<p>Hello, I would like to know what people have to say about departments of political science in top universities. I had a chance to look through the University of Chicago official site, and they said that they have a very good one. This appeals to me because I am very enthusiastic about their economics department, and I would assume that as a combination with political science they must have some very good faculty. Does anyone have information about how University of Chicago compares with schools such as Columbia, Harvard, UC Berkeley in political science? Does anyone other suggesetions? Thank you very much, I would appreciate any response that people could have.</p>
<p>yale, stanford
excellent poli sci departments</p>
<p>top schools you could look at for both polisci and econ - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke, Penn (Wharton or college), Dartmouth, Chicago, Michigan, Berkeley</p>
<p>If you are seriously interested in poli sci that overlaps with econ, try to find out how the different factions in a given poli sci department get along. There are many strong departments where the people doing anything vaguely related to econ are shunned by traditionalists or people doing non-rational choice based research. Some departments are so econ oriented that poli sci is just another version of mathematical econ modelling. Some departments have a healthy eclectic mix of research. Others are diverse but fragmented to the point of incoherence, and profs from one camp don't deign to speak to those from the others.</p>
<p>The more you know, the better your decision will be.</p>
<p>Washington and Lee Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics.</p>
<p>all the top publics and privates.</p>
<p>If the assumption is that one actually studies political science with the intent of using the knowledge for a position in elective office, a policy think tank; diplomatic, national intelligence or national/homeland security service; journalism at the national level, in lobbying or as preparation for law school, then it is, I think, clear and convining that Georgetown stands alone as the target institution. No school can emulate its connected high powered faculty of practicioners and theorists.</p>
<p>If one considers each of the four major areas of political science-comparative government, international relations, political theory and US Government, only in political theory could another insititution compete with Georgetown's unique mix of practicioners and theortists, who are located three miles from Capitol Hill and two miles from the White House.</p>
<p>In comparative goverment, a Georgetown student can take class from both the former heads of state of Poland and Spain and the former deputy head of government of Malaysia. In international relations, there is the former US Secretary of State, the former National Security Advisor and the former CIA Director. In American Government, there is the ability to actually put knowledge into practice on Capitol Hill and meet Senators, Congressmen and staffers. Only in theory can a purely academic school compete with Georgetown, and Georgetown's theorists are nationally known too.</p>
<p>Pizza eater does have a good point. Only if you are using political science as a first degree to qualify for Ph.D programs and college teaching, does it make sense to study at a different school than Georgetown.</p>
<p>Gourman Report undergrad ranking in Political Science:
Yale
Harvard
Berkeley
Michigan
Chicago
MIT
Stanford
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Cornell
Princeton
UCLA
Northwestern
UNC Chapel Hill
Columbia
Indiana Bloomington
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Notre Dame
Tufts
Ohio State
U Penn
UVA
Georgetown
Texas Austin
U Washington
U Pittsburgh
U Rochester
Rutgers
Brandeis
Vanderbilt
Illinois UC
Oregon
Maryland CP
Iowa
UC Santa Barbara
SUNY Buffalo
U Mass Amherst
NYU
Michigan St
Syracuse
Washington U St Louis
US Air Force Acad
US Military Acad
Dartmouth
Pomona
Emory
UC Davis
Boston U
Tulane</p>
<p>I am not a statistician, and I have better things to do than add up a whole lot of numbers , but I bet that if you were to pull out Harvard and Yale and maybe Columbia, Stanford, UVA Law and a random service academy from this Gourman list, that Georgetown could possibly have more living alumni who have served as Heads of State, Governors, Ambassadors, and Members of Congress than the rest of the schools on that list combined. Again the point the other guy is making is what is the purpose of studying political science-is it to actually use the knowledge for some real purpose or not?</p>
<p>Top universities are generally very strong in all areas, so considering all the schools you're looking at, you can't really make a bad choice.</p>
<p>I know UPenn has a major they call PPE which is Politics, Philosophy, Economics... that might be something to look into, if you're interested in Economics as well. I've also heard of schools offering Political Economy majors.</p>
<p>A lot of liberal arts colleges have good polisci majors too, if that's something you'd consider (although top LACs are strong in science too, they tend to attract the humanities/social science crowd).</p>
<p>Look, the number of ambassadors and elite government posts is very small...and no doubt connections have use in that area.</p>
<p>On that note, any of the top private schools will get you connections in politics...now, if you are looking at academics, any of the top private schools will also prepare you for graduate/PhD programs or law school. Now, if I were to list the top schools off-hand in terms of placement into top polisci academic departments and law school (a popular choice for polisci majors) I would say any of the Ivies, Stanford, Duke, NU, Chicago, and Georgetown should be your colleges of focus. They also have connections in terms of political life that would be useful as well. They all also have top economics programs. </p>
<p>Someone above said to look at specific factions within the polisci department...I'd argue this is more relevant at the graduate level. As an undergrad you will be taking more generalized courses... but your goal is to show grad admissions you have a strong, developed interest and good quantitative skills (yes, political science is becoming more numbersy...sigh)</p>
<p>Georgetown is the best I have a friend taking it as his major there!</p>
<p>Check out the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>The econ dept at Northwestern is great. Political science is not as good, but is still a good program.</p>
<p>If you are seriously considering The University of Chicago, I would advise you first to look into its academic philosophy; it’s not one that fits all kinds of students</p>
<p>The government major at Bowdoin is supposed to be the best for small colleges.</p>
<p>The University of Wisconsin balances the academic vs. "real world" professors in a similiar way to Georgetown. Using the resources of a state capital building located about 10 minutes from most poli sci courses and a fleet of PhDs from the best political science departments in the country, it provides undergrads an excellent education with respect to government</p>
<p>UC Berkeley has PEIS, Political Economies of Industrial Societies, basically you take classes dealing with economics and political science.</p>