Political Science

The Social Science Department offers classes in American Government and Politics. Taking a class in political science will make you more aware of how the government functions all around you, allowing you to be the most informed voter you can be.

Students wishing to complete their OTC Civics Requirement have the option to do so by taking PLS 101, on American Government and Politics. Learn about who makes our laws, how they get enforced, and what the Constitution holds in store for you. How do we determine equality? How does the media inform our perspectives? Are the Democratic and Republican parties the only political parties in America? What is the electoral college? PLS 101 spans a vast amount of information and tries to make it as digestible as possible for someone looking to learn about politics and the government. PLS 101 meets Core 42 criteria and is transferrable to four-year institutions.

Additionally, the department offers elective courses in Public Policy (PLS 103) and International Relations (PLS 201).

Public Policy asks students to learn about how policy is made in America, and wades the learner through various debates in modern politics. Many issues will be discussed, ranging from climate science, race relations, immigration, to how our very campaigns should be conducted.

International Relations is an opportunity to specifically focus on how America deals with its foreign allies and adversaries. Our foreign policy is far more complex than just counting who is at peace and who is at war. This class negotiates the countless contours of the global community and the many issues it wrestles with.

The department also works with the OTC Honors Program to offer political science courses to Honors students. These courses provide students with a more rigorous examination of the course content, and students must complete additional reading and coursework to gain Honors credit.

Politically Active is a nonpartisan student-run organization dedicated to improving the political literacy of OTC students.  Young adults consistently rank the worst in political awareness and political participation.  We volunteer the least, and we donate the least.  This generation is less likely to know what terms like “pro-life” and “pro-choice” means, or how the legislative process works or even what it takes to vote. 

We commit our organization to elevating the political knowledge of as many OTC students as possible.  Our organization will hold political events; we will engineer voter registration drives and personally invite the headline makers in local, state and national politics into our rooms so they can educate us directly as to what they do and why. 

Again: we are nonpartisan.  We do not promote the Democratic Party, the Republican Party or any individual politicians or organizations.  The only thing we promote is bringing more of the community into our campus and bringing more of our campus into the community.

We have two meetings a semester where we discuss and debate the issues. We require club members to participate in one activity of their choice.