Comparative politics is central to the undergraduate and graduate programs of the Department of Political Science. Eleven members of the department have significant involvement in comparative politics teaching and research, and several other faculty members are involved in some aspects of comparative work. We are able to offer some work in most of the major areas of the world, with special strengths in Europe and Latin America.

Research and teaching in comparative politics is enhanced by having five strong area studies programs within the University Center for International Studies:

• The Center for Asian Studies;
• The Center for Latin American Studies;
• The Center for West European Studies;
• Russian and East European Studies; and
• The European Union Center.

These centers provide research funding for students and faculty, as well as providing support for speakers and for the enrichment of teaching and research about their areas across the University. In addition, the newly founded Global Studies Program can provide support for research and teaching that across the conventional geographical regions.

Although we benefit from having strong area programs, comparative politics research and graduate teaching is concerned more with using comparative politics for building and testing political theory.

The concerns of the faculty cover a range of substantive concerns

• Electoral behavior and public opinion,
• Political institutions,
• Comparative public policy (foreign and domestic), and
• Political leadership.

We approach these substantive concerns through an equally wide array of theoretical lenses. The diversity found in substance and theory is important for providing students with a broad array of opportunities for learning and shaping their own views of comparative political analysis.

We are able to provide a truly comparative perspective on politics that cuts across the usual sub-fields as well as world regions. Indeed, several faculty members are engaged in projects that cut across regions, and also include the United States as a part of the comparative analysis.

The University and the department have working relationships with a number of universities around the world that facilitate comparative research. These relationships have helped us recruit an international student body at the graduate level.

Faculty members are also engaged in research on behalf of national governments and international organizations that help to enrich the content of teaching and open research opportunities for students.

More information on the graduate program can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook.