Program in Political Science

Political science is the scientific study of politics. The Political Science Programme, educate students in analyzing power, democracy, political ideas, actors and institutions at all political levels. The aim of the education is to provide qualified knowledge that can form the basis of a career as a policy analyst. Political scientists often work with qualified investigations, social review (journalism, research) or political influence in public or private organizations and companies.

After completing the Political Science Programme, the student is eligible to continue his/her studies at the advanced level.

This programme leads to a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Political Sciences with a major in Political Science (Politices kandidatexamen med huvudområdet Statsvetenskap).

The first semester contains core courses in political science. The second semester contains in-depth courses in political science. Semester three and four consists of core and in-depth courses in one of the above mentioned profile subjects. In semester five the student chooses between freestanding courses, exchange studies or internship. The sixth and final semester the student studies research methods and writes an individual thesis in political science. The student chooses the order of semester 5 and 6.

All courses in political science, except for those included in one of the political science profiles (“Democracy, Power, and Organization” and “International Politics”), are mandatory.

The programme is offered on full-time.

For the third semester, a profil subject must be chosen. All profil subjct has general eligibility except Economics and Statistics; all prerequisite requirements are documented in the respective course syllabus.

Program Overview

Semester 1 (Core courses)

Module 1

SK1113 Institutions and Actors in Political Systems, 15 credits

and

Module 2

SK1124 Political Theory, 7,5 credits

and

SK1125 International Relations

Semster 2 (In-depth courses)

Module 1

SK1214 Democracy and Democratization in a Comparative Perspective, 15 credits

and

SK1223 Further Studies in Democrazy, 15 credits

or

SK1224 Prospects for Environmentapl Politics*, 15 credits

Semester 3

Core course(s) in profil subject**, 30 credits

Semester 4

In-depth course(s) in profil subject**, 30 credits

Semester 5***

Elective semester****, 30 credits:

Free standing, elective courses in Sweden

or

Studies abroad

or

SK1412/SK1411 Internship, 15/30 credits

Semester 6*** (Method course and Thesis course)

Module 1

SK1313 Research Methods Including Dissertation Co-ordination, 15 credits

Module 2

SK1523 Dissertation, 15 credits

* Only given in the spring

** Elective profile subject: Media and Communication Studies, Sociology (including Social Psychology and Criminology), Psychology, Economics, Statistics and Political Science. NB all elective profile subjects may not be offered every semester.

*** The student chooses the order of semester 5 and 6.

**** Choice of the student. The requirements are that the student will take 30 higher education credits in completed courses. For free standing courses in Sweden, no guaranteed place is given.

After completing the programme the student shall also achieve the applicable outcomes in the relevant higher education qualification contained in the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance (Swedish Code of Statutes – SFS 1993:100, Qualifications Ordinance, Appendix 2).

After completion of the education the student shall

Knowledge and understanding

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of political science as a scientific discipline. 
• have good knowledge of central institutions, actors and processes in different political systems, and at different political levels. 
• have good knowledge of political-philosophical ideas and about central dividing lines between different political ideologies. 
• have good knowledge of central concepts and theories of political science, such as power, state and public administration, political systems and institutions, democracy and democracy theory, elections and electoral behavior, globalization and theories of international politics. 
• have good knowledge of social science research methods, such as statistical and qualitative analysis, interview techniques, text analysis and few and multiple case studies. 

Competence and skills

• demonstrate ability to perform tasks within given time frames.
• demonstrate ability to communicate in political and societal matters in dialogue with different groups in the society. 
• demonstrate the ability to critically reflect and discuss issues and questions related to political science. 
• demonstrate good ability to analyze politics and political systems in relation to opinion-based, economic, social and international contexts. 
• demonstrate good ability to independently identify and formulate a political science problem.
• demonstrate good ability to independently search, gather, value and critically interpret information based on a political science problem. 
• demonstrate good ability to independently and scientifically investigate and analyze a political science problem using the appropriate methods. 
• demonstrate good ability to critically review and reflect on political and societal issues. 
• demonstrate good ability to compile, present and, in oral and written form, defend a scientific thesis 

Judgement and approach

• demonstrate the ability to, in dialogue with others, respect and value different perspectives on political and societal issues. 
• demonstrate ability to critically read scientific texts. 
• demonstrate ability to independence regarding various scientific subjects and theoretical traditions. 
• demonstrate ability to make judgments relevant to political science regarding scientific, social and ethical aspects. 
• demonstrate insight into the role and importance of knowledge in society, including people's responsibility for how it is used. 
• demonstrate the ability to identify ones need for additional knowledge and take responsibility for developing ones skills.

For students who have begun their studies before July 1 2019 courses can be replaced as follows:

SK1124 Political Theory 7,5 credits and

SK1125 International Relations 7,5 credits

can be replaced by

SK1123 Political Theory and International Relations 15 credits

For students who have begun their studies before July 1 2016 courses can be replaced as follows:

SK1214 Democracy and democratization in a comparative perspective 15 credits

can be replaced by

SK1213 Democracy in Theory and Practice 15 credits

For students who have begun their studies before July 1 2011 courses can be replaced as follows:

SK1124 Political Theory 7,5 credits and

SK1125 International Relations 7,5 credits

can be replaced by

SK1131 Comparative European Politics 15 credits or

SK1132 Sweden in World Politics 15 credits or

SK1134 Introduction to Environmental Politics 15 credits.

For students who have begun their studies before July 1 2007 courses can be replaced as follows:

SK1113 Institutions and Actors in Political Systems 15 credits and

SK1124 Political Theory 7,5 credits and

SK1125 International Relations 7,5 credits

can together be replaced by

SK0100 Statsvetenskap: Grundkurs 30 credits

For students who have begun their studies before July 1 2007 courses can be replaced as follows:

SK1214 Democracy and democratization in a comparative perspective 15 credits

SK1223 Further Studies in Democracy 15 credits

can together be replaced by

SK2300 Statsvetenskap: Fortsättningskurs 30 credits

The programme will be followed up and evaluated in accordance with the applicable Policy for the Quality Assurance and Quality Development of Education at the University of Gothenburg (Policy för kvalitetssäkring och kvalitetsutveckling av utbildning vid Göteborgs universitet). 

For courses included in the programme but not within the main field of Political Science each department is responsible for quality assurance activities.

With the aim to create a coherent feeling of the programme, there are are special activities. Great emphasis is placed on career activiteis where we encourage students to take responsibility for their own career and offer lectures, workshops, alumni lectures and seminars in the field. In addition, we also arrange events of social nature.

Students admitted to the program have general guaranteed admission to all mandatory courses in political science provided that they 1) apply according to assigned administrative procedures, and 2) have completed the prerequisite courses. The student also has guaranteed admission to one profile subject within the programme. NB! A profile subject will not be offered if there are too few applicants and the full selection of elective profile subjects may therefore not be available every semester. Students admitted to the program have no guaranteed admission to the freestanding courses on the fifth semester.