2009-2010 Undergraduate Bulletin (pdf) - LaGrange College

INTRODUCTION
POLITICAL SCIENCE
The political science program is designed to provide students with the
knowledge and skills they will need to become active, useful citizens in
modern democratic polities. For students who concentrate in political
science or who take only occasional courses, this means that the political
science program will develop your capacity to understand political
organizations and political processes, to analyze the forces affecting
political decisions, and to form judgments about your obligations and
rights as a citizen. It also means that the political science program will
provide you with the skills necessary to begin a career in business, public
service, consulting, or journalism or to continue your education in
graduate studies or law school.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students majoring in political science at LaGrange College will acquire
basic knowledge of these areas:
• the values, processes, and institutions that affect collective decision
-making and contemporary politics in the United States,
• the comparative analysis of the values, processes, and institutions
that affect collective decision-making and contemporary politics in
other countries,
• the relations between and among states, especially those affecting
international conflict and international cooperation,
• the ethical dimensions of public policy issues, political practices,
and constitutional and legal questions.
Students majoring in political science at LaGrange College will also
acquire the basic skills necessary to comprehend and perform modern
political analysis. These include:
• ability to analyze the foundations of and differences between
normative and empirical inquiry,
• knowledge of the basic elements of research design and methods in
normative, empirical, and historical studies of politics,
• knowledge of basic data management and analysis and of the use of
computers in political research,
• ability to convey findings in both written and oral presentations.
268