Undergraduate students who Minor in Political Science become informed and engaged citizens of the world.

Our Minor is intended for students who would like to supplement their Major in another discipline with a basic political science education. Adding a Minor to your BA degree means that you will gain some exposure to the systematic study of politics and government, deepening your academic studies and potentially opening new career paths.

The Minor gives students less training in Political Science than our Major or Honours options. The only restriction is that Minors in Political Science cannot Major in Law and Public Policy, becase coursework in these programs overlaps so substantially. The Minor in Political Science also does not require any training in qualitative or quantitative research design and analysis.  Because of this, students looking to have these skills on their resume often start off as Minors, but later switch to our Major or Honours programs once they realize the advantages. It is also possible to do a Joint Major in Political Science with a Major in another discipline, instead of a Political Science Minor. 

If you are considering a Minor, have a look at our year-by-year overview to decide on the degree path that is right for you.

Declaring

Every March, the Department of Political Science holds a declaration celebration with our students and faculty to welcome our newest members. If you don't want to wait, you can find all the information that you need to complete the declaration of a Minor in Political Science over at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. It’s as easy as completing this form and submitting it via email to the Office of the University Registrar (registrar@mun.ca) using your official @mun email account.

Program Requirements

Students who wish to graduate with a Minor in Political Science must complete 24 credit hours (or 8 courses) in Political Science over the four years of their BA degree. 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.

Declared Political Science Minors will begin their first year of studies by taking POSC 1000 (“Introduction to Politics and Government”), which is required, along with an optional class, POSC 1001 (“Critical Reading and Writing: Politics and Governance”), which helps students gain the writing and research skills to do university level work. As a bonus, POSC 1001 also counts towards the general “CRW” requirement for the BA degree.

Minors in their second year must complete 6 credit hours (2 courses) at the 2000 level in Political Science, and may choose from POSC 2100 (“Introduction to Political Theory”), POSC 2200 (“Global Politics”), POSC 2300 (“Comparative Politics”), POSC 2600 (“Public Policy and Administration”), or POSC 2800 (“Canadian Politics and Government”). Many Minors take more 2000 level classes to explore their interests and get a more well-rounded sense of the various subfields in the discipline.  

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.

The third and fourth years are where Minors get the opportunity to take a few more specialized courses. Minors are encouraged, but not required, to complete POSC 3010 (“Empirical Methods in Political Science”), which provides basic skills in quantitative and qualitative research and analysis. Fourth year classes typically assume some familiarity with research methods, and push students to test ideas and theories using empirical evidence. Minors are required to take 12 credit hours (4 courses) at the 3000 and 4000 levels, and at least 3 credit hours (1 course) more at the 4000 level.

To graduate with a Minor 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.