Skip to content

Advanced Political Skills

Many skilled political managers work in both electoral and advocacy settings. If you want to master one of the many skillsets useful across the field of practical politics -- skills like polling, communications, fundraising, and technology -- the Advanced Political Skills concentration will give you the flexibility to customize and hone your skills in a specific area of politics.

Some students come into the program with very specific career paths already imagined. With the help and permission of the program director, students may design a tailored three-course sequence that includes courses from each of the three areas of focus.

Required Core Courses (6 courses, 18 credit hours)
Complete four before proceeding to any advanced courses. Complete all six within your first eight courses.

    PMGT 6201 Fundamentals of Political Management
    PMGT 6202 Research Methods for Political Managers
    PMGT 6203 Communications Elements
    PMGT 6204 Communications Strategy
    PMGT 6205 Ethics for Political Managers
    PMGT 6206 Political Leadership

Advanced Political Skills Focus Area Courses
Select from among four different groups of courses, including topics in polling, political communication, fundraising, new technology and politics, and leadership:

    PMGT 6211 Polling
    PMGT 6212 Qualitative Research
    PMGT 6214 Public Opinion Dynamics
or
    PMGT 6216 Speechwriting
    PMGT 6217 Political Management and Media
    PMGT 6218 The New Media
or
    PMGT 6220 Fundraising
    PMGT 6221 Fundraising for Organizations
    PMGT 6222 Party Fundraising
or
    PMGT 6225 Leadership Theory
    PMGT 6227 Women in Politics
    PMGT 6228 Law of the Political Process
    PMGT 6229 Managing Political Organizations
or
    PMGT 6215 Managing Online Communities in an Electoral or Advocacy Campaigns
    PMGT 6218 Videography, Marketing and Messaging in the Digital Era
    PMGT 6219 Targeting, Microtargeting and Analytics

Capstone Sequence Options
Students complete the final three classes (9 credits) by taking either two electives plus the capstone course (PMGT 295), or one elective plus the two-course thesis. The two thesis classes are usually taken during two successive semesters.

    PMGT 6295 Advanced Problems & Strategy
    PMGT 6299 Thesis I
    PMGT 6300 Thesis II

Other Resources
Political Management Degree Requirements
Political Management Courses and Syllabi
Political Management Faculty

E-mail Print PDF