Political Science, PhD

Course Requirements

Students pursuing the PhD in Political Science must take the required five semesters of coursework, which includes:

• Three Core Seminar Courses
  • Introduction to American Politics
  • Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • Introduction to World Politics
• Five Courses in Political Methodology
  • Research Methods and Statistics I
  • Research Methods and Statistics II
  • Introduction to Formal Theory
  • Two advanced skill courses
• Seven Electives (usually four in the student’s primary field and three in their secondary)
• Advanced Research Seminar course

Note: A minimum of 16 seminars (61 credit hours) is required for the PhD. The exact mix of courses and the distribution requirements are determined in consultation with a student’s general guidance committee.

Committe Selection

Doctoral candidates must have a guidance committee and a dissertation committee during their stay at Binghamton University. These committees may be composed of the same members throughout or may change if the student or a committee member wishes. Each committee serves a slightly different function, as described below. The committees may be organized or changed by obtaining the Nomination of Graduate Committee Form from the graduate secretary, collecting the signatures of the proposed members, and submitting it to the director of graduate studies for approval.

General Guidance Committee: Doctoral candidates must organize a general guidance committee by the end of their fourth semester in residence. This committee is made up of three members of the department faculty. The guidance committee advises the student on courses and other requirements needed to complete the degree. 

Dissertation Guidance Committee: The dissertation guidance committee serves in advisory and evaluative capacities during the preparation of the dissertation prospectus and the dissertation itself, and may include extra-departmental faculty. Admission to candidacy may not be completed without the dissertation guidance committee in place. Changes may be made during the dissertation phase as the student deems necessary and with approval of the director of graduate studies. An examiner from outside the department is assigned to the committee by the vice provost and dean of the Graduate School to participate in the oral defense.

Skill Requirement

The skill requirement has two parts: basic and advanced. Successful completion (with a grade of B- or better) of PLSC 500, PLSC 501 and PLSC 502 (which are required for all PhD students) fulfill the basic skill requirement. The advanced research skill may be acquired in either research methodology or a foreign language. Further, students are encouraged to attend a summer Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) program in methodology at the University of Michigan or a comparable alternative program that will materially aid their dissertation research.

Advanced Skill in Research Methodology: Students entering the program with a BA or BS degree must complete a minimum of eight credit hours (two seminars) in research methodology beyond the three-course basic skill requirements.

Advanced Skill in Foreign Language:  Students can meet the foreign language skill requirement necessary for fieldwork or to support their dissertation research by successfully completing an advanced foreign language course (excluding English) at Binghamton with a grade of B or better. To use a foreign language to satisfy this advanced skill requirement, Ph.D. students must obtain prior approval from both their Guidance Committee and the Graduate Committee, ensuring the language study directly contributes to their field research or dissertation needs.

Qualifying Exam Requirement

In late November or early December of the third semester in the program, all graduate students must take a three-hour written exam in one subfield of their choosing. The exam will be written and graded by the entire faculty in the appropriate subfield. The exam is open book and note. 

The implementation, structure, and style of the exam will be determined by the director of graduate studies. The director of graduate studies will make choices aimed at eliciting short and on-point answers. The faculty of the subfields themselves will write the questions, determine the number of questions and place limits (if any) on length of answers. 

There are three possible grades and outcomes to this exam:

• Sufficient to continue in the doctoral program.
• Insufficient to continue in the doctoral program, sufficient for MA. Student exits program at end of the third semester with an MA degree.
• Fail. Student exits program.

Evaluation of the qualifying exam will also involve consideration of performance in the program so far, especially performance in classes, in determining whether the student should continue in the doctoral program.

Comprehensive Exam Requirement

In January of their sixth semester, PhD students must complete a written exam in each of their declared subfields. Comprehensive exams encourage depth and breadth of knowledge in student’s subject areas, facilitating both students’ ability to teach competently in these areas and the development of successful research projects that contribute to the relevant literature. Students will not be required to take exams concurrently. Subfield committees may maintain reading lists to guide students’ preparations, prepare slates of questions for each examination period, and determine details of implementation. 

All exams will: 

1. Allow students a constrained choice over which questions to answer, e.g. by including multiple sections with slates of questions from which the students may choose;
2. Require responses to more than one question;
3. Solicit independent, original writing from students;
4. Last at most two calendar days.

There are three possible outcomes to an exam. Decisions will be rendered following a subfield meeting chaired by the subfield representative on the graduate committee. The outcomes are:

• Pass: The student continues in the program. The dissertation prospectus must be successfully defended within six (6) months of the successful completion of the comprehensive exams.
• Provisional Pass: The student must retake the exam. The provisional pass is a temporary grade and will be replaced with a grade of Pass or Fail based on the retake. The deadline for the retake is at the field’s discretion but may not be later than one month after the student has been notified of the exam result. Depending upon the nature and quality of the answers provided on the original exam, and at the field’s discretion, the retake may be in whole or in part, and may be oral or written in format. The retake must be in the same field as the original exam.
• Fail: The student may retake the exam one time. The deadline for the retake may not be later than the end of the semester. The retake will follow the same format as the original exam and must be in the same field as the original exam. A second failure results in dismissal from the program.

Dissertation Prospectus Requirement

Students should defend their dissertation prospectuses within six months of passing their comprehensive examination. The prospectus proposes a theoretically grounded important question and demonstrates how the research is to be conducted for, and reported in, the dissertation to answer the question. It should be submitted to all members of the student’s PhD guidance committee one month prior to its oral defense. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the oral defense in consultation with the guidance committee.

Dissertation Requirement

The development of the dissertation is aided by the dissertation supervisor. Students should take care to choose someone with whom they can work closely and who has an interest in the proposed research. The supervisor gives advice on the direction the research should take, critiques work in progress, encourages the advisee to finish the task within a reasonable time frame and assists in job placement. A final draft of the dissertation must be submitted to the dissertation committee within five years of successful completion of the PhD comprehensive examination.

Before the PhD may be conferred, the candidate must defend the work in an oral public defense. The dissertation committee must unanimously recommend conferral of the degree. Specific guidelines regarding the dissertation may be found on the Graduate School website. The handbook clearly outlines all the procedures for proper preparation and submission of the dissertation, including formatting, microfilming and binding. Protecting the research through copyright is explained as well.