Skip to main content.
Bard
  • Bard
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics

    A place to think.

    Discover Bard
    • Academics
      • Programs and Divisions
      • Structure of the Curriculum
      • Courses
      • Requirements
      • Academic Calendar
      • Faculty
      • Libraries
      • College Catalogue
      • Bard Abroad
      • Dual-Degree Programs
      • Other Study Opportunities
      • Graduate Programs
      • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission

    Do you love to learn?

    Discover Bard

    Apply Now
    • Discover Bard
      • Our Students
      • Our Alumni/ae
      • Campus Tours
      • Bridge Program
      • Video Gallery
    • Applying
      • First Year
      • Transfer Students
      • Early College Transfers
      • International Students
      • Homeschooled Students
      • DACA and Undocumented
      • Bard Conservatory
      • Return to College
      • Admitted Students
      • Enroll Now!
      • New Students
      • Prospective Families
      • Familias
      • Financial Aid
      • Tuition and Payment
      • Contact Us
      • Admission Team
      • Tour Guides
      • Graduate Admission
      • Early College Admission
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    Bard Campus Life

    Make a home in Annandale.

    • Living on Campus
      • Housing + Dining
      • Campus Resources
      • Get Involved on Campus
      • Bard Connects
      • Visiting + Transportation
      • Athletics + Recreation
      • New Students
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    • Bard CCE The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked.

      Take action.
      Make an impact.

      Get Involved
      • Campus + Community
      • In the Classroom
      • U.S. Network
      • International Network
      • About CCE
      • Resources
      • Support
  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    Upstreaming
    • News + Events
      • Newsroom
      • Events Calendar
      • Video Gallery
      • Press Releases
      • Office of Communications
      • COVID-19 Updates
    • Special Events
      • Commencement + Reunion Weekend
      • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
      • Fisher Center
      • Bard SummerScape
      • Bard Athletics
  • About Bard sub-menuAbout Bard

    A private college for the public good.

    Support Bard
    • About Bard College
      • Mission Statement
      • Bard History
      • Love of Learning
      • Visiting Bard
      • Employment
      • OSUN
      • Bard Abroad
      • The Bard Network
      • Montgomery Place Campus
      • Campus Tours
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • Title IX
      • HEOA Disclosures
      • Institutional Support
      • Safety and Security
      • Inside Bard
      • Alumni/ae Network
      • Family Network
      • Support Bard
  • COVID-19 Response
  • Search

Moderation + Requirements

Political Studies Menu
  • Faculty
  • Moderation + Requirements
  • Courses
  • Senior Projects
  • Students + Alumni/ae
  • News + Events
  • Home
Areas of Study
Courses in the Political Studies program are divided into four subfields: political theory, American politics, comparative politics, and international relations. Political theory courses examine the tradition of thinking and writing about political questions and problems. American politics courses focus on the functioning and development of the American political system. Comparative politics traditionally focuses on non–U.S. politics, but it also seeks to develop theories that explain political phenomena across countries with a common set of analytical tools. International relations examines the relationships of states in anarchy and investigates the structure, functioning, and transformative potential of the international system.
Program Requirements
Photo by Chris Kayden

Program Requirements

Prior to or concurrent with Moderation, a student must take five courses in the program, including three from the core curriculum (see the Courses page). After Moderation, students are required to take three Politics seminars, which are 300-level intensive seminars in the program. Depending on the interests of the student and the intended subject of the Senior Project, and with the approval of the academic adviser, one of these seminars may come from another social science discipline, such as economics or sociology; from study abroad; or from Bard’s Global and International Affairs (BGIA) Program in New York City. All students are required to complete a Senior Project that examines a political problem/puzzle or that synthesizes the political science literature on a major subject, such as democracy, development, or war.

Moderation Requirements

Political Studies Moderation boards aim to assess the student’s performance in the Lower College, interest in politics as an academic field of study, and capacity to undertake course work in the Upper College and to complete a Senior Project. Students are required to write a Moderation response paper (a response to one of four assigned readings), together with two other papers: a self-critical evaluation of past work done within the program and a detailed plan for the Upper College, including any plans for study abroad and ideas for the Senior Project.

Typically students moderate in the spring semester of their sophomore year. Moderations are held over spring Advising Days and are organized centrally through the program. The program will determine the student’s Moderation board, which will include a mix of Political Studies faculty from the four subfields. Instructions on how to sign up for a Moderation board and submit the required Moderation papers will be emailed to the student early in the spring semester.

Fall Moderations are generally discouraged and must be organized individually by the student’s adviser.

  • Moderation Response Paper Guidelines
  • Option 1:  Kathleen Thelen, “The American Precariat”
  • Option 2:  Iris Marion Young, “Polity and Group Difference”
  • Option 3:  John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, “The Case for Offshore Balancing”
  • Option 4:  Peter K. Enns, “Relative Policy Support and Coincidental Representation”

Political Studies Resources

  • Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program
  • Political Studies Library Resources
  • Hannah Arendt Center
  • Center for Civic Engagement
  • Center for the Study of the Drone
  • Bard Abroad
  • Division of Social Studies
Bard College
Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 800-BARDCOL
Admission Phone: 845-758-7472
Admission E-mail: admission@bard.edu
©2020 Bard College
Follow Us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
You Tube
Information For:
Prospective Students
Current Employees
Alumni/ae 
Families
Quick Links
Employment
Travel to Bard
Site Search
Support Bard