Politics in the era of globalization continues to stimulate our curiosity and challenge the mind. Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Clinton’s impeachment trial and the launching of a single European currency have all been integrated into political discourse in the Philippines. In this context, greater intellectual demands are being made on political scientists by students, administrators, government officials and political leaders. Political scientists themselves feel the need to broaden their horizons in order to make sense of the exciting but sometimes frustrating activity that is politics. The case for graduate education in Political Science can hardly be doubted.

The rationale for a Master’s program at DLSU may be derived from the fact that most universities in Metro Manila offer, in addition to the compulsory course on Philippine politics, an undergraduate degree in Political Science, as a preparation for law school. At present faculty members interested in graduate education see their choice restricted to the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas, both of which offer Master’s and Doctor’s degrees. The Department of Political Science at DLSU, which for several years now has offered a Master’s program in Development Policy and a Ph.D. program in Development Studies, is now ready to compete with these two institutions: an informal evaluation by a Technical Committee of the Commission on Higher Education ranked the Department second in the Philippines in terms of the percentage of faculty members with Ph.D. degrees.