Shape the Future of Politics and Governance

Political Science Department

Understand the people, policies, institutions and organizations that shape public life. As a student of political science, you will gain essential analytical and organizational skills that can be applied to exciting careers in government, law, business, international organizations, nonprofit organizations, survey research, journalism and teaching.

The Political Science Department is devoted to the study of politics and government; this includes the study of:

political institutions that exercise government authority, including legislatures, courts and administrative agencies;
political organizations through which individuals and groups seek to reshape the political landscape, including parties, interest groups and social movements;
public policies that reflect governmental efforts to regulate the actions of individuals and corporations, including civil rights, immigration and environmental policy;
the interactions between and among nation-states and;
transnational organizations that shape patterns of trade and development, conflict and cooperation, war, and peace.

full-time faculty teaching and conducting research in political science

66%

of Maxwell faculty conduct research focused outside of the U.S.

graduate students in residence; fewer than 12 admitted each year

Undergraduate Studies

Studying political science will help you understand the workings of political life at the local, national and international levels and will prepare you for a lifetime of active and informed citizenship. The Department of Political Science at Syracuse University has more than thirty full-time faculty that teach a wide variety of courses in multiple subject areas. We will guide you as you explore the world of politics and hone your skills as a researcher, analyst and writer.

Graduate Studies

Master’s and doctoral students receive broad training in quantitative and qualitative methods of social science research, while also concentrating in two of the following substantive fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, public administration and policy, law and courts, or security studies.

I am Maxwell.

Civic engagement is a core value for me. I have always aspired to help the communities I’m from.” Mazaher Kaila, a Maxwell alumna and third-year student at Syracuse University's College of Law, moved with her family from Sudan to Central New York when she was four years old. “I realized that to make meaningful change in society, I needed to understand the systems that power it—government and politics—and that’s insight I would gain by studying political science.”

Mazaher Kaila ’19, L’22

political science, law

Read Kaila's story, “A Powerful Voice for Justice”

Maxwell's Political Science Department faculty members publish award-winning books on a wide range of topics. Scroll a sample of recently published works below, or visit the Maxwell Faculty Bookshelf for more.

The Invented State: Policy Misperceptions in the American Public

Emily Thorson

Oxford University Press, 2024

Federal, Media & Journalism, State & Local

Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

Jenn M. Jackson

Penguin Random House, 2024

Black, Gender and Sex, Social Justice, United States

hern-erin-explaining-successes-in-africa

Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don’t Always Fall Apart

Erin Hern

Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2023

Africa (Sub-Saharan), Government

rasmussen-dennis-the-constitutions-penman

The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter

Dennis Rasmussen

University Press of Kansas, 2023

Government, United States

Bucking the Buck: US Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash Against the Dollar

Daniel McDowell

Oxford University Press, 2023

Economic Policy, International Affairs, United States

gueorguiev-dimitar-new-threats-to-academic-freedom

New Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia

Dimitar Gueorguiev

Columbia University Press, 2023

Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia

griffiths-ryan-self-determination-and-secession

The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession

Ryan Griffiths, Aleksandar Pavković, Peter Radan

Routledge, 2023

International Affairs, Law, National Security

Pandemic Politics: The Deadly Toll of Partisanship in the Age of COVID

Shana Kushner Gadarian, Sara Wallace Goodman, Thomas B. Pepinsky

Princeton University Press, 2022

COVID-19, Government, Political Parties

Money in Politics: Self Enrichment, Campaign Spending, and Golden Parachutes

Simon Weschle

Cambridge University Press, 2022

Government

BaoBao Zhang Joins First Cohort of AI2050 Early Career Fellows

One of only 15 scholars chosen from across the U.S., Zhang will receive up to $200,000 in research funding over the next two years. Zhang will use the funding to partner with the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for New Democratic Processes to test whether public participation in AI governance is increased through the creation of public assemblies, known as “deliberative democracy workshops.”