The fundamental mission for the Department of Political Science is to build knowledge that contributes to society’s understanding of politics and governance, to engage students in the generation of knowledge, and to develop research programs linking theory with real work problems and issues. The Department of Political Science is both locally and globally connected, focusing its teaching, research, and public service on the Valley, the Southwest, and across the globe.
The Department is home to two popular undergraduate programs—the Capital Scholars Program in Washington, D.C. and the Junior Fellows Program. The Capital Scholars Program exposes students to the politics of the policy process by placing undergraduates in internships in Washington D.C. Recent Capital Scholars have held internships with U.S. Senators and Congressmen and with agencies and institutions ranging from Greenpeace to the White House. The Junior Fellows Program places talented Political Science majors in one-on-one working relationships with professors for one semester. These students work closely with faculty members on research projects or assist in the classroom.
Faculty in the Department focus on five areas of teaching and scholarship: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and public policy. Department faculty regularly produce research published in the leading political science outlets; they serve on the editorial boards of major journals; they have held internationally and nationally competitive fellowships and grants from institutions such as, the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Hoover Institution National Fellows Program. Faculty are actively engaged in a number of ASU’s innovative and notable programs, such as the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, the Borderlands Initiative, the Philosophy, Politics, and Law Program of the Barrett Honors College.
The Department is currently exploring the implementation of five interdisciplinary initiatives. These initiatives have roots in the traditional areas of Political Science, are interdisciplinary in focus, and have an eye to community embedeness. Each initiative centers on the training of undergraduate and graduate students, focuses on national and international problems, and straddles the intersection of research and teaching. These initiatives include: 1) civic education—targeted to foster greater civic engagement via teacher training; 2) science and society—aimed at understanding and assessing the influence of scientific and technological activities on society; 3) politics and visual media—focused on understanding the political messages presented across a range of mediums; 4) interdisciplinary approaches to research methods—the training of students across a range of social science research methods; 5) the study of unconventional violence and terrorism—examines the causes and consequences of politically motivated conflict.