Congratulations to Josh Heupel for being named President's Undergraduate Medalist - the top university award!!!!

 

Congratulations to graduating majors!

 

OUTSTANDING POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT - Joshua Heupel
Joshua Heupel is a double major in Political Science and Agricultural Business. Joshua is a member of the prestigious Smittcamp Honors College, and he was recently selected as a Rhodes Scholar finalist, only the second in Fresno State’s
history. Joshua spent Fall 2022 in Washington, D.C., working in Congress at Fresno State's Panetta Fellow. Josh's College of Social Science honors thesis focused on water rights and how they impact small farmers and those from marginalized groups in the agricultural community. 

In addition to being selected the Outstanding Political Science Student, Josh is the Outstanding Student in Agricultural Business and was selected as the 2023 Dean's Medalist for the Jordan College of Agriculture. After graduation, he will pursue a Master's degree in public policy and resource economics at Princeton University.

SVENSON AWARD - Madison Steinman
Madison Steinman is the recipient of the 2023 Svenson Award. The Svenson Award goes to a student with outstanding academic prowess in Political Science. Madison started at Fresno State as a transfer student, and since her arrival, she has been very engaged in the campus community. She has been on the President's or Dean's List each semester at Fresno State. She has served the university community as a social science tutor, interned with the Fresno County District Attorney's office, and has been a member (and president) of our very competitive Moot Court Team. Congratulations, Madison!

Welcome!

Political science is more than just examining government structures and discussing elites currently in office. It is the study of who has the power to make laws for a society, the institutional structures that guide how this power is used, who benefits and who loses when this power is used, and the relationship between power and policy in a society. Political science students therefore study voting, elections, the structures of government institutions, and how governments around the world differ and interact.

Our diverse faculty hold degrees from some of the most prestigious universities in the country.  They are specialists in local, national, and international politics. Faculty have published research and teach classes on American politics, environmental politics, the philosophy of law, public policy, comparative politics, and international relations. To see a list of recent faculty publications, please click here.

One of our faculty, Dr. Ram, received a Fulbright Schuman European Union Affairs US Scholar research grant and recently returned from her trip to Europe. You can read a story she wrote about her experience here. 

Political science major Elizabeth Rocha Zuniga speaking at a Constitution Day panel with political science faculty

Students with Dr. Cummins at the state legislature.

Student Elise Higgs presenting her research.

We offer a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration. Our students have gone on to work in city, county, and state government, and a variety of other careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Many now work in Washington, D.C. or around the world. Several have even been elected or appointed to public office.  Others have gone on to law school and doctoral programs in political science, including the following:

 

 Notable Alumni

We believe that all of our alumni are notable, but here are a few you may have heard of, or who may give you an idea as to some of the career possibilities open to political science majors.

• Lee Brand, Mayor of the City of Fresno
• James E. Brumm, Former director of Mitsubishi International
• Cruz Bustamante, Lt. Governor of California
• Tony Capozzi, Attorney and former president of the California State Bar Association
• Luis Chavez, Fresno Unified School District Board of Education
• Jim Costa, California State Senator and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Larry Farnsworth, Legislative Assistant to U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert
• Simon Haeder, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Pennsylvania State University
• Diane Johnson, professor and chair of the Department of History and Political Science, Lebanon Valley College
• Mike Karbassi, Fresno City Council
• Ernest Kinney, Attorney
• Devon Mathis, Member of the California State Assembly
• Peter Mehas, Fresno County Superintendent of Education and CSU Board of Trustees
• Harry Papadakis, Judge
• Jim Patterson, Mayor of Fresno and California State Assembly
• Rosendo Peña, Jr. - Associate Justice, California Court of Appeals
• Henry Perea, Jr., Fresno City Council and California State Assembly
• Armando Rodriguez, Fresno County Superior Court Judge
• Victor Salazar, Fresno County Clerk
• Phillip Sanchez, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras and Colombia
• Edward Sarkisian, Judge
• Mark Scott, Fresno City Manager
• Arthur Svenson, Professor of Political Science, University of Redlands
• Mike Villines, Member of Assembly and Assembly Republican Leader
• Ian Wieland, Attorney

 

Direct all questions, comments, and complaints about this webpage to Dr. Holyoke.