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Photograph of the whole graduating class of 2025 during department commencement event
Congratulations, Class of 2025!
Photographs from the diploma ceremony are available here
portrait drawing based on a photograph of Herbert Kitschelt that is in a design
Skytte Prize Laureate
Herbert P. Kitschelt Awarded the 2025 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science
Duke faculty gather to celebrate students in Gross Hall building
Celebrating Class of '25
Our honors students produced creative and robust research for the thesis poster session
Undergraduate Requirements
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  • Felicia Wang
    Graduating Senior Felicia Wang Leaves Impact Through Climate Cafe Programming
  • A close up portrait of Eric Mvukiyehe
    Eric Mvukiyehe Investigates the Effects of Media Exposure on Gender Gaps in Political Participation in Post-war Liberia (clicking this link will take you away from this site)
  • Trinity Celebrates Duke's New Full Professors
    Christopher Johnston Among One of Duke's New Full Professors (clicking this link will take you away from this site)
  • Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks at 1999 commencement
    John Aldrich remembers Jimmy Carter’s “impressive intellect and unusually high integrity” (clicking this link will take you away from this site)
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Events

  • AGS Welcome Back Ice Cream Social
    Monday, August 25, 2025
    5:30 pm
    Energy Hub Lobby, Gross Hall 100
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Undergraduate Program

With an undergraduate major in political science, you will acquire a sophisticated understanding of political processes. More importantly, our major is designed to develop critical and independent thinking, to hone your writing and communication skills, and to provide you with analytical tools. Upon graduation, our majors are highly successful and pursue careers in diverse fields, including non-governmental and public interest organizations, think tanks, consulting, journalism, communications, local, state, and federal government, polling firms, finance, and business management. Many also go on to pursue graduate study in law, political science, public administration, or business administration.

Learn More about our undergraduate program

Featured Courses

Featured Courses
Political Inequality
POLSCI 384
Inequality in Western Political Thought

Study of egalitarian and inegalitarian theories in the history of Western Political Thought. Distinction between forms of inequality (political, economic, social, racial, gender, etc.). Analysis of… read more about Inequality in Western Political Thought »

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Graduate Programs

We place graduate research and training at the core of our mission. Three features define our approach to graduate education: ambition, innovation, and rigor. You will explore questions ranging from the micro-political economy of development, to the origins of state capacity, the relationship between ethnicity and conflict, the interplay between religion, money, and politics, or the ability of voters to articulate preferences in complex issue spaces. Our graduates begin working with faculty from the very first day, to gain an appreciation of the challenges involved in producing innovative research. This paves the way to your own intellectual development, the first milestone of which is a solo-authored research paper to be presented to the department during your third year in the program. From that point on, until the completion of the dissertation in year five, the focus is primarily on independent research.

Graduate Degrees: Ph.D. | M.A.

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Jihyun Jeong headshot
Jihyun Jeong
Research and Teaching Interests
  • Normative Political Theory 
  • Victimhood, Oppression, and Structural Injustice
  • Legal Theory
Wan Ning Seah Portrait
Wan Ning Seah
Research and Teaching Interests
  • Pluralism and Toleration
  • History of Political Thought
  • Ethics and Citizenship
nagawa
Maria Nagawa
Research and Teaching Interests
  • Comparative Politics
  • International Development
  • Governance
See All Ph.D.s
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Department's National Ranking
#7
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Fields of Research
6
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Degrees & Certificates
8

Our Research

Our department is recognized as one of the premier political science departments in the world, and our faculty are leaders in their fields. The intellectual life of the department is organized around six subfields that broadly reflect the conceptual and theoretical range of questions addressed in political science. Of course, there are significant areas of overlap between these fields, and as a result, many faculty work in multiple fields.

Learn More about our research

Research Specializations

  • Normative Political Theory & Philosophy
  • Political Behavior & Identities
  • Political Economy
  • Political Institutions
  • Political Methodology
  • Security, Peace & Conflict

Selected Faculty Publications

Armed Forces & Society
Book Review: Thanks for your service: The causes and consequences of public confidence in the U.S. military by Feaver, P. D.
Urben, HA
Political Science Quarterly
Bipartisanship and US Foreign Policy: Cooperation in a Polarized Age by Jordan Tama
Myrick, R
Aids and Behavior
Exploring Effects of Race and Differential Item Functioning on PrEP Stigma Experiences: Implications for Latent Stigma Measurement in Racially and Sexually Diverse Populations.
Maragh-Bass, AC; Siegler, AJ; Mayer, KH; Dulin, A; Sales, J; Stegmueller, D
Journal of Politics
Government Performance and Democracy: Survey Experimental Evidence from 12 Countries during COVID-19
Becher, M; Longuet-Marx, N; Pons, V; Brouard, S; Foucault, M; Galasso, V; Kerrouche, E; Alfonso, SL; Stegmueller, D
Journal of Politics
Coercive Legacies: From Rebel Governance to Authoritarian Control
Liu, S
Journal of Politics
The Coevolution of Networks of Interstate Support, Interstate Threat, and Civil War
Beardsley, K
Political Research Quarterly
Cross-Platform Partisan Positioning in Congressional Speech
Green, J; Shoub, K; Blum, R; Cormack, L
Political Research Quarterly
Guns and Democracy: Anti-System Attitudes, Protest, and Support for Violence Among Pandemic Gun-Buyers
Simonson, MD; Lacombe, MJ; Green, J; Druckman, JN
Journal of Comparative Economics
Changes to our editorial board
Enikolopov, R; Kuran, T; Li, H
Columbia Economic Review Spring 2024
Exploring Trust in Pakistan’s Financial Institutions
Zulfiqar, F
Perspectives On Politics Journal Cover
Why Do Issues Whose Time Has Come Stick Around? Attention Durability and the Case of Gun Control
Goss, KA; Lacombe, MJ
Res Publica Journal Cover
How Could They Let This Happen? Cover Ups, Complicity, and the Problem of Accountability
Grant, RW; Katzenstein, S; Kennedy, C
Political Behavior Journal Cover
Something to Run for: Stated Motives as Indicators of Candidate Emergence
Green, J; Conroy, M; Hammond, C
nature journal growth factor
Post-January 6th deplatforming reduced the reach of misinformation on Twitter.
McCabe, SD; Ferrari, D; Green, J; Lazer, DMJ; Esterling, KM
Science Advances Journal Cover
REFORMS: Consensus-based Recommendations for Machine-learning-based Science.
Kapoor, S; Cantrell, EM; Peng, K; Pham, TH; Bail, CA; Gundersen, OE; Hofman, JM; Hullman, J; Lones, MA; Malik, MM; Nanayakkara, P; Poldrack, RA; Raji, ID; Roberts, M; Salganik, MJ; Serra-Garcia, M; Stewart, BM; Vandewiele, G; Narayanan, A
See All Publications

Selected Faculty Books

Making Financial Globalization
Making Financial Globalization
Clara Park
The Fundamental Voter: American Electoral Democracy, 1952-2020
The Fundamental Voter: American Electoral Democracy, 1952-2020
John H. Aldrich, Suhyen Bae, and Bailey K. Sanders
Republicanism and the Future of Democracy
Republicanism and the Future of Democracy
Geneviève Rousselière
Freedoms Delayed: Political Legacies of Islamic Law in the Middle East
Freedoms Delayed: Political Legacies of Islamic Law in the Middle East
Timur Kuran
Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military
Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military
Peter D. Feaver
American Government in Black and White, Sixth Edition
American Government in Black and White, Sixth Edition
Paula McClain and Steven C. Tauber
Legitimate Opposition
Legitimate Opposition
Alexander S. Kirshner
The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Nicholas Carnes (co-editor)
Sanctions: What Everyone Needs to Know
Sanctions: What Everyone Needs to Know
Bruce W. Jentleson
Capitalism and Democracy: Prosperity, Justice, and the Good Society
Capitalism and Democracy: Prosperity, Justice, and the Good Society
Thomas A. Spragens Jr.
Race, Gender, and Political Representation: Toward a More Intersectional Approach
Race, Gender, and Political Representation: Toward a More Intersectional Approach
Beth Reingold, Kerry L. Haynie, Kirsten Widner
Curbing the Court: Why the Public Constrains Judicial Independence
Curbing the Court: Why the Public Constrains Judicial Independence
Christopher D. Johnston, Brandon L. Bartels
The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women's Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice, Second Edition
The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women's Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice, Second Edition
Kristin A. Goss
The Lure of Authoritarianism: The Maghreb after the Arab Spring
The Lure of Authoritarianism: The Maghreb after the Arab Spring
Abdesiam M. Maghraoui (co-editor)
White Identity Politics (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology)
White Identity Politics (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology)
Ashley Jardina
See All Selected Books
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Political Science

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  • About Us
    • Our 89 Year History
    • Location & Directions
    • Statement on Workplace Environment
  • Undergraduate
    • Why Major in Political Science?
    • Major Requirements
    • Career Concentrations
      • American Political Institutions and Behavior
      • Decision Theory and Data Science
      • International Relations
      • Law and Political Theory
      • Political Economy
    • The Minor and Affiliated Certificate Programs
      • Certificate: Philosophy, Politics & Economics
      • Certificate: Decision Sciences
    • For Incoming & Premajor Students
      • Admissions
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • For Current Students
      • Advising
      • Independent Study
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      • Global Education
      • Programs
        • American Values & Institutions Program
        • American Grand Strategy Program
        • Peter G. Fish Fellowship
        • Ralph Bunche Summer Institute
      • Student Association
      • Post-Undergraduate Fellows Opportunity
      • Trinity Ambassadors
  • Graduate
    • M.A. Programs
      • M.A. Requirements
      • M.A. Analytical Political Economy (MAPE)
    • Ph.D. Program
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      • For Current Ph.D. Students
        • Good Standing
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        • Preliminary Exam
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      • Fields of Study
        • Normative Political Theory & Philosophy
        • Political Behavior & Identities
        • Political Economy
        • Political Institutions
        • Political Methodology
        • Security, Peace & Conflict
        • Theme Fields
      • Ph.D. Financial Support
    • Prospective Students
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      • Living in Durham
    • Graduate Advising & Mentoring
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  • Courses
    • All Courses
  • People
    • Primary Faculty
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    • Affiliated Faculty
    • Emeriti
    • Postdoctoral Fellows
    • PhD Students
    • Masters Students
    • MAPE Students
    • Exchange Students
    • Staff
  • Research
    • Fields
      • Normative Political Theory & Philosophy
      • Political Behavior & Identities
      • Political Economy
      • Political Institutions
      • Political Methodology
      • Security, Peace & Conflict
    • Labs
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    • Programs
      • Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology
      • Duke Program in American Grand Strategy
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