Political Science focuses on how human societies choose to organize themselves, why they choose those formations, and what the implications of those choices are.

DISCOVERING POLITICAL SCIENCE
Our Political Science program covers the four traditional subfields of the discipline: Canadian Politics and Government, Comparative Politics, International Relations and World Politics, and Political Philosophy. Students are offered a sound foundation in the institutional and philosophical dimensions of political life and are attuned to the trends and shocks that alter the forces and issues affecting us at home and abroad.

The program also offers a for-credit Model United Nations course, which sends student each year to at least one major Model UN simulation. Teams have competed at Harvard, the UN in New York, and Ottawa. Each spring, St. Thomas hosts the John Peters Humphrey Model UN for high school students, giving students in our Political Science Department a chance to become centrally involved in organizing and running the event.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN STUDYING POLITICAL SCIENCE IF...
• You are interested in understanding how human choices affect how the world is organized
• You want to know more about the major current events that shape our social and cultural environment

CRITICAL AND TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
Political Science students hone their reading, writing, and analytic skills. They examine arguments, identify trends, test theories, and explain developments. They learn about the links between individual concerns and public policy problems. By studying case studies in national and international governance, international relations, and comparative politics, they develop their skills of public policy analysis and prepare themselves for analytical, project management, and communication work in various agencies of the government, as well as non-governmental and international organizations.

Many Political Science graduates pursue careers in law, journalism, public service, domestic and international organizations, research, communications and public relations, education, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, business, academia, and many other areas of the public and private sectors. A degree in Political Science prepares students to understand and thrive in the social and political aspects that inevitably affect almost every field of work.