Any pol sci majors here? What're my chances of a successful career?

Just my opinion but this...

college level political science courses this fall.

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is a strike against you in my book. I do not want those in positions of power and authority to be groomed and trained for such. I want those who hold those positions for a time to be of diverse and NON POLITICAL background.

On you stated issues:

Discusion on most of those here is Verboten, and for good reason. Raise the topic on APS and I'll be happy to elaborate.

I share the same stances on the issues mentioned, but would warn you that your chances are virtually nil. The simple reason is that those in power and wealth are generally in their 60s and thus are by construction are two generations behind the present in their political thinking and worldviews. Only those among them of exceptional wisdom and open-mindedness can truly overcome their handicap and bridge the generational gap. That puts them in the minority and minorities never win elections.

Easy

your are about 90% here-
www.lp.org

as a political science major, your chances of a successful career are excellent...


if your chosen career field is cab driver...

A career in politics is rarely aligned with anyone who took political science as a major. Think of it as the study of political worlds in an analytical way, not really for practice of. Most poli-sci majors end up in education, administration, work at the UN (aggh!), move to journalism, continue on to law school or a graduate program, or as two I have known well - careers in totally different fields. If what you want to do is to be a politician, then I would advise studying the lives of those who are that you admire and learning from this. I would also advise being a volunteer at a campaign or politician's office. Sounds like you have a lot to learn in this to see if it fits you.

Many people in politics started small and worked their way up, building consesus, experience, and connections. They may have started in business, or law - or were famous or had famous families and wealth. You are going to need lots of money though.

Saying that, the road is yours to drive. Good luck in your endeavors.

I don't think you study political science in order to become a politician any more than you would study trees in hopes of becoming a tree. You study these things to learn SOME of the basics that others have discovered about the animal so that you can use that knowledge as a starting point in your own career be it as a politician or a forester.

Some of the entry level courses where you learn how things are supposed to work and maybe a few pointers as to where we have gone wrong are great. Stay far away from profs who have an agenda of their own. If they want to push you to the right or the left study THEM to learn how personal agendas are used. Safe to say everyone you meet in the political world will have his/her own agenda. Know how they work. You will have your own agenda such as you've listed to help you keep focused.

As someone suggested, work on a campaign. Run for some office yourself. Jimmy Carter started out on a school board in Plains, Ga., not that he's a hero of mine.

Here's a thought. Work on the campaign of someone who is opposed to most of your views. Be loyal to that person/party/committee even though they are running in the opposite direction from you. You will damn sure learn what it feels like to have to do "horse trading" later in a political position where you have to work with people who's ideas you despise. [try not to despise the people] And it will force open crevasses in your mind you didn't know you had.

And keep your sense of humor.

In politics you are working with/for/against people all the time. I'd much rather work with a computer problem. At least the rules of circuitry never change...and you can dump the damn thing if it becomes a real PITA. People tend to change as you get to understand them. You always seem to know who the guy was, but not what he is. It's sortta like the generals always preparing for the last war they fought.

You do sound like the Libertarian Party might be a starting place for you.

Good luck.

rr

See if you can get an internship with your state government (usually through the Governor's office). It will cure you of your desire to become a politician (at least it did for me). Of course the same mismanagement, red tape, and general non-sensical BS can be found in the private sector as well, especially in large corporations. Try to get on with a smaller company in an industry that interests you. You'll have more autonomy but you'll log more hours at work too....higher risk, higher reward and you won't feel like a corporate robot.

You can remain politically active even while working in the private sector, and most folks (including me) wouldn't vote for someone who had only worked in government all their life.

I just graduated with my Bachelors of Political Science. The courses are a lot of fun and very informational at the same time. By the time you graduate you'll know the way the government works inside and out, and hopefully, you'll have selected an area of study within that really peaks your interest that you'll be an expert in. Perhaps gun rights?

Anyway, on to the job front. I'm currently unemployed. It sucks. But political science majors don't have any set "jobs" for them just waiting when you get out of school. Contrary to what some may think, political science majors are not being groomed to run for office. They're being groomed, more so, to work within the system as beaurocrats of one form or another.

The interesting thing about this field of study is that the old motto "it's not what you know it's who you know" can prove very true for those that aren't really a sought after expert on a certain field of study. So over the next four years you will be networking with professors, fellow students, and many prospective employers while you intern at some offices. Be it your Congressman, a State Senator, maybe your District Attorney's office. These are the connections you will be working with the rest of your life, using to get other jobs, and being asked by to help get other people jobs (once you're established).

Myself, I have a couple of job interviews this coming week. Once is as a cooridinator for the New York State Republican Party. If I get this job i'll be in charge of getting GOP State Assembly members elected and re-elected. This interview is a result of a lot of my college experience. I worked a on a TON of campaigns over the years. So I have campaign experience, bothing from being the manager and as a volunteer point of view, up to wazoo so i'm a good candidate. I also have a job interview lined up for Press Secretary to a State Senator next week. I was able to get an interview for this because for two years during college, in addition to working on a number of campaigns and being well versed in the political workings of things, I was a News Director for a local radio station. I got up everyday and went into work at 4 am, and then to class at 10 am, and then after I got out of class at 5 pm, I went back to work again. Kinda sucked, but the experience was a plus. Then lastly, I am a candidate for the NY State Police. Not really a political job, but it's something i'm interested in.

Since you're minoring in business, you're going to be well established in both the business and political worlds in your region. Take advantage of that. If your lifelong dream is to run for office and be elected to the State Assembly, or maybe become a Congressman, do it. But don't become a "career politician" who has no other job but his elected. Those are the ones that end up voting for pay raises and just keep running for re-election year after year, even after they accomplished the goals that they ran for office on. Take your business and political training to get a good job in the business field that is politically related. Heck, you could become a lobbyist for a major corporation. Lobbying is fun too, i've tried my hand at it, and my girlfriend does it professionally.

So in closing (leave it to a political to make a speech out of everything ), i'll just say welcome to the world of Political Science Joey! We can use all of the strong minded newcomers that we can get in this field. Someone has to get the old corrupt fellows out of there and run the government right. Why not us?

If ya's got any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Pick a party (wouldn't it be nice to have a "Ringer" in the Dem party?), pick a candidate, volunteer in the upcoming elections, listen, work and learn how a campaign is managed. Become invaluable to those who actually "run" the candidates. (What was it "Deep Throat" told Woody/Bernstein... Follow the Money?)
Keep on with your schooling, add some history & pre-law classes, think about a Doc. Jurisprudence down the road, keep on with the campaigning.

Start at the City/County Council level, work your way up the ladder to State Assembly. Maybe go Fed once you're a known worker

Then, when you really want to play with power and money...

Become a Lobbyist.

Joey, all I can say is, you are me. 100% agreement on your issues.

I too am considering making a political attempt, however, I have to finish my enlistment. I figure I'll get my military retirement and use that to help give me the time to run.

I've also considered going into the Democrat side. While I disagree with the Democrats on many issues(some severe), I also disagree with the positions many of the republicans take as well. For example, both parties seem to ignore fiscal responsability. I'm more or less pro-choice, and don't see a real problem with gay marriage, though my stance on seperation of church and state is such that I'll say 'Get the state out of the marriage business'. Just grant 'civil unions'. If you want to call yourself married, get a priest to marry you.

On the other hand, if I could actually take the republican's spot, I'd be able to steal much of the Democrat's power. As has been stated on this board, there are people who will not vote for a pro-choice candidate. There are people out there who won't vote for an anti-abortion candidate.But what happens if both candidates are pro-choice? Will the 'pro-lifers' hold their nose and vote for me, given that I oppose giving government funding to provide the service? Kinda like why most of us voted for Bush?

The Libertarian party has little to no real chance. I don't want to mess up a seat by taking votes from a more conservative voter.

I want to run for elected office someday, but it takes money or existing political influence to do these things.

If you are not already famous, you must spend money to get your name out there. For every arnold or ross perot who succeeds at this, there are a million Al Sharptons and Alan Keyes out there. Minor political players who get noticed but in the wrong way. There is a reason that politicians stray away from things such as gun control and gay marriage and love to endlessly harp on about easy topics such as flood relief and terrorists. They want to get elected.

Unless you are a political insider that can get your party's nomination (and their financial support), you will need to fund your own campaign. Observe Catherine Harris- she is being considered for the FL Senate seat beacuse she has been a loyal servant of the Bushes for many years. This is how most politicians get ahead. There are exceptions like Ron Paul, but they are few and far between and fought by their own parties as outsiders.

Baba Louie's advice is excellent.

Learn public speaking, to groups, whether in a social club or in debating. Get rid of the "er..." and "uh..." in your speech.

Your chances are better if you're reasonably photogenic, are fairly tall, and have large hands (That's not a joke!).

Learn enough about the laws of your state so that you'll know what's pertinent to city government, should your efforts start there. Same for federal laws' effects on state actions.

Big Thing: Study the inter-relationship between the US Dept of Education and its requirements on state school systems. Without that, you cannot speak intelligently about school-finance problems. (You'll also learn why it's impossible to change the internal workings of the failed public education system.)

I can probably come up with a lot more, but that's a beginning.

Art

Become a lawyer.

Almost all successful politicians, advisors, consultants and lobbyists are lawyers.

It teaches you the trickiness and moral equivalence necessary for a life in the political world - it's all about winning.


G

There are those of us in the south who think the last decent campaign the republicans ran was George 41st. His campaign manager was none other than Lee Atwater. I attended the same high school as Atwater though one year behind. His story is instructive.

Atwater was always involved in grassroots local politics from the get go. During HS he was involved in local school level republican politics as well as real world political politics. He did a fair amount of work for a budding politician named Carol Campbell. In his spare time he became a fairly decent blues guitarist and played in a few bands. IIRC he graduated and went to Newberry College in SC where he majored in Polysci. His sport and hobby and reason for college was politics. He started at the bottom and worked his way up in the republican party. All the friends and acquaintances he developed through the years paid off after graduation. He took positions all over the country culminating in George 41st's campaign manager. Lee unfortunately died far too early.

So what were the elements of his success according to me (one of life's losers)
--grassroots politics to an obsession
--networking with anyone and everyone. Can never tell whose star will rise.
--party loyalty uber alis.
--success in the small things
--work like a beat mule
--hitched his wagon to a rising star. Eventually he could have the following answer his phone callls: Carol Campbell (SC congressman and 2 term governor), George Bush (the ultimate resume and president), Strom Thurmond (the ultimate congressional power broker), and Ronald Reagan (famous actor and aspiring politician)--and these are the names I know.

Lee was on the national radar long before his degree in polysci kicked in. Lest you think Lee was annointed because of family contacts I assure you Lee was a political mutt. His momma was a math teacher at school. What Lee got he got by shear guts, determination, grit, will, and an enthusiasm for getting his hands dirty at the local level.

My thinkin' is maybe a polysci degree is not the thing to have. Consider a degree in communications (talking head), literature (writing), marketing (polling, focus groups, positioning, packaging), law (too many lawyers now), or theology (at some point morality will become a major issue particularly if we get into a nuclear slugfest with Islamist).

It is my considered opinion that you will have to make a committment to a party of some stripe. Choose the right third party and work your legs down to stumps and you may make an impact. I think we are on the cusp of the development of a viable third party in the US. Not sure what form it will take but I'd wager the current selection is inadequate.

'nuf for now.

my stance on seperation of church and state is such that I'll say 'Get the state out of the marriage business'. Just grant 'civil unions'. If you want to call yourself married, get a priest to marry you.

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Nice to hear someone else say what I've been thinking for years.

I have no idea what I'm talking about but that won't disuade me from saying it!

It seems like politics are divided into two groups of people: those on stage, and those off stage. On-stage are the politicians themselves, the guys who run and get elected (or not). They need to have extremely strong people skills and charisma. They need to look like leaders. They need to project confidence and trust. They need to build networks throughout their lives. They need to be able to put a name to a face, and they need an internal database of many thousands of names and faces that they can recall instantly, twenty years later.

This is a specialized set of abilities that isn't taught in college. It's taught early in childhood and much of it is innate. If you've got it, great, use it, you'll be a politician. As a side note, guys like Al Gore and Dick Chenney have some elements of "what it takes" but clearly lack others (charisma, trust, other qualities) and this is why these two have made it to the highest levels but won't ever make it to the very top. I'm using that to illustrate these undefined qualities that I'm talking about.

The second set of people are all the off-stage people: the consultants, image makers, deal makers, lawyers, opinion takers, organizers, computer experts, financial experts, logistics people, event organizers, strategizers, people with rolls of duct tape, people who can make prostitutes shut up, people who can find other prostitutes and make them talk, etc. This is a huge group of people with many diverse skills who majored in many different things in college, or maybe didn't go to college.

Which group do you want to be in?

well, all I know is, I was a poli sci major, and ended up a teacher...so, learn from my mistakes I guess is what I'm sayin'...

Seriously, I worked in the senate for awhile, then knew I had to get out, or I might become like those people eventually.

I took poli-sci & econ, and jobs aren't tailored to that. Most resumes I have to adapt to admin or data research sort of positions. So no, not employed in my field. But my course had an entrepreneurship element, so I'm starting a small business to get myself going.

The King of Jordan took Poli-Sci at a university in Washington. But I'm pretty sure he was guaranteed a job when he graduated.

I was a political science major, class of 2000. There were mainly two kinds of people in the major when I was studying: Those who wanted to go to law school and those who did not. Those of us who were not interested in law school found the other group annoying at best, rediculous brown-nosers at worst. There was one fellow who was probably the brightest guy in my class, who went on to Yale law and was a very respectable guy, but he was the only one I befriended. I digress.

Political science is not about learning to be a political leader. It is about studying how people organize their lives, in a broad sense. If you think you might want to go to law or business school, it's a good start. If you want to be a researcher, historian or other social science academic, great. It's also a good way to become a lobbyist or an analyst for a news agency (I knew a few people who did this.) One good friend does political polling and research and has found it very rewarding. It's the kind of major that is a stepping stone toward other things, but you should expect to start small and work your way up.

Ignore the burger flipping jokes you'll undoubtedly hear. Work hard, do well, and you'll find something you love to do, regardless of your college degree. I hope my input was helpful to you.

-Adam

What about a major in something that is in more demand, and a poly-sci minor? Or, maybe a double major?

I knew a fellow who double majored in political science and electrical engineering.