• PhD Degree Requirements
• Curriculum

The Ph.D. program offered by the Department of Political Science is directed toward a comprehensive knowledge of political science. The curriculum is designed for graduate students whose primary concern is a mastery of theories, methods of research, and substantive literature of the field. The program is based on the assumption that in order to examine the problems and issues of modern political life and to comprehend political behavior more fully, a systematic program of professional studies is required. The program thus reflects an effort to combine the most recent developments in other social sciences with political science.

The major field concentrations for the program are shown below.

• US Politics and Policy Processes: law and politics, mass political behavior, political organizations and institutions, political economy and public policy
• Comparative Politics: advanced capitalist democracies, development, democratization, political institutions, race and ethnicity
• Comparative Political Economy: regional and cross-regional studies
• Political Theory: political theory, normative and empirical theory, concepts in democratic theory, political equality
• International Relations: foreign policy, international organization, international political economy, international relations theory, world systems
• Methods: probability and statistics, linear models, advanced econometrics, game theory, and social choice

Students in this program are also encouraged to participate in TGS’s Interdisciplinary Initiative program. For more information on how you can have a second intellectual “home” outside of your department or program please visit the Interdisciplinary Initiative page.

Applicants should visit the department’s Web site www.polisci.northwestern.edu to learn about program-specific requirements for admission.

Faculty

The primary appointment for those faculty with joint or affiliate status in another program is noted in parentheses.