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  1. Undergraduate Programs

Minor in Government & Public Policy

Minor Overview

The Government & Public Policy minor accommodates the interests and needs of students from a variety of degree programs. The minor is an excellent supplement to other majors within and outside the social sciences arena. You'll be introduced to the various sub-fields of political science and public policy and gain the foundational knowledge of political processes and institutions.

Declaring the Minor

A request to add the Government & Public Policy minor may be submitted by any advisor on campus. 

Students majoring in any of SGPP's majors (Political Science, Public Management and Policy, Law, or Criminal Justice) may NOT declare the Government & Public Policy minor.

Minor Requirements

Required Courses

  • Complete 6 courses (18 units)
  • Must include 9 units of upper-division (300-499 level courses)

Introductory Courses

Choose 3 courses (9 units):

General survey of the constitutional bases, organization, and functioning of the American national government; recent and current trends.
Study of the international system, its actors and their capabilities; ends and means of foreign policy; international tension, conflict, and cooperation.
Basic issues in political thought, with emphasis on contemporary problems of democracy, liberty, authority, obligation, and ideology.
Survey of the major political systems and analysis of comparative political concepts, with a view to preparation for more advanced study.
Theory and practice of executive agencies, including policy making and other functions, processes, personnel and fiscal management, and administrative law.
Focus on the politics of diversity and inclusion in a fast-changing world. Attention to national-ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, and socioeconomic factors, among others, that underlie human diversity and the political conditions for cooperation, conflict, and well-being. Consideration of decision-making and political-institutional settings that may extend from the local and regional to the national and international.

Minor Electives

Choose 3 courses (9 units)

This course will investigate how the U.S. Constitution, State Constitutions, courts and case law have shaped today's American correctional systems.  Although the impact of litigation on community corrections will be explored, the emphasis will be on how prisoner litigation has impacted the subculture of inmates inside today's American correctional facilities.
Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.
This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain...
Examination of politics through the lens of gender hierarchy. Emphasis on how constrictions of masculinity and femininity shape and are shaped by interacting economic, political and ideological practices.
Analysis of conflicts of national interests; decision making in the present international system; role-playing and simulation experience.
Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.
Examination of election politics, personalities, and career patterns of congressional members, the organization and structure of Congress, and the role of Congress in policy leadership and representation of the public.
The digital revolution is changing politics. From Barack Obama's use of the Internet to drive his presidential campaign, to the upheaval of the Arab Spring and the emergence of new social movements like #OccupyWallStreet, digital technology is challenging and changing established institutions on a number of fronts. This course introduces students to the history of the Internet and the emerging technologies that are defining the Digital Age. It places emphasis on the role of technology in politics and its implications for democracy and citizen rights. The course will cover a wide range of...
This course seeks to provide a greater appreciation of what we call "globalization" and some of its implications for international politics, national security, and the prospects for global management of transnational problems. We will also examine the deepening interconnection of technological, economic, and sociocultural trends that characterize much of globalization; and introduce students to the need for a multidisciplinary approach.
This course seeks to provide a greater appreciation of what we call "globalization" and some of its implications for international politics, national security, and the prospects for global management of transnational problems. We will also examine the deepening interconnection of technological, economic, and sociocultural trends that characterize much of globalization; and introduce students to the need for a multidisciplinary approach.
This course seeks to provide a greater appreciation of what we call "globalization" and some of its implications for international politics, national security, and the prospects for global management of transnational problems. We will also examine the deepening interconnection of technological, economic, and sociocultural trends that characterize much of globalization; and introduce students to the need for a multidisciplinary approach.
This course will focus on an introduction to how politics influences and constrains how public policy is made. The nature of the institutions of the government of the United States and the public policy process will be examined and discussed in relation to democratic values and policy outcomes.
This course covers the basic principles, theories, conceptual tools, and comparative methods useful for understanding the challenges of democracy. In particular, it will focus on how political scientists define democracy and under what conditions they operate most effectively. Students will be able to assess competing theories advanced to explain the character, effectiveness, legitimacy and survival of democratic regimes.

Minor Advising

SGPP Advisors for the Government and Public Policy minor:

Students with the last names A thru K
Michael Greeley 
sbs-sgppadvising@email.arizona.edu

Students with the last names L thru Z
Elizabeth Santander
sbs-sgppadvising@email.arizona.edu

If you would like more information on the Government & Public Policy minor, you can schedule an advising appointment or visit during walk-in hours.