Undergraduate Program

Which Government courses should I take? In what order should I take them?

The faculty of the Harvard Government Department, like the field of political science more generally, asks many different questions about politics and answers those questions using a variety of methods. Even a cursory glance at the departments that cross-list courses with Government will give you an indication of our breadth. We intersect with Philosophy, Economics, Sociology, African and African American Studies, History, East Asian Studies, and many others.

Figuring out which classes to take in the Government Department can be difficult, in part because we have a lot of great classes from which to choose. But the choice is also difficult because the classes are often so different from one another. Where do you start?

The obvious place to begin is the Course Catalog. If you look at the Government Department’s course listings, you’ll notice that the courses are organized in the following manner:

• 10–50: Foundation and Survey Courses
• 90 (with one or more letter suffix): Department Undergraduate Seminars
• 98 (with one or more letter suffix): Junior Research Seminars
• 91–99: Supervised Reading and Research, and Tutorials
• 1000–1029: Political Methodology and Formal Theory
• 1030–1099: Political Thought and Its History
• 1100–1299: Comparative Government
• 1300–1599: American Government, Public Law, and Administration
• 1700–1999: International Relations

Our courses are divided up into the four traditional“sub-fields” of political science: Political Theory (“Political Thought and Its History”), Comparative, American, and International Relations. In addition, we have extensive course offerings in Political Methodology, where you can learn the tools of analysis that political scientists use in their work.

In the sidebar links, we discuss specific considerations for each subfield. But before getting specific, there are some general recommendations you should consider. 

Even from the section headings, it’s obvious that you’ll have to make a choice: what balance do you want between the different sub-fields of political science? We require that you take at least one course from each sub-field, but this still gives you a lot of flexibility. You could choose to sub-specialize in a particular subfield, you could mix two subfields, or you could simply strike a balance across all four. 

In practice, most Gov concentrators naturally end up gravitating toward one or two sub-fields, and it is in these sub-fields that they take most of their Gov courses. While the Department doesn’t formally recognize such specialization (i.e. you won’t get a line on your transcript reading: Government, with specialization in International Relations), there are some typical patterns of course sequencing that students often employ. While we can’t give you a single, best way to navigate the Department, we have summarized some common course sequences by subfield below: Theory, Comparative, IR, and American.

Remember that these course sequence suggestions are just that – suggestions. You can tailor the Government Department to your needs, whether those include study abroad, language citations, a secondary field, or some other unique goal you’ve set for yourself. Also remember that very few of our courses have formal prerequisites. Although many students find it useful, you are not required to take the foundational survey course in a subfield before you take another course in that area. 

You’ll also notice three additional sub-headings that re-appear throughout the course listings:

• “Primarily for Undergraduates”
• “For Undergraduates and Graduates”
• “Primarily for Graduates”

You should focus your attention on the “Primarily for Undergraduates” and “For Undergraduates and Graduates” sections. Only in exceptional circumstances (e.g. where you have had the Professor before and the Professor recommends you take the graduate course) will you be taking a course listed as “Primarily for Graduates”.

Before talking about specific subfields, there are also some general course selection considerations to make.

Freshman year. As a freshman, we know that you may have very few electives. Most, but not all, students who are thinking about concentrating in Government try to take a Government course sometime freshman year. With such limited course slots, of course, you’ll want to know which course will give you a feel for the Department. You should ask a Government concentration adviser for specific recommendations this year, but in general, students have found these courses to be good “gateways” into the Department’s course offerings:

Foundational Survey Courses

These are grouped by subfield:

• Gov 10: Foundations of Political Thought
• Gov 20: Foundations of Comparative Politics
• Gov 30: American Government: A New Perspective
• Gov 40: International Conflict and Cooperation in the Modern World 

Core Courses/Gen Ed Courses

• Foreign Cultures 48: The Cultural Revolution
• Historical Study B-64: The Cuban Revolution
• Moral Reasoning 22: Justice
• Social Analysis 46: Thinking About Politics
• Social Analysis 66: Race, Ethnicity, and Politics in the U.S.
• Societies of the World 32: The Political Development of Western Europe

Sophomore Year. If you start sophomore year knowing already that you want to be a Government concentrator, you can start thinking about courses in the subfield(s) that are most interesting to you. Anyone considering the honors track would do well to take the foundation course in the preferred sub-field, and preferably in at least one other sub-field as well. These classes provide the breadth of knowledge necessary to understand the context of whatever more specialized topics the student takes up later.

If, however, you’re still deciding, there is still plenty of time. Even if you weren’t able to take a Government course freshman year, don’t worry. Because our concentration requirements are quite flexible, you can start taking Gov courses in Fall semester sophomore year and you won’t be “behind” your peers. If you get to Fall semester Sophomore year, and haven’t taken a Gov course yet, you will certainly want to take one. One of the foundation courses offered in the Fall might be quite appealing, or another broad course that will introduce you to a variety of topics that political scientists study, such as:

• Gov 1060: Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy
• Gov 1061: The History of Modern Political Philosophy
• Gov 1255: The Politics of India
• Gov 1295: Comparative Politics in Latin America
• Gov 1310: Introduction to Congress
• Gov 1510: American Constitutional Law
• Gov 1540: The American Presidency
• Gov 1730: War and Politics
• Gov 1740: International Law

Required Sophomore Tutorial. If you declare your concentration in Government, then in the Spring semester of your sophomore year, you are required to take the Sophomore tutorial. Sophomore tutorial is a one-semester course designed to provide all Government Department concentrators with a unified and challenging intellectual experience in the study of politics. The course covers a selection of topics on the theme of "Democracy" and draws on materials ranging from classics in political theory to cutting edge research in the discipline today. 

Sophomore tutorial is not a prerequisite to taking any of the foundation courses. Nor are the foundation courses a prerequisite to taking sophomore tutorial. Intros and tutorial are designed to work together to teach breadth and depth. Some concentrators worry that the material taught in the foundation courses overlaps unnecessarily with that taught in tutorial. After studying the issue carefully, we have concluded that there is less overlap than is often perceived, and that where overlap does exist it works to support students' mastery of key contributors to the field. 

Strongly Suggested: Introduction to Research Methods. While not required, we recommend that you consider taking Gov 50: Introduction to Political Science Research Methods. You can take this course either your freshman, sophomore or junior year, but students thinking about writing a thesis may find it particularly advantageous to be introduced to the building blocks of research methods before taking a junior seminar. This course introduces basic statistical techniques used in quantitative political methodology to give scientifically rigorous answers to these questions and many others. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, sampling, estimation, hypothesis tests, and applied linear and logistic regression. Even if you’re not writing a thesis, and even if you don’t ever want to conduct statistical analysis yourself, the course can be very beneficial in learning the language that many of your assigned course readings will be using. If you take Gov 50, it’s likely that you’ll have a better understanding in other upper-level classes about what scholars are saying and how those scholars are verifying their claims. Gov 50 also counts for the Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning general education requirement.

Junior Year. By the junior year, most Gov concentrators have learned which areas in political science they are most excited about, and they choose their course accordingly. Click here for course sequencing recommendations by subfield.

An important decision that all Gov juniors make, however, is whether or not they will take a Junior Research Seminar (a “Gov 98” course). The Department offers a wide array of Junior Research Seminars, and they are all labeled “Gov 98__” in the course catalog. While each Gov 98 seminar covers a distinct topic, they are all designed to prepare you to carry out a thesis in the department. Gov 98 courses are also your best chance to work closely with a faculty member. Honors students are required to take at least one Gov 98 course, but we suggest that you take more than one seminar so that you can be exposed to different types of research methods that are utilized in the field. 

Senior Year. Depending on how you’ve chosen to sequence your courses, both in Gov and in General Education, you may arrive at senior year either having completed all of your Gov requirements, or with a few remaining. Before Senior year, you will receive a personalized electronic notice from the Undergraduate Program Office detailing exactly what you need to do to graduate (the "Requirements Remaining" form). You will need to review this form carefully to ensure that you have fulfilled or are on track to fulfill the Gov concentration requirements.  If you have fulfilled your requirements, then you can elect to take more Gov courses that interest you, to complete a secondary field, or just explore intriguing courses in other departments.

If you are writing a thesis, you will be required your senior year to take the year-long Gov 99 Senior Thesis Writers’ Seminar during your senior year. For more on Gov 99, check out the syllabus from this year's course, and the Guide for Thesis Writers in Government.

For more information on specific course sequencing recommendations by subfield, please see our Subfield Advice page.