This subfield focuses on the varying dynamics of power, authority and collective decision-making in polities around the world. Recent or current PhDs have written on topics like comparative federalism in the US and the EU, politics of the body in Senegal and the US, Chinese elites, Roma identity in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Mexican social movements, or Turkish democratization. Our group of comparative politics faculty is especially interested in the social, organizational, and ideational bases of political mobilization and power across a wide variety of contexts.
The political science doctoral program typically requires two years of full-time study. Our students commonly participate in joint faculty-student research and interdepartmental research projects on a wide range of topics. PhD students within the Department of Political Science pursue their studies through advanced courses and seminars across the major fields of focus of political science, including comparative politics, formal theory and methodology, international relations, public policy, political theory, and US politics. Many faculty and graduate students work at the intersections of these fields, as well as other disciplines like anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, history, law, philosophy, or sociology. The political science doctoral program is designed to allow the well-prepared student to complete course requirements for the PhD in two years of full-time study. Students complete a research paper in their second year and take comprehensive examinations during their third year, followed by preparation of a dissertation. Additional PhD program requirements, along with a complete description of graduation requirementsand an explanation of themes and field requirementsare available on the department website.