Political Science Bachelor of Science
When you think of politics, what comes to mind? Elections? The president? Political parties? Politics are complex. While government is part of politics, it’s not the only aspect. And, becoming a politician is not your only option. As a political science major, you’ll study political theory, comparative politics, public administration, international relations, public law and political methodology. Majoring in this discipline can lead you to a career in law, international diplomacy, teaching, journalism, business and even banking.
Each spring, two dozen political science majors travel to Washington, D.C. to tour the Capitol, visit historic landmarks and museums, and speak with admissions counselors from DC-area graduate and law schools.
Students can join Pi Sigma Alpha, a political science honor society with more than 700 chapters across the country. During election years, members have been known to organize formal political debates.
Political Science majors can choose to concentrate their studies in four specific areas of politics: law, international relations, applied politics, or environmental politics.
The Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics has earned a national reputation for the skill and professionalism of our Political Science students, as they collect and analyze political data and provide unbiased assessments of public opinion.
Through the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics (MCAP), you could complete a work-study, internship, or gain professional experience and newfound skills working in our on-campus polling center
Caleb came to Mercyhurst and changed his major five times before pursuing a career that he felt passionate about.
Our students hone their advocacy, negotiation and diplomacy skills against student teams from other regional colleges and universities within the Mid-Atlantic Model United Nations Consortium.
Brian Ripley, Ph.D.
Specialization: International Relations, Asian Politics, Foreign Policy
Dr. Ripley is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Affairs Forum of the Center for Applied Politics. Dr. Ripley earned his B.A. in political science at Macalester College and his doctorate at The Ohio State University. He taught at the University of Pittsburgh and held a visiting appointment at the University of Wisconsin before coming to Mercyhurst in 1996. Dr. Ripley received a Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Pittsburgh and was a Pew Fellow of International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Previously he served as the Dean of Faculty and Senior Academic Advisor for the Office for Academic Affairs and as the Associate Dean in the School of Social Sciences at Mercyhurst. While serving in the administration he was instrumental in helping create the interdisciplinary courses now required for all incoming freshmen and has been a member of multiple faculty teams teaching these courses.
Dr. Ripley’s primary teaching and research interests are in the fields of international relations, American politics, and comparative politics. He is a member of the Foreign Policy Analysis and Active Learning in International Affairs (ALIAS) sections of the International Studies Association (ISA), is a frequent presenter and panelist at the annual ISA conferences, and serves on the editorial board of International Studies Perspectives.
Dr. Ripley was born and raised on a family farm in Winnebago, Minnesota.
Joseph Morris, Ph.D.
Specialization: American Government, Public Policy, Environmental Policy
Dr. Morris received his bachelor of arts at San Diego State University, master of arts at California State University at Fullerton and master of public administration and doctorate at Idaho State University. He is an Associate Professor, serves as Chair of the Department of Political Science and has been teaching at Mercyhurst since 2001. He is the former Director of the Mercyhurst College Honors Program. Professor Morris was a visiting professor at Idaho State University before coming to Mercyhurst. He is originally from Claremont, California. He and his wife, Leanne, have two children, Grace (7) and Logan (2 mo.).
Lena Surzhko-Harned,
Dr. Surzhko-Harned's primary research interests are in the field of comparative politics. She is an author of numerous papers dealing with issues of nationalism and ethnic conflict, comparative democratization, and political behavior in post-communist states. Her work is features in such publications as International Research Quarterly, Journal of Common Market Studies, Nations and Nationalism. Her dissertation entitled “The Ukrainian Voter: Electoral Behavior in a new Democracy” examined the development of citizens’ electoral habits and political competition in post-Soviet Ukraine. She currently serves on editorial board of the Studies of Ethnicity and Nationalism. In 2007, Dr. Surzhko-Harned took part in publication of a book dealing with issues of human trafficking in post-Soviet space entitled Interview with Hope, published in Kiev, Ukraine. While in Pittsburgh, she has also served as a research assistant for a consulting project for USAID.At Mercyhust, Dr. Surzhko-Harned teaches a variety of courses on comparative politics and international relations. She also advises the Model International Organizations Team, which won numerous awards in intercollegiate national and international conferences.
Michael Federici, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael P. Federici is Professor of Political Science at Mercyhurst University and department chair. He previously served as Faculty Senate president and on the University’s Board of Trustees from 2011-2013 and 2007-2009. He is in his twenty-seventh year of college teaching.
He received his Ph.D. in Politics from The Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C. (1990), his M.A. from CUA in 1985, and his B.S. in Economics from Elizabethtown College in 1983. Dr. Federici has published five books, The Challenge of Populism (1991), Eric Voegelin: The Restoration of Order (2002), The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton published by Johns Hopkins University Press (June 2012), Rethinking the Teaching of American History, (an edited volume; Butler Books 2012), and a co-edited collection of essays entitled, The Culture of Immodesty in American Life and Politics: The Modest Republic (Palgrave Macmillan, May 2013). He has also published several articles and book reviews.
Dr. Federici’s teaching and research areas include American Government, Constitutional Law, Political Theory, and American Political Thought. He has taught American Government for the Junior Statesmen Foundation Summer School at Yale University and Georgetown University. In 1993 he won the Joseph Friedl Award at Concord College that is given to the professor who “Exemplifies the true essence of the college professor” and he won the “Distinguished Teaching Award” at Mercyhurst University in 2004. Dr. Federici participated in a debate January 29, 2008 at Georgetown University sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Tocqueville Forum on “America: Empire or Republic?” The debate is available on the web at: http://www.mmisi.org/mp3/lectures/a000211_cicero_012908.mp3. He also gave lectures at Notre Dame Law School in April 2008 and Berkeley University in June 2010. The debate is available on the web at: http://www.mmisi.org/mp3/lectures/a000351_federici_050110.mp3. In September 2014, he participated in a debate at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville: “Hamilton v. Jefferson: Who’s the MVP of the American Founding?” He gave the 2014 Constitution Day lecture at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Dr. Federici taught for Mercyhurst University in Dungarvan, Ireland during the spring 2010 term.
He serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Humanitas and is president of The Academy of Philosophy and Letters and the National Humanities Institute. In August 2002, he was one of a select group of American scholars invited to deliver a paper during the Chinese Comparative Literature Association’s Conference in Nanjing, China. In 1993 Dr. Federici participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Thomas Jefferson that was held at The University of Virginia and The College of William and Mary. He was a Distinguished Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. In 2004 he wrote a winning grant application to the U.S. Department of Education for a $984,920 three-year grant from the Teaching American History Program for the Corry Area School District. In 2005 he wrote another successful TAHG for the Erie City School District for $499,736. He served as the Project Director for both grants.
Professor Federici has been interviewed for local and national media including WJET TV, WICU TV, WSEE TV, C-SPAN, WITF PA Public Radio, WQLN Radio, WJET Radio, WNYC Radio, WBEN Radio (Buffalo), The Erie Times News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Harrisburg’s The Patriot-News, Scranton Times-Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, The Buffalo News, and CQ Weekly.
Dr. Federici is originally from Denville, NJ. He is married to Frances, his wife of 25 years. They have two daughters, Elizabeth (18) and Amy (13).
Randy Clemons, Ph.D.
Specialization: International Relations, Public Policy, American Government, Simulations
Dr. Randy S. Clemons, received his bachelor of arts at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA, and his doctorate at Idaho State University. Dr. Clemons is a Professor of Political Science and since 2009 has been the Dean of the School of Social Sciences (i.e., the departments of History, Sociology, Social Work, Criminal Justice, and Political Science). In 2007 he won the “Distinguished Teaching Award” at Mercyhurst University.
He teaches and researches in both the international relations and public policy arenas and has presented papers at more than 30 conferences across the nation. The co-author of the textbook Public Policy Praxis (with Mark McBeth), and multiple book chapters, including one on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert exploring the impact of Fake News and a chapter in the book Conflicts in Health Policy; Dr. Clemons’s recent research has appeared in the Journal of Public Administration, Foreign Policy Analysis (forthcoming), World Medical & Health Policy, Risks, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy; and Electronic Hallway.
His public policy book has been widely adopted as a text in public policy programs at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Some of the schools where professors have adopted it include: Duke, Syracuse, UCLA, American University, the University of Pennsylvania, George Mason, Seton Hall, Michigan State, University of Florida, Creighton, Arizona State, the US Coast Guard Academy, West Point, Ohio State, Catholic University of America, John Hopkins, Virginia Tech, Washington University, and the George H.W. Bush School of Public Policy at Texas A&M.