<p>Hey carguy8888,</p>
<p>The political science program is very strong, especially in theory. Political Science at Duke is divided into four areas of concentration and for the major, you need to pick a concentration but take at least one class in each area. Here’s more information on the undergrad curriculum: [Political</a> Science :: Undergraduate Program :: Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.poli.duke.edu/undergrad/curriculum.html]Political”>http://www.poli.duke.edu/undergrad/curriculum.html)</p>
<p>Most polisci majors will tell you to pick IR or American Politics as your concentration, dismissing theory classes as a waste of time. And on a whole, there are very few political theory concentrations, since it’s less pragmatic. I’m a theory concentration, and I really hope that you don’t dismiss it completely: it can be incredibly rewarding.</p>
<p>As a generalization, the workload for polisci classes is pretty low - there are usually lots of readings but, to be frank, very few people actually do them all. However, there are some really hard classes (Non-state Actors comes to mind) which, despite the work required, are definitely worth it. Don’t shy away from the hard classes or professors with bad ratemyprofessor.com ratings - sometimes, these are the classes that are most worthwhile. And while there are no incentives to doing the reading (no negative consequences, no reading quizzes), I’ve found that keeping up with it helps you get the most out of lecture and classes. </p>
<p>The major really is what you make of it. If you diligently take the field seriously, I think you’ll love it - and you’ll be surrounded by some of the leading scholars in political science, many of whom love to counsel undergrads. It’s a great opportunity. But if you treat it as a blow-off easy major, then that’s exactly what it’ll end up being.</p>