Courses

Here is the complete list of Political Science courses that satisfy general education requirements.

SJ – Social Justice, GP – Global Perspectives, AERM – American Ethnic and Racial Minorities, ES – Environmental Sustainability

Which Courses Count for what Breadth Field?

*Please note that, if you have already fulfilled your breadth requirements, any additional breadth class listed here can be used to count towards PLSI elective units

Breadth Field: American Politics

• PLSI/PA 400: Introduction to Public Policy in the US (3 Units)
• PLSI 460: Topics in American Politics* (4 Units)
• PLSI 461: Voting Behavior, Campaigns, and Elections (4 Units)
• PLSI 462: Applied Public Opinion Research (4 Units)
• PLSI 463:The Politics of Immigration in the United States (4 Units)
• PLSI 464: Race and American Politics (4 Units)
• PLSI 467: Politics and Community Organizing (4 Units)
• PLSI 468: Women and American Politics (4 Units)
• PLSI 469: Women’s Political Movements in the U.S. (4 Units)
• PLSI 470: The Politics of Sex and Reproduction (4 Units)
• PLSI 472: Civic and Political Engagement (4 Units)
• PLSI 473: California Politics and Government (4 Units)
• PLSI 475: San Francisco Political Issues (4 Units)
• PLSI 476: The American Presidency (4 Units)
• PLSI 477: Congress and the Presidency (4 Units)
• PLSI 479: The United States Congress (4 Units)
• PLSI 512: Urban Politics and Community Power (4 Units)
• PLSI 603: Public Service Internships (3 Units)
• PLSI 604: Internship Seminar (1 Unit)

Breadth Field: Comparative Politics

• PLSI 307: Qualitative Approaches and Methods in Political Science and International Relations (4 Units)
• PLSI 403: Cases in Comparative Politics (4 Units) * Formerly PLSI 319
• PLSI 404: Politics of China (4 Units)
• PLSI 407: Politics of Russia (4 Units)
• PLSI 408: Mexican Politics and Society (3 Units)
• PLSI 409: Russia and World Order (4 Units)
• PLSI 411: East Asian Politics (4 Units)
• PLSI 412: South Asian Politics (4 Units)
• PLSI 416: Ethnicity and Nationalism (4 Units)
• PLSI 418: Political Transitions in East and Southeast Asia (4 Units)
• PLSI 419: Comparative Political Economy (4 Units)
• PLSI 421: Social Movements in the Francophone World (In French) (4 Units)
• PLSI 422: Law and Courts in Comparative Perspective (4 Units)
• PLSI 423: Video Games, Politics, and The State (4 Units)
• PLSI 424: Social Movements (4 Units)
• PLSI 425: Imagining Power in the Middle East (4 Units)
• PLSI 459: Refugees in Global Perspective (4 Units)

Breadth Field: Political Theory

• PLSI 309: Theoretical Methods and Approaches in Political Science (4 Units)
• PLSI 351: Political Theory: The Classical Tradition (4 Units)
• PLSI 352: Political Theory: Reformation to the 19th Century (4 Units)
• PLSI 354: Politics, the Environment, and Social Change (4 Units)
• PLSI 355: Politics and Ethics of the Consumer Society (3 Units)
• PLSI 356: Political Theories of Neoliberalism (4 Units)
• PLSI 360: Development of American Political Thought (4 Units)
• PLSI 372: Critical Political Theory (4 Units)
• PLSI 381: Political Theories of Sexuality (4 Units)
• PLSI 382: Politics and Literature (4 Units)
• PLSI 386: Introduction to Critical Social Thought (3 Units)
• PLSI 388: Politics and the Popular (4 Units)
• PLSI 389: Latin American Revolutionary Societies (4 Units)
• PLSI 392: Latin American Political Thought (4 Units)
• PLSI 393: Anarchist Political Theory (4 Units)
• PLSI 394: Political Theories of Work, Labor and Free Time (4 Units)
• PLSI 396: Fascism and Communism in Europe (4 Units) * Formerly PLSI 405

Breadth Field: Public Law

(Note: PLSI 478 is a prerequisite for PLSI 554, 556, 557, 561 and 609)

• PLSI 308: Research and Writing for Public Law (4 Units)
• PLSI 478: Judicial Process (4 Units)
• PLSI 481: Race and Public Law (4 Units)
• PLSI 552: Individual Rights and the Constitution (4 Units)
• PLSI 553: Legal Issues (4 Units)
• PLSI 554: Separation of Powers and Federalism (4 Units)
• PLSI 555: Moot Court* (4 Units)
• PLSI 556: Constitutional Law: First Amendment (4 Units)
• PLSI 557: Constitutional Law: Fourteenth Amendment (4 Units)
• PLSI 561: Jurisprudence (4 Units)
• PLSI 562: Jurisprudence Writing Workshop (3 Units)
• PLSI 610: Legal and Public Service Internship and Seminar (3 Units)
• PLSI 611: Legal and Public Service Internship (1 Unit)

(610/611 must be taken concurrently)

*PLSI 555: Moot Court May be repeated once for credit, but only 4 units may be applied to breadth.

*Please note that, if you have already fulfilled your breadth and senior seminar requirements, any additional breadth or senior seminar class can be used to count towards PLSI elective units.

• PLSI 100: Understanding Politics (3 Units)
• PLSI 105: Principles of Government and Politics (3 Units)
• PLSI 106: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy: Intro to Political Economy (3 Units)
• PLSI 150: Contemporary Moral/Political Issues (3 Units)
• PLSI 216: The 2024 presidential election: issues and analysis (2 units )
• PLSI 318: Modern Citizenship: Pundits, Podcasts, and Political Know-How in the 21st Century (2 Units)
• PLSI 320: Political Issues (2 Units)
• PLSI 321: Development and Foreign Policy: Africa (4 Units)
• PLSI 322: Policy Analysis: The Latin American Cases (4 Units)
• PLSI 325: Chinese Foreign Policy (4 Units)
• PLSI 342: Modern Conflict: Cyber Warfare, Food Security, And Crises in the International System (4 Units)
• PLSI 362: The Making of US Foreign Policy (4 Units)
• PLSI 373: Essentials of California Politics (1 Unit)
• PLSI 395: Political Theory of Pedagogy and Community Activism (3 Units)
• PLSI 402/PA 402: Introduction to Public Administration (3 Units)
• PLSI 430: Israeli Democracy: Politics, Institutions and Society (3 Units)
• PLSI 492: Research Methods (3 Units)
• PLSI 493: Data Analysis (3 Units)
• PLSI 500: Labor and Government (3 Units)
• PLSI/GER/HIST/I R 514: Political Violence and Terrorism in German History, Film, and Visual Media (3 Units)
• PLSI 544: Women in the World (4 Units)
• PLSI 560: Urban Poverty and Policy (4 Units)
• PLSI 570: Urban Health Policy (3 Units)
• PLSI 580: Housing Policy and Planning (3 Units)
• PLSI 685: Projects in the Teaching of Political Science (1 - 4 Units)
• PLSI 699: Independent Study (by petition and consent of instructor) (1 - 4 Units)

• PLSI 700 Political Science: Theory and Methods (Units: 3)
• PLSI 701 Graduate Writing in Political Science (Units: 3)
• PLSI 702 Seminar: Politics As Story (Units: 3)
• PLSI 705 Seminar: Student's Choice Empirical Research Project (Units: 3)
• PLSI 707 Practicum in Teaching in Political Science In Higher Education (Units: 3)
• PLSI 708 College Teaching of Political Science (Units: 3)
• PLSI 714 Seminar: Politics of Reproduction (Units: 3)
• PLSI 733 Intelligence and Foreign Policy (Units: 3)
• PLSI 736 International Development and Global Governance (Units: 3)
• PLSI 740 Seminar in American Politics (Units: 3)
• PLSI 741 Women and Politics in the United States (Units: 3)
• PLSI 742 Public Opinion, Elections, and Media (Units: 3)
• PLSI 746 Urban Politics and Power (Units: 3)
• PLSI 747 Gender and the Law (Units: 3)
• PLSI 748 U.S. Courts and the Making of Public Policy (Units: 3)
• PLSI 749 Nonprofits, Public Policy and Society (Units: 3)
• PLSI 760 Seminar in Comparative Politics (Units: 3)
• PLSI 764 Democracy and Authoritarianism (Units: 3)
• PLSI 780 Seminar in Political Theory (Units: 3)
• PLSI 786 Great Theorists: Walter Benjamin (Units: 3)
• PLSI 787 The Political Theory of Franz Kafka (Units: 3)
• PLSI 788 Latin American Political Theory (Units: 3)
• PLSI 789 Political Theories of Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism (Units: 3)
• PLSI 891 Culminating Experience Design and Prep (Units: 3)
• PLSI 892 Supervised Field Internship in Political Science (Units: 3)
• PLSI 896 Preparation for Written Comprehensive Examination (Units: 3)
• PLSI 896EXM Culminating Experience Examination (Units: 0-3)
• PLSI 898 Master's Thesis (Units: 3)
• PLSI 899 Independent Study (Units: 1-4)

Senior Seminar: Culminating Experience (3-4 units)

The Political Science Department partners with many other depts to offer courses with a PLSI prefix but are primarily taught and managed by other "Home" Departments. See below for a list of cross-listed PLSI courses.