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33

full-time faculty teaching and conducting research in political science

66%

of Maxwell faculty conduct research focused outside of the U.S.

50

graduate students in residence; fewer than 12 admitted each year

Undergraduate Studies


Studying political science will help you understand the workings of political life at the local, national and international levels and will prepare you for a lifetime of active and informed citizenship. The Department of Political Science at Syracuse University has more than thirty full-time faculty that teach a wide variety of courses in multiple subject areas. We will guide you as you explore the world of politics and hone your skills as a researcher, analyst and writer.

Graduate Studies


Master’s and doctoral students receive broad training in quantitative and qualitative methods of social science research, while also concentrating in two of the following substantive fields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, public administration and policy, law and courts, or security studies. 
Mazaher Kaila

I am Maxwell.

Civic engagement is a core value for me. I have always aspired to help the communities I’m from.” Mazaher Kaila, a Maxwell alumna and third-year student at Syracuse University's College of Law, moved with her family from Sudan to Central New York when she was four years old. “I realized that to make meaningful change in society, I needed to understand the systems that power it—government and politics—and that’s insight I would gain by studying political science.”

Mazaher Kaila ’19, L’22

political science, law

Read Kaila's story, “A Powerful Voice for Justice”

Gueorguiev Quoted in NBC News Article on India Overtaking China as World’s Most Populous Country

May 1, 2023

NBC

Dimitar Gueorguiev

Dimitar Gueorguiev


New data from the United Nations Population Fund projects India will soon overtake China as the world's most populous country. 

Chinese officials and state media have accused America and the West of using it as another excuse to "bad mouth" Beijing, stating they are focusing only on population size, rather than education, industrial output and economic clout—the last one seeing China dwarf India several times over.

What matters to China is consumer and investor confidence, "so it is not hard to see why Chinese officials are pushing back on the argument that a population decline spells economic decline," says Dimitar Gueorguiev, associate professor of political science.

To China, being the most populous nation "doesn’t count for anything" in and of itself, he says. What's important is "to be seen as a developing, modern, and functional country."

Read more in the NBC News article, "China is concerned about much more than India outgrowing its population."

BaoBao Zhang Joins First Cohort of AI2050 Early Career Fellows

One of only 15 scholars chosen from across the U.S., Zhang will receive up to $200,000 in research funding over the next two years. Zhang will use the funding to partner with the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for New Democratic Processes to test whether public participation in AI governance is increased through the creation of public assemblies, known as “deliberative democracy workshops.”

Baobao Zhang

Assistant Professor, Political Science Department

Read More

Baobao Zhang

Gueorguiev Quoted in NBC News Article on India Overtaking China as World’s Most Populous Country

May 1, 2023

NBC

Dimitar Gueorguiev

Dimitar Gueorguiev


New data from the United Nations Population Fund projects India will soon overtake China as the world's most populous country. 

Chinese officials and state media have accused America and the West of using it as another excuse to "bad mouth" Beijing, stating they are focusing only on population size, rather than education, industrial output and economic clout—the last one seeing China dwarf India several times over.

What matters to China is consumer and investor confidence, "so it is not hard to see why Chinese officials are pushing back on the argument that a population decline spells economic decline," says Dimitar Gueorguiev, associate professor of political science.

To China, being the most populous nation "doesn’t count for anything" in and of itself, he says. What's important is "to be seen as a developing, modern, and functional country."

Read more in the NBC News article, "China is concerned about much more than India outgrowing its population."

Political Science Department
100 Eggers Hall