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Maxwell / Department of Political Science

  • Department of Political Science

    The Department of Political Science is devoted to the study of politics and government, domestically and abroad. 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; and the interactions between and among nation-states and transnational organizations that shape patterns of trade and development, conflict and cooperation, war and peace.

    At the undergraduate level, political science majors will be exposed to political inquiry across a broad array of substantive topics, while also concentrating in one of the following areas: American Politics & History, Law & Politics, Political Economy, Political Participation & Mobilization, Global Governance & Foreign Policy, Political Violence & Conflict, Public Policy, Parties & Elections, Comparative Politics, Citizenship & Democracy, or Political Thought & Philosophy.

    At the graduate level, 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 & Policy, Law & Courts, or Security Studies.

  • Commitment to Inclusion

    The Maxwell School stands in support of all who are demanding change in the face of racism, violence, and hate speech. We are committed to making our school, our university, and our communities more inclusive and just for all.

    There is absolutely no place for behavior or language that degrades any individual or group’s race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability, or religious beliefs.

  • Upcoming Events RSS Feed

    COVID-19: We continue to follow the advice of local public health officials in regards to in-person events. Please check this calendar for the latest safety protocols before coming to campus or other in-person venue.

  • Political Science News

    Reeher quoted in The Hill article on anti-elitism, public distrust

    Populism and anti-elitism have been two of the biggest forces shaping American society in recent years. “The thing that needs to be borne in mind is that there has been a very clear and significant decline in trust in all major institutions in the United States, government being the most notable one,” says Professor Grant Reeher. “It is the media, it is physicians, it is the church, it is corporations. We have seen it all across the board.” Read more in The Hill article, "The Memo: Elites' misdeeds fuel public distrust."

     

    Gadarian speaks to CSM about partisan patterns, COVID behaviors

    When the pandemic shut down normal life in March 2020, partisan patterns in personal behavior became clear early on, and have stuck, according to a forthcoming book, “Pandemic Politics: How COVID-19 Revealed the Depths of Partisan Polarization,” co-authored by Professor Shana Gadarian. Such behaviors include mask-wearing, social distancing, and later, a willingness to be vaccinated. "There are these big gaps between Republicans and Democrats that we see in our survey data very early on in March 2020, and which don’t go away over time as the virus starts to move across the country,” says Gadarian. Read more in the Christian Science Monitor article, "As US faces new COVID variant, calls for patience and prudence."

     

    Zhang cited in WIRED article on the responsible use of AI

    There are inherent conflicts in tech companies sponsoring or employing researchers to study the implications of technology they seek to profit from. But despite this, Baobao Zhang, assistant professor of political science, says the U.S. public still seems to broadly trust tech companies to guide development of artificial intelligence (AI). Read more about her recent survey findings in the WIRED article, "Ex-Googler Timnit Gebru Starts Her Own AI Research Center."

     

Department of Political Science
100 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244-1020
Phone: +1.315.443.2416