These behind-the-scenes roles put you in the thick of the political action. Does working at a local, state, or federal regulatory agency such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency interest you? If so, you might start with a public administration degree. As a public administration major, you will study a variety of topics including economics, communications, public finance, budgeting, business and government law, administration, human resources, and ethics.
Your coursework will help you develop communication, organizational, decision-making, and leadership skills that will be necessary for positions in government. A degree in public administration can put you on a path to leadership or managerial jobs in federal, state, or local governments as well as nonprofit agencies and private organizations. Jobs in public administration likely require you to analyze information, draft and oversee budgets, and implement governmental and public policies.
Some job titles in public administration include public works director, director of policy research and public affairs, and manager of contracts and procurement.
Jobs in public administration are a great way to learn what goes on behind the scenes in politics, build a firm understanding of how to draft sound policies, and network with politicians of all types.
Your courses are likely to cover politics and government and their role in economic policy as well as the role history and leadership have played in economic events around the world.
Governments at all levels—federal, state, and local—hire those with economics degrees for various positions. You could work as an economic or financial analyst or as a trade specialist for a government agency or an elected leader.
Your research and communications skills can be valuable to political leaders in helping them develop and promote the economic policies that they believe would best help their constituents. You might aim to work in financial management for a local, state, or federal office—all the way up to the White House Office of Budget and Management.
Government agencies have customers to serve and goals to meet, just like traditional businesses. Having a degree in business administration and applying that business mindset to help agencies achieve their goals can be a good way to get a foot in the door.
Your coursework will be designed so that you develop a firm understanding of not only how businesses operate but also how to lead and motivate people who work for you. To target a career in politics, you may want to focus your business administration degree on logistics, marketing, or project management.
A business administration degree might also lead to jobs with government agencies as logisticians, management or financial analysts, or human resource specialists. Your communication and problem-solving skills will be as important in these public sector roles as your understanding of money and finance.
International relations is the study of relationships between countries and governments around the globe. This interdisciplinary major draws from economics, history, geography, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and political science. Some programs also include classes in anthropology, international law, and religion, and many have a language requirement. These disciplines will set the stage for a deep understanding of current topics related to world affairs, including pandemics, global warming, human rights, terrorism, arms control, trade policies, and immigration.
Like other liberal arts degrees, an international relations major does not prepare you for a specific job or occupation; rather, it prepares you to succeed in a variety of fields. For example, your degree could prepare you for jobs such as foreign affairs specialist, international marketing specialist, political analyst, or nonprofit program coordinator; someday you could even find yourself working as a diplomat or ambassador.
You could also put your communications and research skills to work in the foreign service or the Peace Corps or for other non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International or Greenpeace. A public policy major gives you the tools and background to understand how public policy is made and implemented and how it affects people and societies.
This subfield specifically looks at how systems diverge and align to discover general laws and theories. Students analyze the interactions of international actors, including states, corporations, and organizations like the United Nations.
This subfield covers a spectrum of global matters, such as war, trade, finance, development, and national security. Students learn about the American political system, with its unique presidency, congress, courts, and state politics; they also delve into American policies and political ideas, and explore the role of mass media.
Over the past decade, the growing importance of data analysis has led to the emergence of a fifth subfield in political science. Students practice and develop new methods for the scientific study of politics using experiments, statistics, econometrics, and formal theory.
All political science degrees, whether an associate degree or Ph. Social sciences are usually considered a "soft" science, compared with a "hard," objective science like chemistry or physics; however, political science is becoming increasingly data-driven. A bachelor's degree in political science can be earned as either a bachelor of arts BA or a bachelor of science BS.
The categorization and ability to choose your degree type vary among schools. If both options exist, their requirements will be slightly different. Public administration — a related but distinct field to political science — prepares students for civil service work in the public and nonprofit sectors at the administrative level.
Sometimes considered an offshoot of political science, public administration puts policy into practice. Many colleges offer undergraduate and graduate programs in public administration, while others offer public policy programs or combine public administration with business administration. If you're pursuing a career as a public servant, an MPA could be preferable to a master's in political science. A bachelor's degree in political science is also considered a good springboard to public administration programs at the graduate level.
Political science majors work in public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Some apply their training directly to politics and policy, but the hard and soft skills developed through a political science curriculum can lead to diverse career paths.
Many of the career paths open to political science graduates deal directly with textual analysis, data crunching, and persuasive communication. While as a course of study political science focuses on systems of power and governance, the practical abilities and thought patterns rehearsed in class are applicable beyond just politics. Everyone wants to be valued, and to yield some sort of power. In many ways, the most respected, idolized, and powerful people in America, if not the world, reside within the U.
Still, these figures are some of the most hated and reviled, yet at the same time beloved and appreciated, in the public sphere. Public service is a tough gig. It requires an immense amount of time and effort , not to mention talent and charm, and skin thick enough to withstand a consistent and thorough flaying in the media and at water coolers nationwide.
That scrutiny is one of the reasons that many talented, brilliant people avoid politics altogether. Some head to Washington D. No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post. David Luther. He developed partnerships with external reporting agencies in addition to generating original research and reporting for the Zippia Career Advice blog. Topics: Major-Specific.
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