected that at least one member of the committee will have such an expertise. At least two members of the committee shall represent academic specialties that differ from the student’s chosen specialty.

The dissertation committee members should be submitted to the Political Science Graduate Program Coordinator no later than two weeks before a prospectus defense or dissertation defense for approval. 

To contest an evaluation or any departmental action a student must do so in writing. A petition should be submitted to the director of graduate studies no later than the end of the quarter following the evaluation (or other action) contested by the student.

One fellowship per year will be available to a newly admitted student from the current in-house funding at GPS. Additional fellowship support will be sought by GPS faculty.