Bachelor of Arts [B.A] [Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy] From Michigan State University

The curriculum and individual courses are multidisciplinary, cultivating in the students skills of rigorous thought, lucid prose writing, and articulate speech. The residential environment nurtures a collegium of scholars among students, faculty, and staff. The excellent resources of the wider university enrich the program as a whole. James Madison College established itself in 1967. Since then with an enrollment of approximately 1200 students, the College has graduated numerous Rhodes Scholars, Truman Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Fulbright Scholars, National Science Foundation Fellows, MSU’s first Mitchell Scholar, and regularly represents a high percentage of Michigan State University's Phi Beta Kappa class.

Its undergraduate program leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree in one of four majors: Comparative Cultures and Politics, International Relations, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, and Social Relations and Policy. It offers a rigorous program with distinctive attention to written work, analytical writing, critical thinking, give-and-take class discussion and collaborative work. Students have an opportunity to study how public issues develop and how the varied public and private institutions of society function, in the United States and globally.

The faculty of James Madison College have been recruited from a number of inter-related fields: American studies, economics, history, sociology, political science and political theory. The college emphasizes teaching excellence, individualized attention to students and scholarly research in public affairs. Its courses are conducted as either lecture-discussion or collaborative classes in which student participation is encouraged and often expected. A typical class focuses on such issues as how globalization affects civil society, or how theories of justice evolve into systems of laws, or how a society's cultural and social values influence its economic development. In short, the emphasis throughout the program is on the dynamics of public affairs and public decision making.

Competency in writing is strongly emphasized for all students in James Madison College. In addition to a required two semester First-year Writing Program, research papers and other writing assignments have been incorporated into the requirements for each of the fields of concentration and all James Madison College courses.