Undergraduate students who are admitted to the Honours program in Political Science have a track record of academic excellence, and are empowered to pursue their own research interests through a yearlong, supervised research project on a topic of their choosing.  

Our Honours program in Political Science is ideal for students looking to apply competitively to graduate school or law school, or those seeking professional careers where high quality writing and research is essential, such as academia, journalism, or government. Successful Honours students can count on having a sophisticated understanding of Political Science and its subfields, strong skills in data analysis and communication, and a demonstrated ability to work independently on a major research project.   

The Honours program leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours—BA (Hons)—and gives students the most training in Political Science. It differs from a Major by requiring students to complete more coursework in Political Science and submit an Honours essay under the supervision of a Political Science faculty member. Like the Major, however, Honours students still have the option of pursuing a Minor in another discipline to complement their studies. The only restriction is that Honours students in Political Science cannot Minor in Law and Public Policy, because the courses in these programs overlap so substantially.

Prospective Honours students must apply through a separate process and meet the Department's admissions criteria to gain entrance to the program. The Political Science Department also offers students the ability to declare Joint Honours instead of declaring a Minor. This involves completing the coursework requirements for Honours in Political Science and another discipline (excluding Law and Public Policy) and submitting an Honours essay to one of the two departments. Students who pursue Joint Honours typically do so when their research project is interdisciplinary and would benefit from a broader social science knowledge. But it means forgoing any elective courses and specializing in only two disciplines.

Have a look at our year-by-year overview for Honours and Majors to decide which option is right for you. Honours students are strongly encourged to consider applying to our Master of Arts (MA) program after graduation. 

Declaring 

Admissions to the Honours program in Political Science is selective and depends on the willingness and availability of a faculty member to supervise your Honours essay (see faculty research interests here). Most students consider applying to Honours at the start of their third year as a Major in Political Science, once they’ve got a better sense of what they’d like to work on and who they’d like to work with. 

To be considered for Honors or Joint Honours, students must have achieved a 70% average or better across eleven Political Science courses (or 33 credit hours), at any level, at the time of application. Since Honours requires the completion of a significant yearlong research project, in addition to extra coursework, prospective students should also have identified a suitable supervisor and have their confirmed support.

Officially declaring Honours or Joint Honours is a two-step process. 

Step 1: Apply for Admission to Honours

First, prospective students should complete an Application for Admission to Honours form, which can be submitted via email to the Office of the Registrar (registrar@mun.ca). The Registrar will then provide your application, along with a copy of your transcript grades, to the Head of the Department and Undergraduate Director for their review and signatures. Applications for Joint Honours must be signed by the Heads of both participating departments.

Step 2: Petition to Enrol in POSC 4010 and 4011

Second, declared Honours and Joint Honours candidates must also apply (and be accepted) to POSC 4010 ("Honours Essay I") and POSC 4011 ("Honours Essay II"), which is the yearlong sequence of courses that give the candidate credit for actually researching and writing their Honours essay. Joint Honours students should apply to POSC 4010 and 4011 only if they plan to submit their Honours essay to Political Science, over the other participating department.

Declared Honours and Joint Honours students seeking admission to POSC 4010 and 4011 should submit this course add/drop form to the Political Science main office (polisci@mun.ca), since these courses are not available to regular students without permission. Honours and Joint Honours students typically petition to take POSC 4010 in the Fall semester of their fourth year, and petition to take POSC 4011 during the following Winter semester. 

Program Requirements

Students aiming to graduate with Honours in Political Science must complete 60 credit hours (20 courses) in Political Science over the four years of their BA degree. Students looking to complete Joint Honours must earn 51 credit hours (17 courses) in each of the participating departments and complete all required Political Science courses. The curriculum follows a set sequence so that the knowledge and skills students acquire in their first- and second-year classes prepare them for more sophisticated material in their third- and fourth years. This sequence also allows our faculty to prepare lectures, assignments, and other course materials appropriate to each student’s learning stage.

Beginning in September 2024, all 3000 and 4000 level Political Science courses have a general 45 credit hour pre-requisite, requiring students to have completed at least 45 credits of university level classes (in any subject) before enrolling in our upper-level offerings. This is to encourage students to appropriately sequence their studies.

To be considered for Honours, a student must have achieved a 70% average or higher in 33 credit hours (11 courses) of Political Science courses at the time of application. Prospective Honours applicants should begin the first year of their BA degrees by declaring a Major in Political Science, and enrolling in  POSC 1000 (“Introduction to Politics and Government”). Prospective Honours applicants should also enroll in POSC 1001 (“Critical Reading and Writing: Politics and Governance”), both to earn the necessary credit hours in Political Science for their application and to gain the writing and research skills needed to eventually undertake an independent research project. As a bonus, POSC 1001 also counts towards the general “CRW” requirement for the BA degree. Prospective applicants who have completed POSC 1000, may also consider taking a 2000-level Political Science course in the second semester of their first year, to get ahead.  

In their second year, prospective Honours applicants must take  POSC 2100 (“Introduction to Political Theory”), which is required. Prospective Honors applicants must also take one of either POSC 2300 (“Comparative Politics”) or POSC 2800 (“Canadian Politics and Government”). It is strongly recommended that prospective Honours applicants take all of these courses, as well as POSC 2200 (“Global Politics”) and POSC 2600 (“Public Policy and Administration”). This will ensure that enough credit hours are earned prior to your Honours application, while also enabling you to get a sense of the different subfields in the discipline and identify areas or topics you might later wish to work on. Taking at least three 2000-level Political Science courses also has the extra benefit of fulfilling an additional subfield breadth requirement. In the second semester of their second year, those looking to apply to Honours should also consider enrolling in at least one 3000-level Political Science course.

Third year is when prospective Honours applicants should begin to put together their applications. The best strategy is to select 3000-level courses in Political Science on topics that you might be interested in specializing in, or with faculty members that you might be interested in working with. Speak with faculty in class and during their office hours to see if a Honours supervision is something they would support based on your academic performance.

All prospective Honours applicants must complete POSC 3010 (“Empirical Methods in Political Science”) to acquire basic skills in quantitative and qualitative research and analysis. Prospective Honours applicants should also take at least 15 additional credit hours (5 courses) in 3000-level Political Science courses during the third year, and ideally one 4000 level Political Science course.

Declared Honours, Majors, Minors, are given priority registration for all 3000 and 4000 level Political Science classes to ensure that they can complete their programs on time. What this means, in practice, is that declared students will be permitted to enroll earlier than non-declared students for all upper-year Political Science classes, so that they are sure to get a seat.

Assuming a student’s application to Honours is successful, Honours candidates will petition to enroll in the 6 credit hour Honours essay sequence—POSC 4010 (“Honours Essay I”) and POSC 4011 (“Honours Essay II”)—when registering for courses for their fourth year. While undertaking research for, and writing their Honours essay, fourth year Honours students should take at least 6 credit hours (2 courses) at the 4000-level in Political Science, and an additional 6 credit hours (2 courses) in Political Science at the 3000-level or 4000-level.

Political Science Honours essays are graded by the student’s supervisor and a second reader from the Department, with the final grade being an average of their scores. The Honours essay (POSC 4010 and 4011) must be passed with a grade of 70% or better. If the student is pursuing Joint Honours, they must indicate the department to which they will be submitting their Honours essay for evaluation. Please note that it is not possible to do a Joint Honours in Political Science and Law and Public Policy, since they are administered by the same department.  

To graduate with a BA Honours degree in Political Science, a student must have an average of 60% or better in courses required for the Political Science program (excluding 1000-level courses). A student receiving 55% or less on any Political Science course at the 2000-level or higher is expected to seek advice from the Department at the start of the next semester to ensure that adequate progress is being maintained.