B.A. Program and Minor
The Politics Department at UC Santa Cruz encourages undergraduate students to study political life broadly, whether in government institutions or other power relations structures. We emphasize the study of institutionalized inequalities, whether those institutions be governmental, philosophical, or economic. We link the study of domestic politics to international politics and bring theoretical concerns to bear on the current and recurrent issues that mark the modern polity.
In addition to the B.A. program and minor described below that are administered by our department, we also partner with the Latin American and Latino Studies Department to offer a Latin American and Latino Studies/Politics Combined B.A.
Politics B.A. program
Our curriculum develops students’ skills in comprehending and engaging complex arguments and phenomena. Students also learn to articulate clear, sound, and compelling arguments based on appropriate evidence in spoken and written presentations.
Learning outcomes:
- Understand the origins, development, and nature of political institutions, practices, and ideas.
- Place particular political phenomena in broader historical, cross-national, cross-cultural, and theoretical contexts.
- Demonstrate familiarity with various theoretical approaches to the study of politics and their application in different geographic and substantive areas.
- Critically evaluate arguments about political institutions, practices, and ideas based on logic and evidence.
- Develop and sustain coherent written and oral arguments regarding political phenomena, theories, and values based on appropriate empirical and/or textual evidence and logic.
Politics Minor
Students in our minor gain a solid grounding in ideas, concepts, and real-world problems and possibilities of politics through a selection of at least six courses. The minor requires students to complete one lower-division course, four core classes (two from each of two chosen subfields), and one upper-division elective.
What can you do with a degree in Politics?
A major in Politics is an appropriate background for students interested in careers in law, journalism, and teaching, political and governmental work from the local to international level, and government relations or leadership roles with NGOs, non-profit organizations, and businesses and corporations. Our graduates are well-prepared to perform work such as congressional staffing, foreign service, civil service, legislative research, lobbying, policy analysis, political campaigning, political science, public administration, and organizing for labor, environmental causes, or social change.
UCSC politics graduates may also go on to graduate and professional schools, after which they often pursue careers as lawyers, judges, researchers, professors, or other leadership opportunities in the public or private sector.
Meet our students and alumni
Kim Bernice Nguyen: Garden Grove City Council Member and Candidate for U.S. Congress
Kim Bernice Nguyen (’13, B.A.) is the youngest person to ever be elected to the Garden Grove City Council at 25 years old and the first person of Latin descent. She is running for the U.S. Congress in 2024 and aspires to one day run for president.
Amanda Safi: Interning with U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta
A scholarship from the Transforming Futures program provided financial support for politics undergraduate Amanda Safi, so that she could participate in an unpaid summer internship. Safi is also a menstrual equity advocate who has helped to enact state-level policy change.
Ted Malpass: Researching politics of the biopharmaceutical industry
Ted Malpass coauthored a major research publication as an undergraduate, working alongside Politics Professor Matt Sparke on research funded through the Building Belonging program. Malpass hopes to advocate for affordable healthcare through his career.
Admissions requirements
First-year students
No specific high school courses are required for admission to the major in politics at UCSC. Courses in history, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences, whether taken at the high school or college level, are appropriate background and preparation for the politics major.
For more information, visit the catalog.
Transfer students
This is a non-screening major. Transfer students will find it helpful to complete college courses that satisfy UCSC general education requirements.
For more information, see the Politics B.A. program’s transfer requirements and policies.
Additional transfer credit information
Courses from other institutions may be considered only if accepted by the UCSC Admissions Office and appear on the student’s transfer credit list on the MyUCSC portal. For more information on how to receive credit from another institution, see the UCSC Navigator “Educational Options” section.
California community college students may complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) before transferring to UCSC. Transfer course agreements between UC and California community colleges can be accessed at assist.org.
Courses taken through the Education Abroad Program (EAP) are automatically accepted for UCSC credit. No Advanced Placement courses are accepted for credit to the major. Students can substitute only one course taken elsewhere to satisfy a Politics Department lower-division requirement. Students should discuss the process with the department advisor.