Columbia University's Political Science Program: A Comprehensive Overview

Columbia University's Department of Political Science offers rigorous training and diverse opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. The program is structured around four major subfields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, providing a comprehensive understanding of the discipline.

Structure and Subfields

The department is organized into four major subfields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory. Students select a major and minor field from among these, or they may minor in economics or research methods. All students in the department must fulfill a requirement in statistical, mathematical and analytical methods. This structure ensures both depth and breadth of knowledge within the discipline. Course distribution requirements for both undergraduate and graduate political science programs include depth and breadth with regard to subfields in the discipline. With the exception of undergraduate seminars, the second digit of course numbers indicates the subfield of the course content. Methods courses may be offered as UN, GU, or GR courses at any level. Their second digit is 7.

American Politics

Study in American politics centers on political behavior, rational choice institutionalism, and historical institutionalism. Many American politics students choose research methods as their second field. This subfield delves into the dynamics of political institutions and processes, especially within the national government. Within the subfield, students must take a minimum of three courses, including the subfield's introductory course.

Comparative Politics

Students majoring in comparative politics study theoretical and historical issues such as ethnicity and nationalism, political participation and culture in democratic and authoritarian regimes, transitions and consolidation of newly democratic regimes, and formal approaches to the design and comparison of institutions. Columbia's comparative politics program aims to train a new generation of leading comparativists who employ a clear understanding of current theoretical debates, cutting edge methodological techniques, and deep area knowledge to answer important substantive questions in the world today. The approach is to use rigorous studies of political processes around the world to contribute to general debates at the heart of the subdiscipline: Why are politicians responsive to the needs of citizens in some countries but not in others? Why do people vote on ethnic lines in some places but not others? Why do some states guarantee social protection for their citizens whereas others leave it in the hands of the market? How do political institutions and social factors shape the provision of public goods? What role do property rights play in transitions to democracy and to market economies? Why does the extent of policy redistribution vary across countries and across policy areas?

Each year the program accepts a small group of students in comparative politics who receive full funding for five years and advanced training in theory development, research methods, and data analysis. The small class size allows students to work in a collegial and stimulating environment, engage closely with faculty, become involved with faculty projects, and receive strong support as they develop their own projects. Students in comparative politics take the field seminar (POLS G6403, Issues in Comparative Politics) in their first semester to become acquainted with the literature in the subfield across a range of topics. They then take two to four substantive courses in comparative politics (focusing on the politics of major areas or on major themes in comparative politics) and other courses that fulfill Department requirements. They participate and serve as discussants in the Comparative Politics Seminar, where guest speakers and Columbia graduate students and faculty present work in progress. Developing a research paper for one of their courses is usually the first step toward completing their second-year paper, which is presented in a departmental conference and discussed by a faculty member following the format of APSA annual meetings. Most students also take the methods sequence and game theory in their first two years, and they apply their training to their papers and research. Many take additional courses in history, anthropology, economics or statistics. In August of their second year, students take their comprehensive exams, and in their third year they draft and defend their dissertation proposals.

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Comparative politics students have joined faculty to work on several major projects. They have undertaken research in China, Ukraine, Mexico, Nigeria, Europe, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Georgia, Argentina, Iran, Turkey, Uganda, Congo, and Indonesia. They have conducted their own surveys, often under difficult circumstances, such as those involving rioters in Nigeria or rebels in Burundi. They have devised laboratory and field experiments, including efforts to understand elite persuasion in Zambia and voting behavior in Argentina. They have been among the first to develop and study major new datasets on patterns of voting, on ethnic cleavages, on political institutions, on social protection and redistribution, and on peacebuilding. They have developed game theoretic political economy models of clientelism, press freedom, and redistribution, and have employed cutting-edge statistical techniques to analyze data on citizen voting, district-level election returns, and newspaper coverage of corruption. They have labored in archives, interviewed political actors, and devised maps to study the regional distribution of resources. Columbia students can be found all over the world using the best techniques to answer the most significant and difficult questions in comparative politics. They draw on support not only from the Department but also from Columbia’s extraordinary collection of area institutes (including those focused on Latin America, the Former Soviet Union and East-Central Europe, and Africa).

Students typically work closely with two or three advisors and usually collaborate in their research projects. Often, collaboration moves beyond research assistance, and graduate students co-author papers with faculty members. In recent years collaborative faculty-student work has included studies of post-conflict development projects in Indonesia; research on the distributional consequences of social programs; surveys of employers and labor unions; studies on the effects of electoral competition, partisanship, and crisis on policymaking; studies of religion and voting; analyses of cabinet turnover; analyses of inequality across ethnic groups; and analyses of presidential power in the postcommunist world. Students are also active in the Comparative Politics Seminar, where outside speakers present their work in progress (with a graduate student discussant) and where graduate students present new work (with faculty discussants). These workshops focus on the substance of the projects and also train students for professional presentations and job talks. Students and faculty also attend several other seminars related to comparative politics-which are based on regional interest (such as the Political Economy of Latin America seminar), approaches to the discipline (such as the Political Economy Workshop), or topics (such as the NYU-Columbia seminar on ethnic politics).

Graduates have accepted positions in leading universities in the United States and around the world, including Chicago University, Michigan University, New York University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Brown University, Ohio State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, Rice, Florida State University, Williams College, Barnard College, Washington University, the University of London, Beijing University, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

International Relations

Faculty study almost the entire range of subjects in the field from NGOs and other nonstate actors, to the role of domestic politics, to the international system, using a similarly broad range of methodologies including interpretivist approaches to case studies, statistical analysis, and mathematical models. Faculty strengths lie in international political economy and international security. The program provides lots of resources in the field of International Relations. It is also possible to access the United Nations, NATO, and the World Bank.

Political Theory

The political theory faculty comprise one of the most distinguished groups of theorists to be found anywhere, having made leading contributions to the areas of normative political philosophy, constitutional issues and constitution-making processes, democratic theory, political psychology, the methodology of political inquiry, and the history of political thought. The program also provides access to a very comprehensive body of Greek texts in translation, as well as an interesting collection of secondary texts on Thucydides, including Hobbes's On the Life and History of Thucydides, and Finlay's Three Essays on Thucydides.

Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

The department also participates fully in the interdisciplinary M.A. Program in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. This M.A. program trains students in how to apply quantitative methods to problems in the social sciences as they arise in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The program draws on the diverse strengths of the statistics and social sciences faculties at Columbia and other institutions in the New York metropolitan area. It is designed for students with a strong background in social sciences or quantitative methods who are interested in deepening their analytical skills and broadening their knowledge of the social sciences.

Doctoral Program

Doctoral fellowships are awarded in recognition of academic achievement and in expectation of scholarly success. Teaching and research experience are considered an important aspect of the training of graduate students. Recent graduates of the Ph.D. program have gone on to present at conferences, and publish in the field's leading journals.

Coursework

The doctoral program typically involves taking about six courses. Students must also complete an additional field survey course. Fundamentals of probability theory and statistical inference used in engineering and applied science are covered, including probabilistic models, random variables, useful distributions, expectations, law of large numbers, and the central limit theorem. A calculus-based introduction to probability theory and the theory of statistics is also provided. Cutting-edge techniques are emphasized.

Core courses include:

Linear algebra and methods of proof.
Fundamentals of probability theory and statistical inference.
A calculus-based introduction to probability theory.
Calculus-based introduction to the theory of statistics.
Theory and practice for random and mixed-effects models.
Introductory course on the design and analysis of sample surveys.

Additional courses cover topics such as:

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Programming and integration.
Policy.
Ordinary least-squares regression.
Equation models, factor analysis, and other special topics.
Signaling, repeated games, and folk theorems.
Mechanism design and auction theory.

Undergraduate Program

The Department of Political Science offers a variety of advising resources to provide undergraduate majors and minors with the information and support needed to successfully navigate through the program. The department trains and employs political science Ph.D. candidates who advise undergraduate students regarding program requirements, course selection, and transfer and study-abroad credits. Students may request a faculty adviser by completing the Faculty Adviser Request Form and submitting it during the first two weeks of the semester. The director of undergraduate studies oversees the department's undergraduate programs and is available during office hours. Economics-political science majors may consult with the economics-political science adviser during office hours. Political science-statistics majors may consult with the political science-statistics adviser during office hours.

Course Registration and Requirements

Students can register directly for most undergraduate-level political science courses. However, seminars, which are smaller, intensive discussion-based courses centered around a unifying theme or topic, require students to join a waitlist and then receive instructor approval to enroll.

Beginning in the Fall 2025 semester, Columbia College and School of General Studies students completing majors or minors in political science must complete their required introductory courses at the Columbia Department of Political Science, and not at Barnard. Barnard colloquia are open to students with the instructor's permission; however, they may not be used to fulfill the seminar requirement, although they can be used to satisfy subfield or elective requirements.

For the political science major, a maximum of three courses in political science may be transferred from other institutions, including study abroad and AP credit. For the economics-political science and political science-statistics interdisciplinary majors, a maximum of two courses in political science may be transferred from other institutions. For the political science minor, a maximum of one course in political science may be transferred from other institutions. All transfer credits must be approved in writing by the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the graduate-student advisers.

All majors write research papers in two seminars or in the Honors Seminar. Seminars are small, discussion-based courses focused on a research topic in political science. Each semester, the department offers a range of seminars in each subfield. Students are expected to attend and participate in these courses, as well as to write an original research paper.

Honors Program

The department offers an honors program for a limited number of seniors who want to undertake substantial research projects and write honors theses. Honors students perform research as part of a full-year Honors Seminar (POLS UN3998-POLS UN3999, 8 points total) during their senior year, in place of the seminar requirement for majors. Honors students may take additional seminars to fulfill subfield or elective requirements for the major. Theses are due in late March or early April. The Honors Seminar director provides general direction for the seminar and supervises all students. Each student also works with a faculty member in their major subfield (American politics, comparative politics, international relations, or political theory) and a teaching assistant.

The Honors Seminar meets weekly for part of the year and addresses general issues involved in research and thesis writing, such as developing research questions and projects, methodology, sources of evidence, and outlining and drafting long papers. Class meetings are also used for group discussions of students’ research and thesis presentations.

Students who wish to apply to the Honors Seminar must notify the department in writing by the end of the spring semester of the junior year. Applicants are required to have completed the methods requirement for the major before beginning the Honors Seminar. In addition, applicants to the Honors Seminar are encouraged, but not required, to identify a faculty sponsor for their thesis proposal.

Students who are not accepted into the Honors Seminar or who decide after the application deadline that they would like to write an honors thesis may take one or two semesters of POLS UN3901 Independent Research I and POLS UN3902 Independent Research II and apply to write a thesis to submit for honors consideration. Any full-time faculty member in the department may sponsor independent study courses. Students who choose this path must also complete all the requirements for the major and maintain a minimum major GPA of 3.6.

Prizes and Awards

The Department of Political Science administers several prizes and awards, including:

Charles A. Beard Senior Thesis Prize
Allan J. Fromme Memorial Prize
The Robbins Fellowship
The Phyllis Stevens Sharp Endowment Fund

Each spring, the department invites students to submit fellowship proposals for the Robbins Fellowship and the Phyllis Stevens Sharp Endowment Fund.

Interdisciplinary Majors

The major in economics-political science is an interdisciplinary major that introduces students to the methodologies of economics and political science and stresses areas of particular concern to both. Two advisers are assigned for the interdepartmental major, one in the Department of Economics and one in the Department of Political Science. For the political science part of the major, students must choose a primary subfield and a secondary subfield to study.

Introductory Courses

Students must take two of the following introductory courses, depending on their chosen subfields:

POLS UN2101, Political Theory I
POLS UN2201, Introduction to American Politics
POLS UN2501, Introduction to Comparative Politics
POLS UN2601, International Politics

These courses provide a foundation for further study in the respective subfields.

Career Paths

Recent M.A. graduates have applied their training to advance careers in journalism, business, applied research law, political activism and civil service. Others used the M.A. year to determine whether or not to enter a Ph.D. program.

Resources and Support

Columbia University Libraries provides a gateway to its extensive data holdings through its DataGate service. Other excellent sources include the American National Election Studies, the Roper Center and the Pew Research Center.

The department's Considering a Political Science Major answers common questions new students ask about the program.

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