Ellis University Home | About Ellis | Request Information
Online Political Science Courses in the
B.S. Political Science Program
Ellis University is not currently accepting applications for this program.
Core/Elective Political Science Courses
- PLS 110 American Government and Politics
One of the introductory core political science courses, this particular course is an introduction to the processes of the American form of democratic government, the nature and structure of US government, and its chief characteristics and functions. Special attention is paid to the intimate relation and mutual impact of government and the people on each other, expanding students' awareness of the effects of governmental decisions on the American People. (3 credits).
- PLS 210 Comparative Government
Among the introductory political science courses is this introduction to comparative political structures and institutions covering the major European governments as well as non-Western political systems. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 220 International Relations
A systematic analysis of national goals and determinants, the basis of national power, sources of international conflict. The uses of power: balance of power and the balance of terror. Diplomacy, collective security, and international organizations will also be explored. (3 credits).
- PLS 310 Politics and Society
A political science course discussing fundamental concepts of the state, government, and their interrelationships. Topics include: the state as an instrument of social control; power, its legitimacy and authority; political doctrines such as democracy, oligarchy, and totalitarianism; the modern state and its political structures, elites, and decision makers; the electoral process and sociopolitical means of attitudinal influence. The impact of class, status, and influence will also be analyzed. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 320 Public Administration
This political science course is a study of the nature and scope of public administration: principles, societal protection, assistance to various groups, governmental proprietary enterprises, and regulation of business. Bureaucratic organization administration relationships. Policy making and implementation will be closely examined: unit specialization, organization coordination, centralization, planning, efficiencies, and control. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110.
- PLS 211 History of Political Thought
A study of the historical and theoretical underpinnings to current political ideologies, starting with the Greek city state and the political theories of Plato and Aristotle, continuing with the Roman, Medieval and Renaissance contributions to political thought and culminating in the radical political theories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 212 Basic Legal Concepts and Administration of Justice
This course covers the judicial process and its evolution, the rights of accused persons, and the administration of justice in the light of the elementary foundations and functions of substantive and adjective law. The theoretical aspects of basic concepts will be examined, but the stress will be on the practical aspects. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 311 Politics of Change
This course is concerned with the impact of modernization on the political system; the relationship between modernization and decolonization, revolution and nation building; theories of political change; and the consequences of modernization as experienced by several countries from the First, Second, and Third Worlds. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 312 American Society and Judicial Behavior
This course covers changing values and patterns of judicial behavior, federal courts and the power of judicial review, fundamental constitutional principles, nationalization and enforcement of the Bill of Rights, the Supreme Court's policy-making role and its effect on economic policy, and the controversy over the arbiter role of the court. Included will be an analysis of constitutional development of rights and duties of the people, and the role of the government as an institution. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 313 Foreign Policy of the United States
The historical development of American policy, the mechanics of its formulation, and its current objectives will be studied, discussed, and analyzed. (3 credits).
- PLS 314 Government and Metropolitan Problems
The first half of this course is comprised of the political framework: state governmental structure, its functions, services, and financing; local, rural, and urban governments, their structures, services, and functions. The second half focuses on metropolitan problems and their interaction with metropolitan government; housing, schooling, transportation, sanitation, pollution, and taxation. Social parameters stemming from ethnic, religious, class, and employment factors, among others, will be interwoven in the analysis. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 315 Government and Business
A consideration of relationships between business enterprise and the societal and political milieu in which these enterprises operate. New concepts in business ethics and corporate responsibility. Government regulation of business activity. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 316 International Law and Organization
The nature of international law; the organization of the community of nations; the United Nations system; the regional organizations of the bloc type; the substantive rules of international law; procedures for the pacific settlement of international disputes; international and social cooperation; and prospects for a development system of world order through international organization. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 317 Public Policy Analysis
This course will approach public policy decisions to determine goal achievement in terms of need articulation, relative costs and expended resources, planning and programming for future needs, and resource development. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110. - PLS 390 Seminar in Political Science
This course will focus on student research on specific areas of individual interest. (3 credits).
Prerequisite: PLS 110.