Reed College
Reed College

Political Science Department

Department Policies

Since most Political Science courses are taught as conferences of 24 or less, we apply Enrollment Priority Policy criteria twice; first, on the last day of classes of spring semester; and second, the first day of class.

See our Policy Regarding Transfer Of Credits For Political Science and AP/IB Credit Policy for the Department's specific policies; for the College's general policies, see the registrar's page on Transferring Credit.

While we do not regularly approve ad hoc majors, we do outline our general requirements for such majors; see Political Science Policy on Interdisciplinary Ad Hoc Majors. Political Science can be used as a home department for International and Comparative Policy Studies, Environmental Studies, or American Studies, among others; see the full list of college-wide Interdisciplinary Study and Dual Degrees maintained by the Admissions Office.

Declaring under 2016 or 2017 Requirements

The requirements listed below are mandatory for all students entering in Fall 2017, and encouraged for all students who declare during or after Spring 2017. 

2016 Requirements

  1. Three of the four introductory courses, two of which must be completed before taking the junior qualifying examination. The third may be in progress at that time. a. Introduction to Comparative Politics (220). b. Introduction to Political Theory (280, formerly 230). c. Introduction to International Relations (240). d. Introduction to American Politics and Public Policy (260, formerly 210/250).
  2. Economics 201.
  3. Statistics: one of Political Science 311, Mathematics 141, Economics 311 or 312, Sociology 311, or Psychology 348. Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement in their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year.
  4. Political Science 470.
  5. Four additional units in political science.
  6. Junior qualifying examination. Students may take the junior qualifying examination during either semester of the junior year. Please note that the junior qualifying examination requires passing junior seminar. Specific requirements are stated on the department junior qualifying examination page, www.reed.edu/poli_sci/resources/juniorqual.html.

2017 Requirements

  1. At least two empirical introductory courses a. Introduction to Comparative Politics (220). b. Introduction to International Relations (240). c. Introduction to American Politics and Public Policy (260, formerly 210/250).
  2. At least one Political Theory course (230, 280–298, or 380–415).
  3. Statistics: one of Political Science 311, Mathematics 141, Economics 311 or 312, Sociology 311, or Psychology 348. Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement in their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year.
  4. Junior Seminar.
  5. Political Science 470.
  6. Four additional units in political science.
  7. Subfield Depth: Students must take at least two courses in each of two subfields: American Politics and Public Policy (260, 360–379, 460–469), Comparative Politics (220, 320–339, 420–439), International Relations (240, 340–359, 440–459), or Political Theory (280–298, 380–415)
  8. Junior qualifying examination. Students may take the junior qualifying examination during either semester of the junior year, but must have completed both empirical introductory courses and at least one upper-level course before doing so. Specific requirements are stated on the department junior qualifying examination page, www.reed.edu/poli_sci/resources/juniorqual.html.

Enrollment Priority Policy

(Approved May 2008, modified September 2014)

All Political Science courses are taught as conferences; in order to ensure that students who need to take particular classes to satisfy requirements, we apply priority criteria to all POL classes when enrollment exceeds 24.

We have slightly different criteria for introductory courses (2x0) and upper-level (3xx and 4xx) courses, since POL, ES-POL, and ICPS-POL majors are required to complete all three of their introductory courses by the end of their junior year. Since our introductory courses are often required for our upper-level courses, for non-majors we give priority to those earlier in their Reed careers. Finally, we reserve a third of the slots for all introductory classes for freshmen.

Note that Reed does not allow for an official declaration of major until after completing 13 units. Sophomores and Freshmen who intend to declare as POL, ES-POL, or ICPS-POL majors may change their (unofficial) major status on IRIS before that time by visiting the Registrar's office in person. There is no official form.

Introductory course waitlist priority (for the 2/3 of the slots not for freshmen):

  1. POL, ES-POL, and ICPS-POL majors by class rank (Juniors>Sophomores)
  2. Students who were capped out the previous year (i.e., those who were stranded on a waitlist)
  3. Other ICPS majors (Juniors>Sophomores)
  4. ES and HSS majors (Juniors>Sophomores)
  5. Other students by inverse class rank (Sophomores>Juniors>Seniors)
  6. Any ties within categories of students will be in resolved in order of registration, prioritizing Day 1 registrants.

Upper-level course waitlist priority:

  1. POL, ES-POL, and ICPS-POL majors by class rank (Seniors>Juniors>Sophomores)
  2. Other ICPS majors (Seniors>Juniors>Sophomores)
  3. ES and HSS majors by class rank (Seniors>Juniors>Sophomores)
  4. Other students
  5. Any ties within categories of students will be in resolved in order of registration, prioritizing Day 1 registrants.

These criteria are applied the last day of classes in Spring semester. In accordance with the registrar's standard procedure, as students drop over the break, students who are placed on the waitlist will be offered an opportunity to register for the class in order. Any students who are still on the waitlist at the end of the break must attend the first class of the semester to remain eligible for any slots that open up by the end of the add period.

AP/IB Credit Policy

(Revised June 2008, July 2010, December 2015, September 2017, November 2019)

AP and IB credits may only be used to satisfy prerequisites and do not count towards Division or Group requirements. A student who has received a 4 or 5 on either the AP Comparative Politics exam or the AP American Government exam or both may:

  1. Use either exam to satisfy a prerequisite for a generic "introductory political science course" for upper-division classes. The AP Comparative exam may also be used as a prerequisite in place of Pol 220, and the AP American Government exam may be used as a prerequisite in place of Pol 260.

  2. (for majors fulfilling 2016 requirements only) Waive one of the three introductory courses required for the major; the student must take at least two introductory courses at Reed even if both exams are passed, and still must take seven political science courses.
For grades of 5 or higher on the IB Global Politics HL exam, a student may use the exam to satisfy a prerequisite for a generic "introductory political science course" for upper-division classes. It may not be used as a prerequisite in place of Pol 220 or Pol 240.

Policy Regarding Transfer Of Credits For Political Science

(Approved September 12, 1996; Amended Sept. 24, 1997; Amended August 24, 2007; Amended February 22, 2009; Amended July 2010; Amended December 2015; Updated May 2017; Updated September 2019)

Students must submit their requests for transfer units within one year of arriving at Reed. The Political Science Department's Policy for transferring credits depends on whether a student is majoring in Political Science or not, and when the credits are earned for majors.

The department cannot give credit for a course without a syllabus demonstrating that the course is, in fact, a Political Science course; consequently, we can only provisionally pre-approve courses. However, we do regularly approve courses after transfer with a syllabus. Note that departmental approval is only required for Group B, Group II, or Divisional credits; the chair of Off-Campus Study Programs may sign for bulk credit.

Non-HSS majors may use any political science taken elsewhere to fulfill one or two of the Group II requirements. We recommend consulting the department before taking courses so that we may provisionally pre-approve them; approval by the department after taking courses is necessary for Group II credit.

HSS majors. All HSS majors must take at least one introductory (220, 240, 260, or 280) course at Reed College to satisfy Divisional requirements through Political Science (this was also the case for all non-majors to satisfy Group B under the old requirements system). Consequently, even if HSS majors take multiple Political Science courses at another university before or after arriving at Reed, only one course can be transferred to count towards these requirements regardless of which courses you take, introductory or not. Exceptions to this rule are occasionally granted by the department on a case-by-case basis for transferred courses with syllabi that are exceptionally similar to a specific introductory course as taught at Reed.

Transfer students majoring in Political Science. The Department recognizes that transfer students may face difficulties in completing all the requirements for a major in a timely way. Depending on a transfer student's past courses, the Department may consider petitions that grant transfer students greater flexibility in their program.

If you are a transfer student who plans to become a Political Science major, the Department requires that at least two introductory courses be completed at Reed if you are transferring in as a sophomore. Two introductory courses are highly recommended if you are transferring in as a junior.

All Political Science Majors. Sometimes, majors take political science courses at another university in the United States or overseas after matriculation. If you plan to do so, you should discuss your courses in advance with the Department. Present the Department with course descriptions and, if available, a syllabus. The following rules apply to course pre-approval requests for all Reed study abroad programs as well as credits transferred from non-Reed approved programs.

If you are a major, you may take a maximum of two upper level courses at another university to meet your upper level political science course requirements. Majors will note that some introductory courses are offered once a year, and they may not be able to take the course either due to a schedule conflict or enrollment in study abroad programs. In these cases, upon the advisor's recommendation, the Department will consider granting credit for courses that are equivalent to introductory courses taken at other universities. But generally the department strongly prefers that majors take both required empirical introductory courses at Reed.

Students who study abroad in spring semester of their junior year and therefore cannot take the junior seminar that semester have two options: 1) They may take junior seminar in their sophomore or senior years; we strongly recommend taking it sophomore year. 2) They may take an equivalent course in political science research design abroad and petition the department for it to transfer as a replacement for the junior seminar. They should communicate with the department beforehand to increase the likelihood that the course will transfer as such. We encourage students to go abroad as sophomores or first-semester juniors.

Political Science Policy on Interdisciplinary Ad Hoc Majors

(as approved by the department on 10/17/02; amended April 2017)

Requests for ad hoc interdisciplinary majors will require a clear and compelling rationale, and will not normally be approved. Students requesting them must not only find two advisors from the participating departments, but must also receive written approval from both departments as specified in the Faculty Code. In order to receive such approval, the student must formally petition the department.

Requirements of the petition:

This petition must state the educational goals and benefits of the ad hoc major and how these goals could not be met within a traditional major. Barring unusual circumstances, such petitions much be received by the first Monday following the break of the first semester of a student's junior year (normally, the first Monday after fall break).

  1. The ad hoc major MUST include the following:
    1. At least two empirical introductory courses (220, 240, or 260)
    2. Either:
      a. Subfield Depth (e.g., ICPS/ES-like ad hoc majors): Students must take at least two courses in each of two subfields: American Politics and Public Policy (260, 360–379, 460–469), Comparative Politics (220, 320–339, 420–439), International Relations (240, 340–359, 440–459), or Political Theory (280–298, 380–415),  OR
      b. Political Theory (e.g., Pol-Rel): At least one Political Theory course (280–298 or 380–415)
    3. Statistics: one of Political Science 311, Mathematics 141, Economics 311 or 312, Sociology 311, or Psychology 348. Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement in their sophomore year or first semester of their junior year.
    4. Junior Seminar.
    5. Three upper-level Political Science courses (i.e, 300 or 400 level).
    6. The regular Political Science junior qualifying exam.
  2. If the ad hoc major is outside the HSS Division, then at least two courses in another HSS department.

Political Science is interdisciplinary by its very nature. Substantively, it focuses on political decision making by individuals, groups, and governments; but its methodology and theoretical underpinnings draw on psychology, sociology, economics, history, anthropology and philosophy. The Reed Political Science major reflects this in its structure, requiring both breadth within the major (the "introductory courses") and outside the major (the HSS distribution requirements and statistical reasoning). For these reasons, we believe that the Reed Political Science curriculum is flexible enough to allow students to pursue their special interests within the context of our major and that ad hoc majors are unnecessary.

Ad hoc majors are time-consuming for faculty and potentially confusing and troublesome to administer. For these reasons, and because we believe that the political science major is already well-suited for interdisciplinary work, ad hoc majors require a clear and compelling rationale and are best suited for students with exemplary academic records.