<p>The DC area does not have a single top Political Science Department. It has 2 top International Relations programs in Georgetown and Johns Hopkins, but it does not have a top Political Science program. Here are the top Political Science departments, according to region and quality (national rank). All of the programs listed below are awesome)</p>
<p>West Coast:
Stanford University (top 5 nationally)
University of California-Berkeley (top 5 nationally)
University of California-San Diego (top 15 nationally)
University of California-Los Angeles (top 15 nationally)
University of Washington (top 25 nationally)
Claremont McKenna (N/A)
Reed College (N/A)
Pomona College (N/A)</p>
<p>Midwest:
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (top 5 nationally)
University of Chicago (top 10 nationally)
Northwestern University (top 15 nationally)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (top 15 nationally)
Indiana University-Bloomington (top 20 nationally)
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (top 20 nationally)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Top 20 nationally)
Washington University (top 20 nationally)
Carleton College (N/A)
Grinnell College (N/A)
Macalester College (N/A)
Oberlin College (N/A)</p>
<p>South/Southeast:
Duke University (top 10 nationally)
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (top 15 nationally)
University of Texas (top 20 nationally)
Emory University (top 25 nationally)
University of Virginia (top 25 nationally)
Davidson College (N/A)</p>
<p>Northeast:
Harvard University (#1 nationally)
Yale University (top 5 nationally)
Princeton University (top 10 nationally)
Columbia University (top 15 nationally)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (top 15 nationally)
Cornell University (top 20 nationally)
University of Rochester (top 20 nationally)
Amherst College
Bowdoin College
Haverford College
Middlebury College
Swarthmore College
Wesleyan College
Williams College</p>