Program Information

Basic Requirements

A doctoral degree candidate must fulfill the following general requirements:

Complete a total of 14 organized courses before advancing to candidacy

• Pass written preliminary examination in the major field
• Prepare and orally defend a dissertation proposal
• Write an original dissertation and successfully defend it in oral examination

Program of Work

The Department offers specialized instruction in seven fields:

• American Political Institutions and Processes
• Comparative Politics
• International Relations
• Methodology and Formal Theory
• Political Theory
• Public Law
• Public Policy
   

Students are required to designate one of these fields as the major field/ preliminary examination field, and take and pass four courses in this major field. The students are also required to complete three foundational courses, three courses in their minor field, three additional courses for their concentration, and take and pass a dissertation preparation course.

The "Law and Government Program" (LGP), is a combined degree program offered by the School of Law and the Department of Government. It leads to the J.D. in law and the Ph.D. in Government. Students must apply separately and secure admission to each unit, but by counting some law courses towards the Ph.D. and some Government courses towards the J.D., students can save some time in achieving the two degrees. Because the length of time to receive the Ph.D. is largely determined by the time needed to complete a dissertation rather than the amount of coursework required, and because coursework requirements in the Government Department can vary depending upon the sub-field of specialization, predicting the actual time saved is difficult. But the combined degree program certainly speeds up the process.

The Department of Government is a large, "full service" department offering study in most areas of political science. With the Department's strong commitment to public law as a field of study, and the Law School's strong commitment to interdisciplinary study, the LGP offers unmatched coverage of topics at the two disciplines' intersection. Most students in the combined program choose public law as one of their sub-fields of specialization for the Ph.D. degree, but this is not required. The combined program's flexibility allows students to draw upon the wide offerings and resources of the University in ways that complement their interests. Faculty at Texas are particularly noted for work regarding the intersection of law and politics as well as Constitutional Law and Comparative Constitutionalism. Another area of particular strength in the two disciplines as well as throughout the University is Latin America.

Jointly appointed faculty and close cooperation between the two units provides a supervised and coherent program of study. The Government Department offers competitive financial aid for the PhD program, and the Law School offers a limited number of fellowships each year to students at the dissertation stage, as well as in-state tuition waivers qualifying non-residents for in-state tuition during the first year of law school. After the first year, out-of-state students qualify for in-state law school tuition if they also hold a TA appointment in Government. LGP students are also eligible for substantial merit-based aid from the Law School.

If you want to be considered for the Combined PhD/JD Program, you will need to apply to the School of Law AND to the Government Program. For more information, please contact H.W. Perry at 512-232-1852 or email him at hwperry@mail.utexas.edu.

Here are directions for applying to the Department of Government.

Here are directions for applying to the School of Law.

There are two separate fees, one for GIAC and one for the School of Law.

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