Political Science Doctoral Programs

Political science is a social science that is concerned with the theory and practice of politics.  Beyond that political science is the in depth study and analysis of political systems throughout the world and political behavior, ideology and the people behind the systems.  Political scientists may be considered by some to be just like psychologists for politics. Political scientists make it their goal to show the general public the underlying world of politics and what and why people do what they do.  They will reveal their thoughts and theories to you and help to construct genera principles that underlie their theories about politics, political systems, parties and the world of politics as a hole.  You will find that political science is the study of the overview of general subjects and parts in the world of politics.  They study the framework of political systems, how things came to be, why they came to be and what these political systems can tell us.  You will find that you can do a lot with a political science degree.  You will find that political scientists can generally be found working in some of the following:

• Politicians
• Lawyers
• Judge
• Journalists
• Lobbyists
• Political speech writers
• Campaign managers
• Civil servants
• Activist
• Archivist
• Reporter
• CIA agent
• City planner
• Congressional Office/Senator/Governor
• Political writer/commentator
• Police Officer
• Detective

The list for jobs can go on and on. As you can see you can essentially do almost anything in the world of political science.  This is a degree that can take you anywhere that you want to go and you could virtually do anything that you want to do.  Political science majors will gain skills that will last them a lifetime.  You will learn what it means to analyze, you will learn communication skills, organizational skills, the basis of why certain governments around around and what the meaning behind them is.  Generally depending on what you would like to do as a political science major that will depend on how long you will be in school.  You will find that most political science majors are interested in becoming lawyers, judges or politicians.  But as you can tell from the list above, there is tons of different fields and avenues that you can go down. 

There are many people who find that they are interested in becoming a political scientists and really learning and studying the field of political science.  Many people decide to go all the way and work towards their Political science Doctorate.  Political Science Doctoral programs are extremely challenging but you will find that you will be working with some of the best and brightest around. 

You will find that most political science doctoral programs will offer several different fields of study that you will find yourself having to focus on.  For instance some of these fields of study may be some of the following:

• American Politics
• Comparative Politics
• International Relations
• Political Theory
• Public Policy

These are some of the categorizes that you would be focusing on and from there depending on the course and the requirements you would start your field of study. You will find that it will take five or more years to obtain your doctorate in Political science. It is a long and arduous road when you decide to strive for your doctorate in political science but it is definitely something that you can do.  Now there have been some people who have criticized the doctoral programs in political science claiming that the program is too hard and that the students who are involved do not get out for close to a decade. 

For instance those who are involved in the political science doctoral programs show much lower completion rates across the board then those that are in other degrees and programs.  For instance political science majors versus psychology majors were still trying to finish their doctoral degree seven years later versus psychology students who were done within three to five years.  Even worse, by the end of the seventh year only twenty-seven percent of political science majors had actually completed the doctoral program.  Then if you decide to look a few years further you will find that by the end of the tenth year of pursuing their doctorates forty-five percent had completed their program.  Those statistics are staggering.  On a national average political science doctoral students take seventy percent longer then other doctoral students to finish their degrees.  Once more after year ten you will find that literally thirty percent of political science majors where still in their doctoral programs trying to obtain their doctorate. 

Some may argue that political science majors have a drive and stamina to keep themselves in the field for that long even though they are not receiving their degree yet.  What is it about political science majors that makes them so much slower then the rest of the academic population when it comes to finishing up their doctoral degree?  Maybe it is the fact that the work is extremely extensive field work, but the problem with that theory is that other fields such as psychology, sociology and others require just as much field work, if not more.  Some may argue that the people involved in the field of political science are simply seeking teaching jobs so they would rather stay in school while either waiting for a spot to open in the university that they are studying. 

Those interested in applying for a political science doctoral program should not be "scared off" it is a great degree and there is a whole world of options when considering this degree.  Knowing what you are getting yourself into is important, but as long as you have the compassion and the drive to finish your degree that is all that really matters.  To be aware of the realities of the program is always a good thing but to those of you who are aware and are prepared to work and study hard, this is a field of study that will pay off in the long run.

taken from http://politicalsciencedoctoral.com/