Department of Political Science & Development Studies

The DLSU Department of Political Science was established at a time of political crisis in the country.  The institutionalization of a separate Political Science Department took almost 20 years, as long as the process that eventually led to a change of leaders in 1986.  The division of the former Department of History and Political Science was brought about by two pressing needs: the need to contribute to the development of the discipline in the Philippines, and the need to promote academic inquiry into the country’s problems.  From 1984 to January 1997, DLSU was one of the few academic institutions in the Philippines to have a separate Political Science department.

The department has steadily grown over the past three decades – in the number, qualifications, and expertise of its faculty, in the various academic programs it offers, and in the size of its student population at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  The department has among the highest ratios of full-time faculty Ph.D. to non-Ph.D. holders among political science departments in the country.  The faculty are active and productive researchers who are recognized experts in the various fields in the discipline.  They are also fully committed to teaching and training the next generations of researchers and practitioners in the fields of political science and development studies.

Currently, the department offers two undergraduate and four graduate degree programs. At the undergraduate level, the department offers the AB major in Political Science program and the AB Development Studies program. At the graduate level, the department offers the MA Political Science program, the Ph.D. in Political Science program, the MA Development Policy program, and the Ph.D. Development Studies program. The latter is available in both regular coursework and research tracks.

Vision

 

The Political Science Department of De La Salle University seeks to be an international center of higher learning, research, and evidence-based advocacy in politics, governance, and development studies.

Mission

In line with this vision, the Department’s mission is three-fold:

  1. To produce future leaders and citizens who are informed, critical, and active in development and other societal concerns;
  2. To generate and apply state-of-the-art knowledge in politics, governance, and development using innovative, comprehensive, and rigorous methods; and
  3. To actively engage global, regional, and national policy networks and political leaders through research-based information.

 

Department Officers

Dr. Christianne France Collantes
Department of Political Science & Development Studies		 Chair
Dr. Joseph Velasco
Department of Political Science & Development Studies		 Vice-Chair
Dr. Anthony Lawrence Borja
Department of Political Science & Development Studies		 Graduate Program Coordinator

 

 

Accreditation, Awards, and Recognition

The undergraduate programs of the Liberal Arts including the Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science and Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies have been granted 5-year accreditation by the Philippine Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAASCU) from May 2013 to May 2018. They have also been given Level IV accreditation status by the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP).

Aside from these, the Commission on Higher Education has named the Political Science Department as a Center of Development as per CHED CMO No. 38 Series of 2015.

For more information, please click https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/offices/qao/accreditation/

Expected Lasallian Graduate Attributes

University and College ELGAs

Expected Lasallian Graduate Attributes (ELGAs) provide a concrete indication of the important characteristics aligned with the DLSU mission that the university aims to develop among its students. At the University and College levels, these ELGAs are as follows:

Expected Lasallian Graduate Attributes (ELGAs)
University-Level College of Liberal Arts
  • Critical and creative thinker
  • Effective communicator
  • Reflective life-long learner
  • Service-driven citizen
  • Critical and creative knowledge producer
  • Socially responsive and collaborative citizen
  • Competent professional
  • Diversity-sensitive communicator
  • Morally principled and faith-inspired leader

Political Science Department ELGAs

The Political Science Department has further identified the ELGAs consistent with those at the University and College levels that are also more specifically relevant to its academic programs. These departmental ELGAs provide the basis for the identification of curricular learning outcomes, and consequently, curriculum design.

A DLSU Political Science / Development Studies graduate is a/an:

  1. Competent professional who understands the dynamics of politics and public policy;
  2. Articulate knowledge producer conscious of the need to improve our understanding of development and the political process; and
  3. Collaborative stakeholder engaged in the development of society and government.