The Honors Thesis: A Guide 2026-2027
The department offers students majoring in political science a senior honors program; the successful completion of which leads to Graduation with Distinction in political science. The central requirement of the program is an honors thesis that the student prepares under faculty supervision. The program is designed to give the very best undergraduates in Political Science an intensive and advanced experience conducting an original research project. For students seeking honors in Political Science, the goal is to complete an original research paper of journal length.
Honors Program Timeline
📅 Friday, September 4 – Deadline for course registration, for finding an advisor and Research Question Approval Form Due
(This form MUST be submitted to Tosha in order to participate in the Honors Program)
📅 Monday, December 1 – Deadline for December Submission
📅 Friday, March 19 – Deadline for April Submission (FINAL SUBMISSION)
📅 Friday, April 9 – Honors Poster Session
📅 Sunday, May 9 – Department Recognition and Commencement
Eligibility
- Completion of two courses in the subfield of the paper.
- Completion of STA 101 Data Analysis and Statistical Inference, or higher statistics course.*
- Have a minimum overall GPA of 3.3 and a major GPA of 3.5.
* The statistics requirement may be waived for students pursuing honors in the area of Political Theory.
Methods of Pursuing Distinction
Students will be expected to complete an original research paper of journal length (30-40 pages) through one of the following methods:
- A 400-699 level political science course.
- A political science independent study course.
Deadlines
The paper will be submitted to the department's Honors Thesis Committee on December 1, 2026 or March 19, 2027.
- Students who submit their paper by the December 1, 2026 deadline will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit if the committee recommends further editing of the paper.
- Those who submit on March 19, 2027 will not have the opportunity to revise their paper.
All submissions need to be emailed to Tosha Marshall, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, at am350@duke.edu, by 5:00 PM on March 19, 2027.
Research Assistance for Honors Program
For students writing an honors thesis, additional support and guidance will be provided through a series of workshops led by a thesis assistant. The purpose of these workshops is to structure the calendar for thesis writers, foster collaboration among the students, and provide instruction for the methodological and research skills necessary to write a thesis.
Funding Opportunities
The Ole R. Holsti Prize is for excellence in undergraduate research that uses primary sources for political science or public policy. Any undergraduate student who uses primary sources available through Duke University Libraries to complete a paper for a Political Science or Public Policy course, thesis or independent study can apply for the Holsti prize. There are two categories: undergraduate semester-long paper, and thesis written for Graduation With Distinction. Each prize carries a $1,000 cash award. Ole R. Holsti, George V Allen Professor Emeritus of Political Science, provided funding for this award. Deadline for submission is May 15. For more details go to the Duke Libraries Holsti Prize page.
2025-2026 Topics
- "Courtrooms as Classrooms: Judicial Alignment, Sentencing Outcomes, and Youth Political Socialization" - Christina Barrow
- "Weaponizing Womanhood: ATTITUDES TOWARDS EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATING WOMEN INTO ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS" - Abigail Bergan
- "Anticipating Legal Exposure: Explaining Reservations to Article IX of the
Genocide Convention" - Alexandra Bernstein-Naples - "Misalignment in Symbolic and Operational Ideology:
A Comparative Study of the Divergence between Student Ideological Self-Identification and Policy Attitudes Across the Covid Era to Today" - Alyssa Guardado - "To Expand or Restrain: The Role of Ethical Norms in U.S. Biological Weapons Policy" - Isabel Lehrman
- "Citadel Under Pressure: Factionalism, Pluralism, and the Limits of Madisonian Constitutionalism" - Sophia Monaco
- "The AI Arms Race: Regimes in Competition for Innovation" - Owen Platt
- "Sanctuary States and Sanctuary Bans: Exploring State Priorities and the Correlates of Immigrant-Friendly Policies in the United States" - Angelie Quimbo
- "Interpretations of Equality: Youth’s Emerging Political Beliefs" - Ana Ramirez
- "Trade Formalization and Premature Deindustrialization: Evidence from the Chile-China Free Trade Agreement" - Ana Sales Vieira Macedo
- "Church, State, and Law: Christian Nationalism and the Fight for Reproductive Justice" - Isabel Shew
- "Limits to Rationality in Party Strategy" - Hava Stone
- "Good Job/Bad Job, Amity/Enmity, Whitewash/Blackwash: Do International Bilateral Relations Affect U.S. Human Rights Reporting?" - Julia Young