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politics

High Impact Political Science and International Relations Research

Oxford University Press publishes a portfolio of leading Political Science and IR journals. To keep up to date with the latest research your peers are reading and citing, browse our selection of high impact articles on a diverse breadth of topics below.  

All articles are freely available to read, download, and enjoy until May 2023.

  • African Affairs
  • Foreign Policy Analysis
  • Global Studies Quarterly
  • International Affairs
  • International Political Sociology
  • International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
  • International Studies Perspectives
  • International Studies Quarterly
  • International Studies Review
  • Journal of Global Security Studies
  • Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

Parliamentary Affairs  

Policy and society.

  • Perspectives on Public Management and Governance
  • Publius: The Journal of Federalism
  • Social Politics
  • The Chinese Journal of International Politics

African Affairs  

Respecting and circumventing presidential term limits in sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative survey Filip Reyntjens African Affairs , Volume 119, Issue 475, April 2020, Pages 275–295, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adz029

‘Africa+1’ summit diplomacy and the ‘new scramble’ narrative: Recentering African agency Folashadé Soulé African Affairs , Volume 119, Issue 477, October 2020, Pages 633–646, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa015

Party campaign strategies in Ghana: Rallies, canvassing and handouts Sarah Brierley, Eric Kramon African Affairs , Volume 119, Issue 477, October 2020, Pages 587–603, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa024

The political economy of Biafra separatism and post-war Igbo nationalism in Nigeria Chikodiri Nwangwu, Freedom C. Onuoha, Bernard U. Nwosu, Christian Ezeibe African Affairs , Volume 119, Issue 477, October 2020, Pages 526–551, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa025

Devolution and the politics of communal tenure reform in Kenya Gargule A. Achiba, Monica N. Lengoiboni African Affairs , Volume 119, Issue 476, July 2020, Pages 338–369, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa010

Foreign Policy Analysis  

The Party Politics of Foreign and Security Policy Tapio Raunio, Wolfgang Wagner Foreign Policy Analysis , Volume 16, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 515–531, https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/oraa018

Gendering Foreign Policy: A Comparative Framework for Analysis Karin Aggestam, Jacqui True Foreign Policy Analysis , Volume 16, Issue 2, April 2020, Pages 143–162, https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/orz026

Party Politics or (Supra-)National Interest? External Relations Votes in the European Parliament Tapio Raunio, Wolfgang Wagner Foreign Policy Analysis , Volume 16, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 547–564, https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/oraa010

Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy and “Gender Cosmopolitanism” Annika Bergman Rosamond Foreign Policy Analysis , Volume 16, Issue 2, April 2020, Pages 217–235, https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/orz025

Patterns of Political Ideology and Security Policy Tim Haesebrouck, Patrick A Mello Foreign Policy Analysis , Volume 16, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 565–586, https://doi.org/10.1093/fpa/oraa006

Global Studies Quarterly  

Taking the Research Experience Seriously: A Framework for Reflexive Applied Research in Development Roxani Krystalli, Elizabeth Hoffecker, Kendra Leith, Kim Wilson Global Studies Quarterly , Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2021, ksab022, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab022

Populism and the Affective Politics of Humiliation Narratives Alexandra Homolar, Georg Löfflmann Global Studies Quarterly , Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2021, ksab002, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab002

The Politics of Exceptionalism: Securitization and COVID-19 Jessica Kirk, Matt McDonald Global Studies Quarterly , Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2021, ksab024, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab024

Role Theory, Foreign Policy, and the Social Construction of Sovereignty: Brexit Stage Right Ryan K. Beasley, Juliet Kaarbo, Kai Oppermann Global Studies Quarterly , Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2021, ksab001, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab001

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement Kristin Anabel Eggeling, Rebecca Adler-Nissen Global Studies Quarterly , Volume 1, Issue 2, June 2021, ksab005, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab005

International Affairs  

The Belt and Road Initiative: geo-economics and Indo-Pacific security competition Mingjiang Li International Affairs , Volume 96, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 169–187, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz240

Why the COVID-19 response needs International Relations Sara E. Davies, Clare Wenham International Affairs , Volume 96, Issue 5, September 2020, Pages 1227–1251, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa135

Evasive balancing: India's unviable Indo-Pacific strategy Rajesh Rajagopalan International Affairs , Volume 96, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 75–93, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz224 Immature leadership: Donald Trump and the American presidency Daniel W Drezner International Affairs , Volume 96, Issue 2, March 2020, Pages 383–400, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa009

The recalibration of Chinese assertiveness: China's responses to the Indo-Pacific challenge Feng Liu International Affairs , Volume 96, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 9–27, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz226

International Political Sociology  

Confronting the International Political Sociology of the New Right Rita Abrahamsen, Jean-François Drolet, Alexandra Gheciu, Karin Narita, Srdjan Vucetic, Michael Williams International Political Sociology , Volume 14, Issue 1, March 2020, Pages 94–107, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaa001

Collective Discussion: Toward Critical Approaches to Intelligence as a Social Phenomenon Hager Ben Jaffel, Alvina Hoffmann, Oliver Kearns, Sebastian Larsson International Political Sociology , Volume 14, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 323–344, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaa015

The Cruel Optimism of Militarism: Feminist Curiosity, Affect, and Global Security Amanda Chisholm, Hanna Ketola International Political Sociology , Volume 14, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 270–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaa005

Feminist Commodity Activism: The New Political Economy of Feminist Protest Jemima Repo International Political Sociology , Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2020, Pages 215–232, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olz033

Affect and the Response to Terror: Commemoration and Communities of Sense Angharad Closs Stephens, Martin Coward, Samuel Merrill, Shanti Sumartojo International Political Sociology , Volume 15, Issue 1, March 2021, Pages 22–40, https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaa020

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific  

Conceptualizing equidistant diplomacy in international relations: the case of Singapore Ang Guan Teo, Kei Koga International Relations of the Asia-Pacific , lcab011, https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcab011

Hedging and grand strategy in Southeast Asian foreign policy David Martin Jones, Nicole Jenne International Relations of the Asia-Pacific , lcab003, https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcab003

Strategizing Femininity between the Global and the Taiwanese Local: Implications for International Relations Chih-Yu Shih International Relations of the Asia-Pacific , lcab014, https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcab014

China’s motives, influence and prospects in Pacific Island countries: views of Chinese scholars Denghua Zhang International Relations of the Asia-Pacific , lcab019, https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcab019

Seeking support beyond alliance? Rethinking great power partner politics after the Cold War Lu Ding, Xuefeng Sun International Relations of the Asia-Pacific , Volume 21, Issue 3, September 2021, Pages 431–464, https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcaa005

International Studies Perspectives  

Differing about Difference: Relational IR from around the World Tamara A Trownsell, Arlene B Tickner, Amaya Querejazu, Jarrad Reddekop, Giorgio Shani, Kosuke Shimizu, Navnita Chadha Behera, Anahita Arian International Studies Perspectives , Volume 22, Issue 1, February 2021, Pages 25–64, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekaa008

What's Feminist about Feminist Foreign Policy? Sweden's and Canada's Foreign Policy Agendas Jennifer Thomson International Studies Perspectives , Volume 21, Issue 4, November 2020, Pages 424–437, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekz032

Scattered and Unsystematic: The Taught Discipline in the Intellectual Life of International Relations Aaron Ettinger International Studies Perspectives , Volume 21, Issue 3, August 2020, Pages 338–361, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekz028

Global Monetary Order and the Liberal Order Debate Carla Norrlof, Paul Poast, Benjamin J Cohen, Sabreena Croteau, Aashna Khanna, Daniel McDowell, Hongying Wang, W Kindred Winecoff International Studies Perspectives , Volume 21, Issue 2, May 2020, Pages 109–153, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekaa001

The Politics of Teaching International Relations in the Arab World: Reading Walt in Beirut, Wendt in Doha, and Abul-Fadl in Cairo May Darwich, Morten Valbjørn, Bassel F Salloukh, Waleed Hazbun, Amira Abu Samra, Said Saddiki, Adham Saouli, Hamad H Albloshi, Karim Makdisi International Studies Perspectives , Volume 22, Issue 4, November 2021, Pages 407–438, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekaa020

International Studies Quarterly  

Illiberal Norm Diffusion: How Do Governments Learn to Restrict Nongovernmental Organizations? Marlies Glasius, Jelmer Schalk, Meta De Lange International Studies Quarterly , Volume 64, Issue 2, June 2020, Pages 453–468, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa019

Emotional Labor and the Power of International Bureaucrats Deepak Nair International Studies Quarterly , Volume 64, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 573–587, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa030

Promises under Pressure: Statements of Reassurance in US Alliances Brian Blankenship International Studies Quarterly , Volume 64, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 1017–1030, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa071

Leadership Selection in United Nations Peacekeeping Kseniya Oksamytna, Vincenzo Bove, Magnus Lundgren International Studies Quarterly , Volume 65, Issue 1, March 2021, Pages 16–28, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa023

Demanding Truth: The Global Transitional Justice Network and the Creation of Truth Commissions Kelebogile Zvobgo International Studies Quarterly , Volume 64, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 609–625, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa044

International Studies Review  

Who Publishes Where? Exploring the Geographic Diversity of Global IR Journals Mathis Lohaus, Wiebke Wemheuer-Vogelaar International Studies Review , Volume 23, Issue 3, September 2021, Pages 645–669, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viaa062

Forum: Coding in Tongues: Developing Non-English Coding Schemes for Leadership Profiling Klaus Brummer, Michael D Young, Özgur Özdamar, Sercan Canbolat, Consuelo Thiers, Christian Rabini, Katharina Dimmroth, Mischa Hansel, Ameneh Mehvar International Studies Review , Volume 22, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 1039–1067, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viaa001

Friends, Fellows, and Foes: A New Framework for Studying Relational Peace Johanna Söderström, Malin Åkebo, Anna K Jarstad International Studies Review , Volume 23, Issue 3, September 2021, Pages 484–508, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viaa033

The Visual International Relations Project Michael R. Pfonner, Patrick James International Studies Review , Volume 22, Issue 2, June 2020, Pages 192–213, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viaa014

Where We At? New Directions for Research on Popular Culture and World Politics Rhys Crilley International Studies Review , Volume 23, Issue 1, March 2021, Pages 164–180, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viaa027

Journal of Global Security Studies  

The Microfoundations of State Cybersecurity: Cyber Risk Perceptions and the Mass Public Nadiya Kostyuk, Carly Wayne Journal of Global Security Studies , Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2021, ogz077, https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogz077

Secessionist Strategy and Tactical Variation in the Pursuit of Independence Ryan D. Griffiths Journal of Global Security Studies , Volume 6, Issue 1, March 2021, ogz082, https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogz082

A Motion of No Confidence: Leadership and Rebel Fragmentation Austin C. Doctor Journal of Global Security Studies , Volume 5, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 598–616, https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogz060

Visions of Peace Amidst a Human Rights Crisis: War on Drugs in Colombia and the Philippines Salvador Santino F Regilme, Jr Journal of Global Security Studies , Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2021, ogaa022, https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogaa022

The Islamic State's Pattern of Sexual Violence: Ideology and Institutions, Policies and Practices Mara Redlich Revkin, Elisabeth Jean Wood Journal of Global Security Studies , Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2021, ogaa038, https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogaa038

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory  

Who Is in Charge? The Provision of Informal Personal Resources at the Street Level Einat Lavee Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 4–20, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa025

Administrative Capital and Citizens’ Responses to Administrative Burden Ayesha Masood, Muhammad Azfar Nisar Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 56–72, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa031

What is Public about Public Leadership? Exploring Implicit Public Leadership Theories Rick Vogel, Laura Werkmeister Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 166–183, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa024

The Psychological Costs of Citizen Coproduction Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen, Martin Baekgaard, Ulrich Thy Jensen Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Volume 30, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 656–673, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa001

“It Takes a While to Get Used to”: The Costs of Redeeming Public Benefits Carolyn Y. Barnes Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 295–310, https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa042

Democracy and the Politics of Coronavirus: Trust, Blame and Understanding Matthew Flinders Parliamentary Affairs , Volume 74, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 483–502, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa013

Not a Brexit Election? Pessimism, Promises and Populism 'UK-Style' Matthew Flinders Parliamentary Affairs , Volume 73, Issue Supplement_1, September 2020, Pages 225–242, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa030

Brexit and Parliament: The Anatomy of a Perfect Storm Meg Russell Parliamentary Affairs , Volume 74, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 443–463, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa011

Gender Politics and Legislative Networks in Taiwan: An Analysis of Women-Bill Co-Sponsorship and Bill Success Jaemin Shim Parliamentary Affairs , Volume 74, Issue 3, July 2021, Pages 639–661, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsz050

Dynamics of Intra-Party Organisation in the Digital Age: A Grassroots Analysis of Digital Adoption Katharine Dommett, Luke Temple, Patrick Seyd Parliamentary Affairs , Volume 74, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 378–397, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa007

Mobilizing Policy (In)Capacity to Fight COVID-19: Understanding Variations in State Responses   Giliberto Capano, Michael Howlett, Darryl S. L. Jarvis, M. Ramesh, Nihit Goyal Policy and Society , Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 285–308, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1787628 Policymaking in a low-trust state: legitimacy, state capacity, and responses to COVID-19 in Hong Kong   Kris Hartley, Darryl S. L. Jarvis Policy and Society , Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 403–423, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1783791 Nudges against pandemics: Sweden’s COVID-19 containment strategy in perspective   Jon Pierre Policy and Society , Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 478–493, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1783787 Policy design and state capacity in the COVID-19 emergency in Italy: if you are not prepared for the (un)expected, you can be only what you already are   Giliberto Capano Policy and Society , Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 326–344, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1783790 Policy style, consistency and the effectiveness of the policy mix in China’s fight against COVID-19    Ciqi Mei Policy and Society , Volume 39, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 309–325, https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2020.1787627

Perspectives on Public Management and Governance  

Cooperation in the Face of Transboundary Crisis: A Framework for Analysis Donald Blondin, Arjen Boin Perspectives on Public Management and Governance , Volume 3, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 197–209, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvz031

Conceptual Bases of Employee Accountability: A Psychological Approach Yousueng Han, James L. Perry Perspectives on Public Management and Governance , Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 288–304, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvz030

Democratic Backsliding, Populism, and Public Administration Michael W. Bauer, Stefan Becker Perspectives on Public Management and Governance , Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2020, Pages 19–31, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvz026

Learning from Our Mistakes: Public Management Reform and the Hope of Open Government Alex Ingrams, Suzanne Piotrowski, Daniel Berliner Perspectives on Public Management and Governance , Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 257–272, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvaa001

The Ecology of Emergency Management Work in the Digital Age Shalini Misra, Patrick Roberts, Matthew Rhodes Perspectives on Public Management and Governance , Volume 3, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 305–322, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvaa007

Publius: The Journal of Federalism  

Climate Change Policymaking in the States: A View at 2020 Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, Mirya R Holman Publius: The Journal of Federalism , Volume 50, Issue 3, Summer 2020, Pages 446–472, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjaa008

The State of American Federalism 2019–2020: Polarized and Punitive Intergovernmental Relations Greg Goelzhauser, David M. Konisky Publius: The Journal of Federalism , Volume 50, Issue 3, Summer 2020, Pages 311–343, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjaa021

Partisan Federalism and Subnational Governments' International Engagements: Insights from India Chanchal Kumar Sharma, Sandra Destradi, Johannes Plagemann Publius: The Journal of Federalism , Volume 50, Issue 4, Fall 2020, Pages 566–592, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjaa017

Policy and Political Learning: The Development of Medical Marijuana Policies in the States Daniel J Mallinson, A Lee Hannah Publius: The Journal of Federalism , Volume 50, Issue 3, Summer 2020, Pages 344–369, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjaa006

Staying in Place: Federalism and the Political Economy of Place Attachment Nicholas F. Jacobs, B. K. Munis Publius: The Journal of Federalism , Volume 50, Issue 4, Fall 2020, Pages 544–565, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjaa024

Social Politics  

Varieties of Gender Regimes Sylvia Walby Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society , Volume 27, Issue 3, Fall 2020, Pages 414–431, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa018

The Origins and Transformations of Conservative Gender Regimes in Germany and Japan Karen A. Shire, Kumiko Nemoto Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society , Volume 27, Issue 3, Fall 2020, Pages 432–448, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa017

Counteracting Challenges to Gender Equality in the Era of Anti-Gender Campaigns: Competing Gender Knowledges and Affective Solidarity Elżbieta Korolczuk Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society , Volume 27, Issue 4, Winter 2020, Pages 694–717, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa021

Gender, Violence, and Political Institutions: Struggles over Sexual Harassment in the European Parliament Valentine Berthet, Johanna Kantola Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society , Volume 28, Issue 1, Spring 2021, Pages 143–167, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa015

Gender Regime Change in Decentralized States: The Case of Spain Emanuela Lombardo, Alba Alonso Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society , Volume 27, Issue 3, Fall 2020, Pages 449–466, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa016

The Chinese Journal of International Politics  

Bipolar Rivalry in the Early Digital Age Yan Xuetong The Chinese Journal of International Politics , Volume 13, Issue 3, Autumn 2020, Pages 313–341, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poaa007 China's Rise and Balance of Power Politics Zhen Han, T. V. Paul The Chinese Journal of International Politics , Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 2020, Pages 1–26, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poz018

Narrating the China Threat: Securitising Chinese Economic Presence in Europe Igor Rogelja, Konstantinos Tsimonis The Chinese Journal of International Politics , Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 2020, Pages 103–133, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poz019

Fears of Falling Short versus Anxieties of Decline: Explaining Russia and China’s Approach to Status-Seeking Andrej Krickovic, Chang Zhang The Chinese Journal of International Politics , Volume 13, Issue 2, Summer 2020, Pages 219–251, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poaa006

Preventing the China-U.S. Cold War from Turning Hot Christopher Layne The Chinese Journal of International Politics , Volume 13, Issue 3, Autumn 2020, Pages 343–385, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poaa012

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Writing a Research Paper in Political Science

Writing a Research Paper in Political Science A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods

  • Lisa A. Baglione - Saint Joseph's University, USA
  • Description

Even students capable of writing excellent essays still find their first major political science research paper an intimidating experience. Crafting the right research question, finding good sources, properly summarizing them, operationalizing concepts and designing good tests for their hypotheses, presenting and analyzing quantitative as well as qualitative data are all tough-going without a great deal of guidance and encouragement. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science breaks down the research paper into its constituent parts and shows students what they need to do at each stage to successfully complete each component until the paper is finished. Practical summaries, recipes for success, worksheets, exercises, and a series of handy checklists make this a must-have supplement for any writing-intensive political science course.

New to the Fourth Edition:

  • A non-causal research paper woven throughout the text offers explicit advice to guide students through the research and writing process.     
  • Updated and more detailed discussions of plagiarism, paraphrases, "drop-ins," and "transcripts" help to prevent students from misusing sources in a constantly changing digital age.  
  • A more detailed discussion of “fake news” and disinformation shows students how to evaluate and choose high quality sources, as well as how to protect oneself from being fooled by bad sources.  
  • Additional guidance for writing abstracts and creating presentations helps students to understand the logic behind abstracts and prepares students for presentations in the classroom, at a conference, and beyond.  
  • A greater emphasis on the value of qualitative research provides students with additional instruction on how to do it.

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“ Writing a Research Paper in Political Science is a helpful research and writing guide for students from various disciplines and undergraduate levels.”

“Lisa A. Baglione’s book is a highly accessible resource to help undergraduate students transition from writing about politics to writing about empirical political science research.” 

“With clarity and compassion, Lisa A. Baglione leads undergraduates step by step through the morass of empirical research.” 

“ Writing a Research Paper in Political Science is an essential text for every political science major.” 

This is an engaging and well written book that seems geared to the level of the course - students writing their senior capstones.

Excellent, in-depth review of how to do a research paper. Perfect for learning objectives of my course.

too focused on political science, not a good fit for urban planning.

NEW TO THIS EDITION: 

  • A non-causal research paper woven throughout the text offers explicit advice to guide students through the research and writing process.
  • Updated and more detailed discussions of plagiarism, paraphrases, “drop-ins,” and “transcripts” help to prevent students from misusing sources in a constantly changing digital age.
  • A more detailed discussion of “fake news” and disinformation shows students how to evaluate and choose high quality sources, as well as how to protect oneself from being fooled by bad sources. 
  • Additional guidance for writing abstracts and creating presentations helps students to understand the logic behind abstracts and prepares students for presentations in the classroom, at a conference, and beyond.
  • A greater emphasis on the value of qualitative research provides students with additional instruction on how to do it.     

KEY FEATURES: 

  • End-of-chapter recipes for annotated bibliographies, literature reviews, thesis formation, and more guides students step-by-step as they navigate common issues when composing a research paper. 
  • Practical summaries , located at the end of each chapter, guide students towards their goals. 
  • Sample material from student papers help illustrate in detail how students can craft and revise their content. 
  • A natural progression of chapter topics guides students from finding a research question and distilling arguments, to revision and proper citation.

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Sample materials & chapters.

CHAPTER 1: So You Have to Write a Research Paper

CHAPTER 3: Learning Proper Citation Forms, Finding the Scholarly

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Even students capable of writing excellent essays still find their first major political science research paper an intimidating experience. Crafting the right research question, finding good sources, properly summarizing them, operationalizing concepts and designing good tests for their hypotheses, presenting and analyzing quantitative as well as qualitative data are all tough-going without a great deal of guidance and encouragement. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science breaks down the research paper into its constituent parts and shows students what they need to do at each stage to successfully complete each component until the paper is finished. Practical summaries, recipes for success, worksheets, exercises, and a series of handy checklists make this a must-have supplement for any writing-intensive political science course.

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Political Science Research Paper

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Introduction

Definition and overview.

  • Case Studies of Traditionalism
  • A Case Study of Behavioralism
  • A Case Study of Postbehavioralism
  • Bibliography

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Within the discipline of political science in the United States, traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism are three distinct political science research approaches. That is, each offers a perspective on how best to carry out investigation, analysis, and explanation relating to politics and political life (Dryzek & Leonard, 1988). These three approaches represent different points of emphasis regarding the ways in which research about politics should proceed. For example, it will be seen that traditionalism—in comparison with behavioralism—tends to emphasize the usefulness of analyzing governmental institutions when studying political phenomena, whereas behavioralism tends to assert the importance of research into the intricacies of the behavior of individual political actors (e.g., citizens, lobbyists, candidates, elected officials). However, all three research perspectives share the belief that political science research should produce explanations that improve and deepen our understanding of complex political processes.

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As one begins to analyze the meaning and complexity of traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism, it is important to keep in mind three points. First, traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism are broad categories, and within each category one finds a variety of political scientists who are not necessarily in agreement on all matters relating to the study of politics. For example, during the years in which traditionalism was the prevailing research approach within political science, Woodrow Wilson (1911) delivered an address to the American Political Science Association (APSA) that called into dispute various claims made by previous APSA president James Bryce. In 1908, Bryce had stated that political science, that is, a scientific understanding of politics, was possible insofar as human actions tended to be similar, or repeatable, over time; thus, Bryce (1909) reasoned, one could generalize about patterns of human activity and draw conclusions about political life. Wilson (1911), however, while not altogether denying the existence of some degree of patterned activity over time, stressed the uniqueness characterizing human beings and human actions. Despite these differences, both Bryce and Wilson were representative of traditionalist political science.

Second, traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism are often linked with certain decades in the development of political science in the United States. Traditionalism is usually associated with the political science practiced during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Behavioralism is generally associated with the post-World War II period, although its origins are sometimes traced back to the 1920s. Postbehavioralism’s appearance in the discipline had been noted and commented on by the end of the 1960s (Dahl, 1992; Dryzek, 2006; Ricci, 1984).

It is important to realize, however, that these historical markers are best used as general designations, because the development of these three research approaches was too multifaceted and complex to fit neatly into rigid time categories. The emergence of a new approach did not necessarily completely or entirely displace an older one; for example, while traditionalism was challenged by behavioralism in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of political scientists continued to hold to traditionalism. Indeed, many contemporary introductory textbooks in U.S. politics continue to reflect the perspective of traditionalist political science. Moreover, not all subfields of political science were affected equally or simultaneously by the emergence of a new approach. For instance, the subfield of U.S. politics incorporated the behavioralist approach earlier than did the subfields of international relations and comparative politics (Sigelman, 2006).

Third, two of the three research approaches have tended to define themselves in opposition to their predecessors and, in so doing, have helped shape the manner in which those prior approaches have been remembered. Specifically, behavioralism defined itself in opposition to what it understood as constituting traditionalism, and post-behavioralism carved out its own identity, in part, as a critique of what it saw as the defining elements of behavioralism. As a result, one sees that the emergence of the newer approaches was coupled with a rejection of perceived deficiencies in the earlier approaches. In identifying what they saw as inadequacies in the older approaches, the newer approaches tended to highlight differences between the new and the old and, in some cases, tended to understate any similarities. For example, behavioralism emphasized its adherence to scientific method and, in so doing, sometimes gave the impression that that which it was attempting to replace—traditionalism—had not regarded itself as scientific. As becomes clear when one analyzes the actual writings of traditionalists, however, traditionalists generally saw themselves as political scientists and often made much of the fact that, as political scientists, they were not to be confused with historians (Farr, 1990; Gunnell, 2006). As early as 1910, an APSA president was calling on the discipline to employ statistical analyses to identify political patterns and test conclusions relating thereto (Lowell, 1910). Similarly, postbehavioralists, it will be seen in the discussion below, emphasized the importance of producing research that was relevant in addressing contemporary questions, but, in stressing their own newness relative to behavioralists, postbehavioralists often tended to understate the extent to which early-20th-century political scientists had also sought to use political science research to address urgent, relevant problems in U.S. life (Gunnell, 2006).

Traditionalism

Traditionalism is an approach defined by its focus on the study of political institutions, law, or a combination of these. In addition, traditionalism locates its scientific reliability in its grounding in careful historical or legal investigations that are designed to produce thorough descriptions of the subject in question (Easton, 1971; Fried, 2006; Isaak, 1985; Macridis, 1992). That is, traditionalism is an approach in political science that seeks to study political phenomena by investigating law, history, and/or institutions such as the government as a whole or narrower institutions such as legislative, executive, or judicial bodies. A traditionalist seeking to understand how the U.S. Congress works would, thus, investigate such questions as what the law (e.g., the U.S. Constitution) provides for in terms of congressional powers and limits, how Congress as an institution has evolved historically, and how Congress as an institution fits into the larger institutional network of the U.S. government in its entirety. A traditionalist seeking to understand courts could follow a similar strategy of pursuing historical questions (e.g., how courts have evolved), legal questions (e.g., what laws govern courts and how courts have participated historically in shaping laws), or institutional questions (e.g., how courts are organized and administered as institutions). A traditionalist in the field of international relations might study international law or national laws and treaties relating to interstate interactions (i.e., foreign policy).

Traditionalist political science has not been an approach that has demanded narrow or exclusive disciplinary specialization. On the contrary, early traditionalist political scientists needed to be comfortable with such fields as history or law in order to pursue their work. Francis Lieber, who, in 1857, became the first person to hold an official political science professorship in the United States, was, in actuality, a professor of both history and political science at New York’s Columbia College (Farr, 1990). Traditionalism’s breadth is also revealed in APSA president Albert Shaw’s (1907) comments that it was possible to find numerous political scientists participating in the American Historical Association as well as in “Economic and Sociological groups” (p. 178).

Traditionalist political scientists tended to be explicit in drawing connections between political science research and service to the public interest, in whatever manner the latter might be defined by the political scientist in question. Shaw’s 1907 APSA presidential address is an illustration of traditionalism’s linkage of empirical-scientific and normative-ethical objectives. “I believe that there will be a very general agreement,” Shaw asserted, “that this Association can render an extremely useful service to the country, without departing in the smallest degree from its scientific methods” (p. 181). Shaw went on to suggest that APSA might undertake investigative projects on problems or concerns relative to “the public benefit” (p. 181). In fact, a perusal of the early records published in Proceedings of the American Political Science Association and in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science reveals traditionalists’ interests in addressing child labor, political party reform, and other public welfare questions (Addams, 1906; Richberg, 1913).

Case Studies of Traditionalism: Frank Goodnow and Woodrow Wilson

For a fuller, more detailed understanding of traditionalism, one can look in greater depth at two examples of traditionalist political science. The first is Frank Goodnow’s 1904 address to the first meeting of APSA. Goodnow’s address included (a) a definition of what he called political science’s “scope” but not a technical definition of political science itself, (b) an examination of what political science was to have as its research focus, and (c) a closing statement about political science’s relevance. An examination of these three components of his address illustrates traditionalism’s salient elements of institutionalism (in the emphasis on studying the institution of the state), legalism (in the emphasis on studying law and jurisprudence), a historical perspective, and attention to the public benefits of scientific inquiry.

First, in his address, Goodnow (1904) announced that he preferred to define political science’s scope (i.e., that which political science was to study) rather than attempt a definition of political science itself. Setting out to construct a technically detailed definition of the discipline per se, Goodnow contended, was not as productive an enterprise as determining what the discipline should have as its focus of research. He pointed to what he termed the “dangerous” possibility of defining the discipline in too limited or too expansive a manner (p. 35). He proceeded to characterize political science’s scope as the investigation of states. Political scientists were neither the first nor the exclusive researchers of states, Goodnow explained, but were, rather, unique in targeting the state as a primary subject for analysis. For example, historians might study historical states and might indirectly study contemporary states, Goodnow reasoned, and economists might investigate monetary matters relating to states. However, only political scientists would have as their “main interests” the direct, detailed, “scientific” analysis of states in all their complexity. Goodnow’s comments suggest that the previously noted absence of disciplinary narrowness or specialization in traditionalist political science did not have to translate into the absence of disciplinary identity. Goodnow was, in this address, identifying himself as a political scientist as opposed to a historian, even while his approach to political science would employ historical perspectives. Moreover, in identifying the institution of the state (as opposed to the behavior of individuals, for example) as the central and defining subject matter of political science, Goodnow was conveying what is generally termed the traditionalist orientation toward institutionalism.

Second, Goodnow (1904) framed the study of states— and thus political science as a discipline—broadly. Political science’s range of investigation was to include, he argued, the study of how the “State’s will” was communicated, what comprised the “State’s will,” and how the “State’s will” was carried out. In explaining what he meant by the communication of the “State’s will,” Goodnow made reference to such matters as the values conveyed through a country’s political ideas or political theory, constitution, and political party platforms. Political values influenced state policies or will. The second element—the “content of the State will”—Goodnow identified as law (p. 40). Law revealed a state’s meaning. Indeed, one sees how closely Goodnow’s traditionalist political science was attached to the study of law when one encounters his remark that “it is very doubtful” that anyone could become a political scientist—that is, that anyone could understand states “as an object of scientific study”—without a thorough understanding of law (pp. 42-43). To understand how states carried out their “wills,” Goodnow continued, one needed to study administrative law, a subject that, in the absence of political science, had been frightfully neglected, he believed. He pointed to the benefits of studying the history of English poor laws as a guide for improving public administration generally.

Finally, Goodnow (1904) closed his address by expressing hope that political science could contribute to the public good. He identified teachers and political practitioners as two groups that could benefit directly from the knowledge produced by the disciple. Moreover, in disseminating a more descriptively accurate and comprehensive understanding of states, teachers and practitioners, in their respective professional roles, could contribute to an enhanced public well-being.

An examination of Woodrow Wilson’s (1911) address to the seventh annual APSA meeting offers a second opportunity for scrutinizing more carefully traditionalism’s breadth, a breadth critiqued as “unscientific” by later advocates of behavioralism. Although better known as the 28th president of the United States, Wilson also served as president of APSA and, in this latter capacity, argued against a narrow, specialized conception of political science. In fact, at one point in his address, he went so far as to assert that he disliked the name political science, which, he claimed, implied that human interactions should be studied objectively and narrowly. He argued for the designation politics rather than political science as a more suitable name for the study of the state and “statesmanship” (pp. 10-11). Although Wilson supported a scientific approach, if by science one meant accuracy and thoroughness in one’s study of political life, he argued that such study should include an examination of literature, art, and poetry and should seek to inspire “vision” and “sympathy” (pp. 2, 10, 11). His understanding of political science, one finds, could hardly be broader, in that he concluded that “nothing” that has an impact on “human life” should be termed “foreign” to the discipline (p. 2). Wilson argued that the astute student of politics should demonstrate “a Shakespearian range” (p. 10). Although Wilson’s immediate influence on U.S. political science was limited (Ubertaccio & Cook, 2006), his explicit embrace of an expansive politics is illustrative of traditionalism’s lack of disciplinary specialization. In addition, a comparison of his approach with that of Goodnow is helpful in reminding students of traditionalism of the approach’s internal diversity.

Behavioralism

Behavioralism emerged as a criticism of traditionalism’s failure, in the view of behavioralists, to offer an approach to the scientific investigation of political questions that was sufficiently rigorous to produce predictive results based on quantitatively tested data. Specifically, behavioralism’s defining elements include a focus on political actors and their behavior (or attitudes and opinions), value-free science, and the study of operationalizable questions through hypothesis formulation and empirical, quantitative research (Ricci, 1984). The focus on studying political actors represented a shift away from traditionalism’s concentration on the historical and legalistic study of institutions.

In turning attention to the study of political actors, many behavioralists employed survey research to compare the attitudes of voters versus nonvoters, elites versus non-elites, partisan identifiers versus independents, or other subunits of populations. Students of congressional politics could enlist behavioral approaches to shift research away from the analysis of the institutional history of legislatures to an empirical investigation of the actual behaviors of congressional officeholders, staff, or congressional committee members. Behavioralists were interested, for example, in whether members of Congress spent greater time and devoted greater resources to the actual drafting of legislation or to responding to constituency demands, campaigning for the next election, or interacting with lobbyists. Empirical observation of such behaviors devoid of normative judgments (about how voters, nonvoters, elites, masses, partisans, independents, or congressional members “should” be behaving) would, in the words of David Easton (1971), correct the traditionalist “neglect of the most obvious element, the human being” (p. 203) in the conduct of research. Moreover, not only would a “value-free” science guard against the corruption of biases associated with normative preferences, but strict adherence to the study of questions translatable into operational variables and testable hypotheses would provide a more reliable knowledge than that producible by means of traditionalism.

In a 1967 essay titled “The Current Meaning of Behavioralism,” Easton (1992) summed up behavioralism as having eight interrelated “intellectual foundation stones” (p. 47):

  • “regularities”: A rigorous study of political behavior would allow political scientists to make predictions, just as natural scientists could make predictive statements.
  • “verification”: Predictions were to be testable in order to be falsified or verified.
  • “techniques”: Political science should become increasingly sophisticated in its use of scientific data collection and testing methods.
  • “quantification”: Political science should use precise, quantifiable measurements; questions for research had to be definable in testable, operationally narrow and precise terms.
  • “values”: Empirical, scientific study operates by a process different from the pursuit of normative objectives.
  • “systematization”: Political science research should produce a body of systematic information; theories and generalizations could be based on sound inferences from testable data.
  • “pure science”: Political science research should operate in a value free manner, that is, independently of any possible subsequent use of scientific knowledge to address perceived social problems.

Robert Dahl (1992) traced the origins of this approach to the 1920s and to the work of Charles Merriman and the so-called Chicago School of Harold Lasswell, Gabriel Almond, V. O. Key, and David Truman. By the mid-1960s, one member of this school—Almond (1966)—was proclaiming “a new paradigm” in political science (p. 875). Almond described this paradigm as having three components: (1) a “statistical approach” geared toward “test[ing] hypotheses” that would generate (2) “probability” statements and (3) a study of the interaction of actors and units within larger political “systems” (p. 876). As is clear in Almond’s language, this new behavioral approach was using highly specialized tools and methods drawn from such fields as math, statistics, economics, and psychology. Indeed, Almond pointed out that graduate study in political science was becoming increasingly focused on training students in the tools of “the scientific revolution”—tools that were turning political science in the direction of survey research, statistical sampling, and team-based and grant-funded quantitative research. During the post-World War II behavioralist period, publications in the American Political Science Review (APSR) became increasingly oriented toward statistical analyses of public opinion and behavior, especially in the subfields of U.S. politics and comparative politics (Sigelman, 2006). The new focus on studying that which could be precisely and narrowly operationalized seemed worlds removed from the one in which an APSA president could proclaim, as Woodrow Wilson had, his distaste for the term political science and his hope for a field of politics characterized by a “Shakespearean range.”

A Case Study of Behavioralism: Herbert McClosky’s “Consensus and Ideology in American Politics”

Herbert McClosky’s “Consensus and Ideology in American Politics,” published in the APSR in 1964, can serve as a case study for examining more closely the salient features of the behavioralist approach. As the title of his article suggested, McClosky was interested in the extent to which consensus, or broad agreement, on political values existed in the United States. Although he opened his article with a brief overview of Tocquevillean comments on democratic culture and customs, McClosky framed his analysis around the investigation of specific hypotheses relating to the attitudes of political actors, in this case, actors grouped into two subunits of the U.S. population. McClosky hypothesized that the U.S. public was not uniform in its political views, that it was more supportive of democracy in the abstract than in particular cases, and that political elites (those whom he called influentials) were more supportive of democracy than non-elites were.

McClosky (1964) divided the U.S. population into two groups: the influentials and the general electorate. The influentials were individuals who had been delegates or alternates at the major party conventions in 1956, and the general electorate was simply the population at large. McClosky used survey research to measure the attitudes of both groups. With respect to the influentials, a sample of more than 3,000 members of the delegates and alternates at the Democratic and Republican conventions was surveyed. With respect to the general population, McClosky used a national sample of 1,500 adults. Both groups were surveyed on a variety of questions or items, and responses to the items served as “indicators” of “opinions or attitudes” about democratic values (p. 364). If a subunit manifested 75% or higher levels of agreement on an item, consensus was said to be demonstrated.

McClosky (1964) found greater degrees of consensus for democratic procedures among influentials than among the public at large. For example, his surveys contained 12 items to measure support for the “rules of the game” (procedural democracy). These items included statements that respondents were asked to register agreement or disagreement with and consisted of statements about whether a citizen could be justified in acting outside the law, whether majorities had an obligation to respect minorities, whether the means were as important as the ends in the pursuit of political outcomes, whether the use of force was ever justified as a political strategy, and whether voting rights should be expansive or curtailed. Survey results demonstrated, McClosky reported, that influentials expressed consensus on most of the 12 items, whereas the general electorate expressed consensus on none of the 12 items.

McClosky (1964) proceeded to report that, while both influentials and the general population exhibited broader support for freedom of speech when asked about this freedom in the abstract than when asked about freedom of speech for specific unpopular groups, influentials were more supportive than the general population of free speech for unpopular groups. McClosky concluded that one might be led to believe that citizens of the United States had reached consensus on the importance of freedom of speech until one looked at the noninfluentials’ responses to items involving the application of the principle to particular cases, incidents, and people. For example, support for the rights of Communists, of persons accused of treason, and of convicted criminals was higher among the influentials than among the general population.

Furthermore, McClosky (1964) reported greater consensus among influentials on the importance of the democratic value of freedom than on the democratic value of equality. In fact, McClosky reported the absence of consensus among both influentials and the general electorate on the matter of whether all people were equal, as well as on questions relating to whether all people should be accorded equality. McClosky’s surveys included indicators to measure support for political, social, and economic equality, and his results suggested an absence of consensus among both influentials and the general electorate relating to all three types of equality. In other words, on statements relating to whether most people can make responsible decisions in governing themselves (political equality), whether different ethnic groups are equal (social equality), or whether all people have an equal claim to have a good job and a decent home (economic equality), consensus was absent.

McClosky (1964) also sought to measure what he understood as ideological clarity and the ability to identify oneself accurately along ideological lines. In evaluating survey participants in terms of their responses to particular statements relating to liberal versus conservative issues and their adoption of ideological markers (liberal vs. conservative), he found that influentials were more accurate than the general population in naming themselves as liberals or conservatives and in identifying a position as liberal or conservative.

McClosky (1964) closed his article with six summarizing generalizations. First, elites (influentials) were different from non-elites in terms of a greater elite support for democratic processes and a more complete understanding of political ideology. Second, a comparison of the education and economic circumstances of the two groups suggested possible (and testable) reasons for the differences in attitudes demarcating the two groups. Third, the level of support for democracy among U.S. elites was problematic on some issues (e.g., equality). Fourth, in spite of problematic levels of attitudinal support for democratic values, the U.S. system of Republican-Democratic politics appeared stable, a result, in part, of the nonparticipation of non-democracy-supporting non-elites. In short, democracy, McClosky stated, is sometimes “saved” by the nonparticipation of uninformed segments of the demos (p. 376). Fifth, classic accounts of democracy are inaccurate when claiming that the acceptance of democratic ideas is essential for the survival of democracy. Sixth, although McClosky advised political scientists against becoming sanguine about the lack of support for democratic processes among the population at large, he shared his hope for a wider disbursement of democratic values among segments of the U.S. population as the country continued to promote educational and scientific advancements.

Students of political science can observe key elements of behavioralism in McClosky’s work. First, behavior was understood by behavioralists like McClosky broadly enough to encompass opinions and attitudes. Second, it is evident that the turning of the discipline toward the study of the behavior of actors is regarded by behavioralists to be deeply revealing of that which was hidden as long as political science held to traditionalism’s tenacious insistence on studying institutions. Behavioralism in the hands of political scientists such as McClosky had accomplished something no less remarkable than to reveal—and prove empirically—the flaws in classic, long-standing accounts of why and how democracies work. Third, behavioralists such as McClosky believed that they had succeeded in demonstrating that big questions such as the ones Wilson wanted political science to address were most reliably answered when turned into narrow, specialized, operationalizable questions and variables. After all, what could be a bigger, more Shakespearean question than the one McClosky had addressed? Yet, only by defining consensus in a narrow, testable way, for example, could McClosky study the question of democratic consensus in such a precise and careful manner. Fourth, behavioralists such as McClosky were not opposed to theoretical generalizations, but they believed that such generalizations were most appropriately developed out of concrete, empirical results; moreover, such generalizations could be used to generate new empirically testable questions. In the process of empirically measuring and testing, however, one was not to allow biases or normative presumptions (e.g., about the goodness of citizens of the United States or of U.S. democracy) to distort one’s observations. Finally, the value-free political science of behavioralists such as McClosky tended to produce conclusions that left unchallenged the fundamental structures of the U.S. status quo. As Ricci (1984), Dryzek (2006), and Susser (1992) have noted, behavioralists saw their science as value free but, perhaps ironically, often tended to produce results that fit comfortably with normative assumptions regarding the fundamental soundness of the U.S. political system’s ability to address progressively any problems that political science might bring into the open. Indeed, it might even turn out to be the case that what looked like a defect (the apathy of the uninformed) was discovered by means of behavioralism to be an asset.

Postbehavioralism

Postbehavioralism is an approach that emphasizes (a) that political science research should be meaningful, that is, that it should address urgent political problems; (b) that science and values are inextricably connected; and (c) that political science should not seek to model itself on the strict application of scientific methods used in the natural sciences whereby research is driven exclusively by that which can be reduced to narrowly defined questions testable by the most rigorous, most specialized scientific procedures presently available. Postbehavioralists reacted against what they interpreted as behavioralism’s excessive reliance on the purity of scientific precision at the expense of “relevance.” While many postbehavioralists upheld the value of empirical and statistically oriented research, they tended to argue that behavioralism had overreached in emphasizing a strict adherence to narrow scientific procedures and that behavioralism’s proclaimed value-free approach in actuality veiled a normative endorsement of the status quo and was thus both normative and conservative.

A number of postbehavioralist critics of behavioralism, including Peter Bacharach, Christian Bay, Hans Morganthau, and Theodore Lowi, would join the Caucus for a New Political Science, organized in 1967 (Dryzek, 2006). The caucus continues to conceptualize political science as best carried out when political scientists integrate their identities as community members with their identities as scholars and thus craft research agendas in response to political needs. Political science should be steeped in everyday life and its concerns, not isolated from it as an esoteric, specialized, value-free science, according to Caucus statements (New Political Science: The Journal, n.d.).

In 1969, David Easton stated that postbehavioralism was proving to be a transformative force in the discipline. Easton discerned postbehavioralism’s presence on two levels: first, postbehavioralism was identifiable as a collection of individual political scientists who shared a growing dissatisfaction with behavioralism’s implications, and, second, postbehavioralism was manifested as a new intellectual outlook or approach that could guide research. In his presidential address to APSA, Easton delineated what he called a “distillation” of postbehavioralism’s defining elements (p. 1052). Easton described postbehavioralism as a demand for relevance, as forward-looking, as application oriented, and as premised on the belief that it was nothing short of unethical for political scientists to remove themselves from the arena of deliberation and action when confronted with and surrounded by political problems. Easton made multiple references to the Vietnam War, to the threat of nuclear escalation, and to the struggles of the civil rights movement, and he noted that postbehavioralism was an indictment of behavioralism’s irrelevance in finding solutions to such problems. Indeed, Easton pointed out that, from a postbehavioralist perspective, behavioralism could be charged with failing even to see such problems, a charge that must have sounded particularly strange to students of McClosky, schooled as they were in regarding influentials or elites as more adept at identifying and understanding political issues than were members of the general electorate. Easton used the metaphor of blinders to describe what had overtaken a discipline that could not see the obvious, pressing issues of society even while it could describe in copious detail the merits of operationalization, hypothesis formulation, statistical analysis, verification, and falsification. Why, Easton asked, in an era of behavioralism (i.e., 1958-1968), had the APSR had only four articles on racial disturbances, only two articles on the practice of civil disobedience, only one article on problems of poverty, and only three articles on urban disorder?

Easton (1969) went on to explain that postbehavioralism’s critique of behavioralism was deeply grounded in an understanding of science at odds with that embraced by behavioralism. For postbehavioralists, science was unavoidably based on normative assumptions; thus, according to postbehavioralists, a “value-free” political science (the kind of political science advanced by behavioralists) was not possible. Indeed, postbehavioralists asserted that to proclaim value neutrality was itself a normative stance (i.e., an assertion that a so-called value-free stance was better than its opposite). Postbehavioralism faulted behavioralism for not having acknowledged—and thus not having scrutinized—its own normative foundations and the ways in which those foundations shaped the direction of its research agenda. However, insofar as postbehavioralism was not a rejection of an empirically based science per se, Easton hoped that postbehavioralism could elucidate behavioralism’s logic and correct its lack of self-awareness regarding its own assumptions rather than become a repudiation of the gains made in political science’s shift away from the early and less scientifically oriented methods of traditionalism. In later years, some scholars would come to regard postbehavioralism’s legacy as opening up possibilities of a more “eclectic” application of research methods to the study of political phenomena (Lane, 1990, p. 927).

A Case Study of Postbehavioralism: The Perestroika Protest in Political Science

In December 2000, PS: Political Science and Politics published “Voices: An Open Letter to the APSA Leadership and Members.” The letter, signed by more than 200 political scientists, had been circulated by someone referring to himself or herself as “Mr. Perestroika.” Echoing postbehavioralist concerns from decades earlier, the Perestroika protest letter charged APSA and APSR with having a disciplinary obsession with quantitative methodology at the expense of meaningful subject matter. Its narrow methodological focus, the letter argued, had rendered APSA and its premier journal remote from the actual world of scholarly work undertaken by most political scientists. The letter called for increased openness in APSA (e.g., in elections to APSA governing bodies and to the APSA editorial board), the inclusion of a broader range of articles in APSR, public disclosure of survey results that could demonstrate widespread dissatisfaction with the discipline’s direction, and greater openness to critical voices in the discipline. Noting that they had not organized themselves into an actual caucus or subunit within APSA, the Perestroika letter signees, nonetheless, claimed to speak for a broad segment of political scientists (“Voices,” 2000).

Perestroika supporter Gregory Kasza expanded on the concerns expressed in the initial letter in “Perestroika: For an Ecumenical Science of Politics” (2001). One can see in Kasza’s elaboration of the Perestroika protest six major points illustrative of postbehavioralism. First, it was claimed that U.S. political science had been distorted by the dominance within the discipline of highly specialized quantitative research approaches; because of this dominance, Kasza asserted, political scientists seeking to produce scholarly works using qualitative approaches were being marginalized. Second, Kasza argued that the marginalization of nonquantitative approaches constituted a breach of academic freedom. Political scientists, he contended, were being pressured to mold their substantive interests to fit the contours of rigid methodologies and frameworks; he mentioned an anonymous graduate student who had been warned that she would fail as a political scientist if she did not make her dissertation conform to rational choice strictures. Third, in allowing a narrow understanding of science to become dominant within the discipline, political science was undercutting its ability to produce sound scholarship. Indeed, Kasza went so far as to assert that a Perestroika movement could save the discipline from producing subpar scholarship. Fourth, Kasza made the quintessentially postbehavioral call for a political science that was more “relevant” in addressing substantive political concerns. Fifth, Kasza suggested that, in seeking to become as sophisticated a science as possible, political science had actually become something of an adventure in fiction. Kasza charged that scientifically oriented political scientists were, in all too many cases, operationalzing human motives, desires, and choices in such narrow terms (in order to be rigorous) as to render their subjects caricatures.

Finally, Kasza (2001) offered an alternative, “ecumenical” approach. Ecumenism, he explained, would be defined by three elements. First, an ecumenical political science would select problems for analysis and then make decisions about which research approaches would best address the problem, rather than adopting a research approach and defining problems to fit the requirements of the research approach. Second, an ecumenical political science would be explicit in its acceptance of a plurality of methods or approaches. Specialized quantitative methodologies would coexist with qualitative methodologies in an open and expansive political science; for example, graduate programs would reintegrate political philosophy and policy studies into their core areas in a Perestroika-driven discipline. Third, an ecumenical political science would value interdisciplinary study. Kasza urged political scientists to rethink graduate training and, specifically, to institute dual-degree graduate programs. Political science graduate students should be encouraged to earn master’s degrees in alternative and diverse fields, fields encompassing the humanities as well as hard sciences.

In calling for interdisciplinary collaboration, Kasza (2001) was aware that he and other Perestroika supporters were challenging political science to regain something from its earlier orientation. Indeed, in the postbehavioral Perestroika protest, one can recognize remnants of traditionalism. One is reminded of the cross-disciplinary approach of Goodnow when reading recent demands for interdisciplinary breadth in graduate training. At the same time, one can observe in postbehavioralism a parallelism linking the demand to study real people (rather than excessively narrowly operationalized “actors” described by behavioralists) with behavioralism’s impatience with traditionalism’s earlier preference for studying institutions rather than people. Neither the Perestroika protesters nor other advocates of postbehavioralism purged political science of behavioralism. In fact, at present, one can find all three approaches in political science. One might conclude from a study of the history of traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism that political science, as a discipline, has been characterized not as much by complete breaks with preexisting research approaches as by periodic shifts and rearrangements of research emphases (Dryzek, 2006).

Bibliography:

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  • Bryce, J. (1909). The relations of political science to history and to practice: Presidential address, fifth annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. American Political Science Review, 3, 1-19.
  • Dahl, R. A. (1992). The behavioral approach in political science: Epitaph for a monument to a successful protest. In B. Susser (Ed.), Approaches to the study of politics (pp. 27-46). New York: Macmillan.
  • Dryzek, J. S. (2006). Revolutions without enemies: Key transformations in political science. American Political Science Review, 100, 487-492.
  • Dryzek, J. S., & Leonard, S. T. (1988). History and discipline in political science. American Political Science Review, 82, 1245-1260.
  • Easton, D. (1969). The new revolution in political science. American Political Science Review, 63, 1051-1061.
  • Easton, D. (1971). The political system: An inquiry into the state of political science (2nded.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Easton, D. (1992). The current meaning of behavioralism. In B. Susser (Ed.), Approaches to the study of politics (pp. 47-48). New York: Macmillan.
  • Farr, J. (1990). Francis Lieber and the interpretation of American political science. Journal of Politics, 52, 1027-1049.
  • Fried, A. (2006). The forgotten Lindsey Rogers and the development of American political science. American Political Science Review, 100, 555-561.
  • Goodnow, F. (1904). The work of the American Political Science Association. Proceedings of the American Political Science Association, 1, 35 -46.
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  • Kasza, G. (2001). Forum: Perestroika: For an ecumenical science of politics. PS: Political Science and Politics, 34, 597-600.
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  • 14 February 2024

Largest post-pandemic survey finds trust in scientists is high

  • Carissa Wong

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Protestors in Washington DC walk with signs and banners during the March For Science in 2018.

The global survey indicated that people have moderately high levels of trust in scientists overall. Credit: Michael Candelori/Pacific Press Via Zuma Wire/Shutterstock

People around the world have high levels of trust in scientists, and most want researchers to get more involved in policymaking, finds a global survey with more than 70,000 participants. But trust levels are influenced by political orientation and differ among nations, according to the study, which was described in a preprint posted online last month 1 .

research paper on political science

How can scientists make the most of the public’s trust in them?

“The overall message is positive,” says James Liu, a psychologist at the Massey University of New Zealand in Auckland. “Even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have been highly polarizing for people’s trust in scientists, trust levels are fairly high across a range of demographics.”

“The researchers use a more robust measure of trust compared to previous studies that focus on just one or two dimensions,” says Nan Li, who studies how the public engages with science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “I really admired the authors’ ambitions of doing this type of study, which includes researchers from all over the world.”

The scope makes the survey one of the largest studies on trust in scientists to be conducted since the onset of the pandemic.

Worldwide attitudes

Social scientist Viktoria Cologna at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, and her colleagues surveyed 71,417 people in 67 countries. In most places, the researchers recruited participants online through marketing companies, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they used in-person surveys. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed with a dozen statements about the integrity, competency, benevolence and openness of scientists, on a scale of 1 to 5. A higher score indicated higher trust.

research paper on political science

US trust in scientists is now on par with the military

Across all participants, the average trust score was moderately high, at 3.62. On a global scale, participants perceived scientists as having high competence, moderate integrity and benevolent intentions. The overall rating of openness to feedback was lower: 23% of participants think that scientists pay only somewhat or very little attention to other views. Three-quarters of people agreed that scientific methods are the best way to find out whether something is true.

Participants from Egypt had the most trust in scientists, followed by India and Nigeria; in Albania, Kazakhstan and Bolivia, people had the least trust. Participants in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and China had above-average levels of trust in scientists, whereas those in Germany, Hong Kong and Japan had below-average trust levels.

Trust and politics

The study also explored the links between participants’ trust in scientists and their political leanings. At the global level, a ‘left-leaning’ political orientation was linked to higher trust. The team saw this association at the country level in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and China. But of the 67 countries surveyed, in 41 — including New Zealand, Argentina and Mexico — the team found no significant association between political orientation and trust. And in some countries, including Georgia, Egypt, the Philippines, Nigeria and Greece, left-leaning views were linked to lower trust.

“These contrasting findings may be explained by the fact that in some countries right-leaning parties may have cultivated reservations against scientists among their supporters, while in other countries left-leaning parties may have done so,” the researchers say in the preprint. For example, New Democracy, Greece’s right-wing ruling party, has since 2020 consistently cooperated with researchers in implementing a public-health agenda, which could explain why in that country a right-leaning political orientation is linked to higher trust in scientists.

“It’s about the leadership of political parties and how they treat scientists,” says Liu. The concept of a right- or left-wing political orientation can also differ among people in different countries, making it hard to interpret the findings.

Engaging with policy: Bar charts showing results of a survey asking about how researchers should communicate their work.

Source: Ref. 1

More than half of the respondents think that researchers should be more involved in policymaking and should work closely with politicians to integrate scientific results into policymaking (see ‘Engaging with policy’). “These results are intuitive — if people trust scientists, they will want them to be involved,” says Liu.

“But entering the public policy arena as a scientist can end up being a kind of blood sport,” he says. “We see that with, say, climate scientists being disregarded and doubted by some politicians.”

Liu thinks that there needs to be more training for scientists who want to enter policymaking, and that many researchers need to improve their communication skills, “so we’re ready for that rough and tumble arena of public policy”. The study found that 80% of people think researchers should communicate about science with the general public.

Although the study provides a general snapshot of trust in researchers, people’s trust levels will also vary depending on scientists’ fields, says Li.

The team plans to make the global data set openly accessible online, to help other researchers study the topic.

Nature 626 , 704 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00420-1

Cologna, V. et al. Preprint at OSF Preprints https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/6ay7s (2024).

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Political Science

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you to recognize and to follow writing standards in political science. The first step toward accomplishing this goal is to develop a basic understanding of political science and the kind of work political scientists do.

Defining politics and political science

Political scientist Harold Laswell said it best: at its most basic level, politics is the struggle of “who gets what, when, how.” This struggle may be as modest as competing interest groups fighting over control of a small municipal budget or as overwhelming as a military stand-off between international superpowers. Political scientists study such struggles, both small and large, in an effort to develop general principles or theories about the way the world of politics works. Think about the title of your course or re-read the course description in your syllabus. You’ll find that your course covers a particular sector of the large world of “politics” and brings with it a set of topics, issues, and approaches to information that may be helpful to consider as you begin a writing assignment. The diverse structure of political science reflects the diverse kinds of problems the discipline attempts to analyze and explain. In fact, political science includes at least eight major sub-fields:

  • American politics examines political behavior and institutions in the United States.
  • Comparative politics analyzes and compares political systems within and across different geographic regions.
  • International relations investigates relations among nation states and the activities of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and NATO, as well as international actors such as terrorists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multi-national corporations (MNCs).
  • Political theory analyzes fundamental political concepts such as power and democracy and foundational questions, like “How should the individual and the state relate?”
  • Political methodology deals with the ways that political scientists ask and investigate questions.
  • Public policy examines the process by which governments make public decisions.
  • Public administration studies the ways that government policies are implemented.
  • Public law focuses on the role of law and courts in the political process.

What is scientific about political science?

Investigating relationships.

Although political scientists are prone to debate and disagreement, the majority view the discipline as a genuine science. As a result, political scientists generally strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and methodological rigor typically associated with the so-called “hard” sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics). They see themselves as engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Based on these revelations, they attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics works. Given these aims, it is important for political scientists’ writing to be conceptually precise, free from bias, and well-substantiated by empirical evidence. Knowing that political scientists value objectivity may help you in making decisions about how to write your paper and what to put in it.

Political theory is an important exception to this empirical approach. You can learn more about writing for political theory classes in the section “Writing in Political Theory” below.

Building theories

Since theory-building serves as the cornerstone of the discipline, it may be useful to see how it works. You may be wrestling with theories or proposing your own as you write your paper. Consider how political scientists have arrived at the theories you are reading and discussing in your course. Most political scientists adhere to a simple model of scientific inquiry when building theories. The key to building precise and persuasive theories is to develop and test hypotheses. Hypotheses are statements that researchers construct for the purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists between two phenomena. To see how political scientists use hypotheses, and to imagine how you might use a hypothesis to develop a thesis for your paper, consider the following example. Suppose that we want to know whether presidential elections are affected by economic conditions. We could formulate this question into the following hypothesis:

“When the national unemployment rate is greater than 7 percent at the time of the election, presidential incumbents are not reelected.”

Collecting data

In the research model designed to test this hypothesis, the dependent variable (the phenomenon that is affected by other variables) would be the reelection of incumbent presidents; the independent variable (the phenomenon that may have some effect on the dependent variable) would be the national unemployment rate. You could test the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by collecting data on unemployment rates and the reelection of incumbent presidents and comparing the two sets of information. If you found that in every instance that the national unemployment rate was greater than 7 percent at the time of a presidential election the incumbent lost, you would have significant support for our hypothesis.

However, research in political science seldom yields immediately conclusive results. In this case, for example, although in most recent presidential elections our hypothesis holds true, President Franklin Roosevelt was reelected in 1936 despite the fact that the national unemployment rate was 17%. To explain this important exception and to make certain that other factors besides high unemployment rates were not primarily responsible for the defeat of incumbent presidents in other election years, you would need to do further research. So you can see how political scientists use the scientific method to build ever more precise and persuasive theories and how you might begin to think about the topics that interest you as you write your paper.

Clear, consistent, objective writing

Since political scientists construct and assess theories in accordance with the principles of the scientific method, writing in the field conveys the rigor, objectivity, and logical consistency that characterize this method. Thus political scientists avoid the use of impressionistic or metaphorical language, or language which appeals primarily to our senses, emotions, or moral beliefs. In other words, rather than persuade you with the elegance of their prose or the moral virtue of their beliefs, political scientists persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those facts to theories that can withstand the test of empirical investigation. In writing of this sort, clarity and concision are at a premium. To achieve such clarity and concision, political scientists precisely define any terms or concepts that are important to the arguments that they make. This precision often requires that they “operationalize” key terms or concepts. “Operationalizing” simply means that important—but possibly vague or abstract—concepts like “justice” are defined in ways that allow them to be measured or tested through scientific investigation.

Fortunately, you will generally not be expected to devise or operationalize key concepts entirely on your own. In most cases, your professor or the authors of assigned readings will already have defined and/or operationalized concepts that are important to your research. And in the event that someone hasn’t already come up with precisely the definition you need, other political scientists will in all likelihood have written enough on the topic that you’re investigating to give you some clear guidance on how to proceed. For this reason, it is always a good idea to explore what research has already been done on your topic before you begin to construct your own argument. See our handout on making an academic argument .

Example of an operationalized term

To give you an example of the kind of rigor and objectivity political scientists aim for in their writing, let’s examine how someone might operationalize a term. Reading through this example should clarify the level of analysis and precision that you will be expected to employ in your writing. Here’s how you might define key concepts in a way that allows us to measure them.

We are all familiar with the term “democracy.” If you were asked to define this term, you might make a statement like the following:

“Democracy is government by the people.”

You would, of course, be correct—democracy is government by the people. But, in order to evaluate whether or not a particular government is fully democratic or is more or less democratic when compared with other governments, we would need to have more precise criteria with which to measure or assess democracy. For example, here are some criteria that political scientists have suggested are indicators of democracy:

  • Freedom to form and join organizations
  • Freedom of expression
  • Right to vote
  • Eligibility for public office
  • Right of political leaders to compete for support
  • Right of political leaders to compete for votes
  • Alternative sources of information
  • Free and fair elections
  • Institutions for making government policies depend on votes and other expressions of preference

If we adopt these nine criteria, we now have a definition that will allow us to measure democracy empirically. Thus, if you want to determine whether Brazil is more democratic than Sweden, you can evaluate each country in terms of the degree to which it fulfills the above criteria.

What counts as good writing in political science?

While rigor, clarity, and concision will be valued in any piece of writing in political science, knowing the kind of writing task you’ve been assigned will help you to write a good paper. Two of the most common kinds of writing assignments in political science are the research paper and the theory paper.

Writing political science research papers

Your instructors use research paper assignments as a means of assessing your ability to understand a complex problem in the field, to develop a perspective on this problem, and to make a persuasive argument in favor of your perspective. In order for you to successfully meet this challenge, your research paper should include the following components:

  • An introduction
  • A problem statement
  • A discussion of methodology
  • A literature review
  • A description and evaluation of your research findings
  • A summary of your findings

Here’s a brief description of each component.

In the introduction of your research paper, you need to give the reader some basic background information on your topic that suggests why the question you are investigating is interesting and important. You will also need to provide the reader with a statement of the research problem you are attempting to address and a basic outline of your paper as a whole. The problem statement presents not only the general research problem you will address but also the hypotheses that you will consider. In the methodology section, you will explain to the reader the research methods you used to investigate your research topic and to test the hypotheses that you have formulated. For example, did you conduct interviews, use statistical analysis, rely upon previous research studies, or some combination of all of these methodological approaches?

Before you can develop each of the above components of your research paper, you will need to conduct a literature review. A literature review involves reading and analyzing what other researchers have written on your topic before going on to do research of your own. There are some very pragmatic reasons for doing this work. First, as insightful as your ideas may be, someone else may have had similar ideas and have already done research to test them. By reading what they have written on your topic, you can ensure that you don’t repeat, but rather learn from, work that has already been done. Second, to demonstrate the soundness of your hypotheses and methodology, you will need to indicate how you have borrowed from and/or improved upon the ideas of others.

By referring to what other researchers have found on your topic, you will have established a frame of reference that enables the reader to understand the full significance of your research results. Thus, once you have conducted your literature review, you will be in a position to present your research findings. In presenting these findings, you will need to refer back to your original hypotheses and explain the manner and degree to which your results fit with what you anticipated you would find. If you see strong support for your argument or perhaps some unexpected results that your original hypotheses cannot account for, this section is the place to convey such important information to your reader. This is also the place to suggest further lines of research that will help refine, clarify inconsistencies with, or provide additional support for your hypotheses. Finally, in the summary section of your paper, reiterate the significance of your research and your research findings and speculate upon the path that future research efforts should take.

Writing in political theory

Political theory differs from other subfields in political science in that it deals primarily with historical and normative, rather than empirical, analysis. In other words, political theorists are less concerned with the scientific measurement of political phenomena than with understanding how important political ideas develop over time. And they are less concerned with evaluating how things are than in debating how they should be. A return to our democracy example will make these distinctions clearer and give you some clues about how to write well in political theory.

Earlier, we talked about how to define democracy empirically so that it can be measured and tested in accordance with scientific principles. Political theorists also define democracy, but they use a different standard of measurement. Their definitions of democracy reflect their interest in political ideals—for example, liberty, equality, and citizenship—rather than scientific measurement. So, when writing about democracy from the perspective of a political theorist, you may be asked to make an argument about the proper way to define citizenship in a democratic society. Should citizens of a democratic society be expected to engage in decision-making and administration of government, or should they be satisfied with casting votes every couple of years?

In order to substantiate your position on such questions, you will need to pay special attention to two interrelated components of your writing: (1) the logical consistency of your ideas and (2) the manner in which you use the arguments of other theorists to support your own. First, you need to make sure that your conclusion and all points leading up to it follow from your original premises or assumptions. If, for example, you argue that democracy is a system of government through which citizens develop their full capacities as human beings, then your notion of citizenship will somehow need to support this broad definition of democracy. A narrow view of citizenship based exclusively or primarily on voting probably will not do. Whatever you argue, however, you will need to be sure to demonstrate in your analysis that you have considered the arguments of other theorists who have written about these issues. In some cases, their arguments will provide support for your own; in others, they will raise criticisms and concerns that you will need to address if you are going to make a convincing case for your point of view.

Drafting your paper

If you have used material from outside sources in your paper, be sure to cite them appropriately in your paper. In political science, writers most often use the APA or Turabian (a version of the Chicago Manual of Style) style guides when formatting references. Check with your instructor if they have not specified a citation style in the assignment. For more information on constructing citations, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Although all assignments are different, the preceding outlines provide a clear and simple guide that should help you in writing papers in any sub-field of political science. If you find that you need more assistance than this short guide provides, refer to the list of additional resources below or make an appointment to see a tutor at the Writing Center.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Becker, Howard S. 2007. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article , 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Cuba, Lee. 2002. A Short Guide to Writing About Social Science , 4th ed. New York: Longman.

Lasswell, Harold Dwight. 1936. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, Gregory M., and Stephen M. Garrison. 1998. The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual , 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Social Sci LibreTexts

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al.)

  • Last updated
  • Save as PDF
  • Page ID 76154

  • Josue Franco
  • Cuyamaca College

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

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  • ProgramPage
  • Table of Contents

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  • 1.1: Welcome
  • 1.2: The Social Network of Political Science
  • 1.3: Organization of the Book
  • 1.4: Analyzing Journal Articles
  • 1.5: Research Paper Project Management
  • 1.6: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 1.7: Summary
  • 1.8: Review Questions
  • 1.9: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 2.1: Brief History of Empirical Study of Politics
  • 2.2: The Institutional Wave
  • 2.3: The Behavioral Wave
  • 2.4: Currents- Qualitative versus Quantitative
  • 2.5: Currents- Politics- Normative and Positive Views
  • 2.6: Emerging Wave- Experimental Political Science
  • 2.7: Emerging Wave- Big Data and Machine Learning
  • 2.8: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 2.9: Summary
  • 2.10: Review Questions
  • 2.11: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 2.12: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 3.1: Philosophy of Science
  • 3.2: Whats is the Scientific Method?
  • 3.3: Applying the Scientific Method to Political Phenomena
  • 3.4: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 3.5: Summary
  • 3.6: Review Questions
  • 3.7: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 3.8: Suggestions for Further Reading/Study

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  • 4.1: Correlation and Causation
  • 4.2: Theory Constrution
  • 4.3: Generating Hypotheses from Theories
  • 4.4: Exploring Variables
  • 4.5: Units of Observation and Units of Analysis
  • 4.6: Casual Modeling
  • 4.7: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 4.8: Critical Thinking Problems
  • 4.9: Review Questions
  • 4.10: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 4.11: Critical Thinking Questions

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  • 5.1: Conceptualization in Political Science
  • 5.2: Operationalization
  • 5.3: Measurement
  • 5.4: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 5.5: Summary
  • 5.6: Review Questions
  • 5.7: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 5.8: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 6.1: Introduction- Building with a Blueprint
  • 6.2: Types of Design- Experimental and Nonexperimental Designs
  • 6.3: Components of Design- Sampling
  • 6.4: Components of Design- Observations
  • 6.5: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 6.6: Summary
  • 6.7: Review Questions
  • 6.8: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 6.9: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 7.1: What are Qualitative Methods?
  • 7.2: Interviews
  • 7.3: Exploring Documentary Sources
  • 7.4: Ethnographic Research
  • 7.5: Case Studies
  • 7.6: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 7.7: Summary
  • 7.8: Review Questions
  • 7.9: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 7.10: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 8.1: What are Quantitative Methods
  • 8.2: Making Sense of Data
  • 8.3: Introduction to Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
  • 8.4: Interpreting Statistical Tables in Political Science Articles
  • 8.6: Summary
  • 8.7: Review Questions
  • 8.8: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 8.9: Suggestions for Further Study
  • 8.5: Key Terms

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  • 9.1: Ethics in Political Research
  • 9.2: Research Ethics
  • 9.3: Navigating Qualitative Data Collection
  • 9.4: Research Ethics in Quantitative Research
  • 9.5: Ethically Analyzing and Sharing Co-generated Knowledge
  • 9.6: Key Terms/Glossary
  • 9.7: Summary
  • 9.8: Review Questions
  • 9.9: Critical Thinking Questions
  • 9.10: Suggestions for Further Study

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  • 10.1: Congratulations!
  • 10.2: The Path Forward
  • 10.3: Frontiers of Political Science Research Methods
  • 10.4: How to Contribute to this OER

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  • Detailed Licensing

Thumbnail: Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress in the Thomas Jefferson Building. (Public Domain;  Carol M. Highsmith  via Wikipedia )

POLSC101: Introduction to Political Science

Research in political science.

This handout is designed to teach you how to conduct original political science research. While you won't be asked to write a research paper, this handout provides important information on the "scientific" approach used by political scientists. Pay particularly close attention to the section that answers the question "what is scientific about political science?"

If you were going to conduct research in biology or chemistry, what would you do? You would probably create a hypothesis, and then design an experiment to test your hypothesis. Based on the results of your experiment, you would draw conclusions. Political scientists follow similar procedures. Like a scientist who researches biology or chemistry, political scientists rely on objectivity, data, and procedure to draw conclusions. This article explains the process of operationalizing variables. Why is that an important step in social science research?

Defining politics and political science

Political scientist Harold Laswell said it best: at its most basic level, politics is the struggle of "who gets what, when, how". This struggle may be as modest as competing interest groups fighting over control of a small municipal budget or as overwhelming as a military stand-off between international superpowers. Political scientists study such struggles, both small and large, in an effort to develop general principles or theories about the way the world of politics works. Think about the title of your course or re-read the course description in your syllabus. You'll find that your course covers a particular sector of the large world of "politics" and brings with it a set of topics, issues, and approaches to information that may be helpful to consider as you begin a writing assignment. The diverse structure of political science reflects the diverse kinds of problems the discipline attempts to analyze and explain. In fact, political science includes at least eight major sub-fields:

  • American politics examines political behavior and institutions in the United States.
  • Comparative politics analyzes and compares political systems within and across different geographic regions.
  • International relations investigates relations among nation-states and the activities of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and NATO, as well as international actors such as terrorists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multi-national corporations (MNCs).
  • Political theory analyzes fundamental political concepts such as power and democracy and foundational questions, like "How should the individual and the state relate?"
  • Political methodology deals with the ways that political scientists ask and investigate questions.
  • Public policy examines the process by which governments make public decisions.
  • Public administration studies the ways that government policies are implemented.
  • Public law focuses on the role of law and courts in the political process.

What is scientific about political science?

Investigating relationships

Although political scientists are prone to debate and disagreement, the majority view the discipline as a genuine science. As a result, political scientists generally strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and methodological rigor typically associated with the so-called "hard" sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics). They see themselves as engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Based on these revelations, they attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics works. Given these aims, it is important for political scientists' writing to be conceptually precise, free from bias, and well-substantiated by empirical evidence. Knowing that political scientists value objectivity may help you in making decisions about how to write your paper and what to put in it.

Political theory is an important exception to this empirical approach. You can learn more about writing for political theory classes in the section "Writing in Political Theory" below.

Building theories

Since theory-building serves as the cornerstone of the discipline, it may be useful to see how it works. You may be wrestling with theories or proposing your own as you write your paper. Consider how political scientists have arrived at the theories you are reading and discussing in your course. Most political scientists adhere to a simple model of scientific inquiry when building theories. The key to building precise and persuasive theories is to develop and test hypotheses. Hypotheses are statements that researchers construct for the purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists between two phenomena. To see how political scientists use hypotheses, and to imagine how you might use a hypothesis to develop a thesis for your paper, consider the following example. Suppose that we want to know whether presidential elections are affected by economic conditions. We could formulate this question into the following hypothesis: "When the national unemployment rate is greater than 7 percent at the time of the election, presidential incumbents are not reelected".

Collecting data

In the research model designed to test this hypothesis, the dependent variable (the phenomenon that is affected by other variables) would be the reelection of incumbent presidents; the independent variable (the phenomenon that may have some effect on the dependent variable) would be the national unemployment rate. You could test the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by collecting data on unemployment rates and the reelection of incumbent presidents and comparing the two sets of information. If you found that in every instance that the national unemployment rate was greater than 7 percent at the time of a presidential election the incumbent lost, you would have significant support for our hypothesis.

However, research in political science seldom yields immediately conclusive results. In this case, for example, although in most recent presidential elections our hypothesis holds true, President Franklin Roosevelt was reelected in 1936 despite the fact that the national unemployment rate was 17%. To explain this important exception and to make certain that other factors besides high unemployment rates were not primarily responsible for the defeat of incumbent presidents in other election years, you would need to do further research. So you can see how political scientists use the scientific method to build ever more precise and persuasive theories and how you might begin to think about the topics that interest you as you write your paper.

Clear, consistent, objective writing

Since political scientists construct and assess theories in accordance with the principles of the scientific method, writing in the field conveys the rigor, objectivity, and logical consistency that characterize this method. Thus political scientists avoid the use of impressionistic or metaphorical language, or language which appeals primarily to our senses, emotions, or moral beliefs. In other words, rather than persuade you with the elegance of their prose or the moral virtue of their beliefs, political scientists persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those facts to theories that can withstand the test of empirical investigation. In writing of this sort, clarity and concision are at a premium. To achieve such clarity and concision, political scientists precisely define any terms or concepts that are important to the arguments that they make. This precision often requires that they "operationalize" key terms or concepts. "Operationalizing" simply means that important – but possibly vague or abstract – concepts like "justice" are defined in ways that allow them to be measured or tested through scientific investigation.

Fortunately, you will generally not be expected to devise or operationalize key concepts entirely on your own. In most cases, your professor or the authors of assigned readings will already have defined and/or operationalized concepts that are important to your research. And in the event that someone hasn't already come up with precisely the definition you need, other political scientists will in all likelihood have written enough on the topic that you're investigating to give you some clear guidance on how to proceed. For this reason, it is always a good idea to explore what research has already been done on your topic before you begin to construct your own argument. (See our handout on making an academic argument.)

Example of an operationalized term

To give you an example of the kind of "rigor" and "objectivity" political scientists aim for in their writing, let's examine how someone might operationalize a term. Reading through this example should clarify the level of analysis and precision that you will be expected to employ in your writing. Here's how you might define key concepts in a way that allows us to measure them.

We are all familiar with the term "democracy". If you were asked to define this term, you might make a statement like the following: "Democracy is government by the people". You would, of course, be correct – democracy is government by the people. But, in order to evaluate whether or not a particular government is fully democratic or is more or less democratic when compared with other governments, we would need to have more precise criteria with which to measure or assess democracy. Most political scientists agree that these criteria should include the following rights and freedoms for citizens:

  • Freedom to form and join organizations
  • Freedom of expression
  • Right to vote
  • Eligibility for public office
  • Right of political leaders to compete for support
  • Right of political leaders to compete for votes
  • Alternative sources of information
  • Free and fair elections
  • Institutions for making government policies depend on votes and other expressions of preference

By adopting these nine criteria, we now have a definition that will allow us to measure democracy. Thus, if you want to determine whether Brazil is more democratic than Sweden, you can evaluate each country in terms of the degree to which it fulfills the above criteria.

What counts as good writing in political science?

While rigor, clarity, and concision will be valued in any piece of writing in political science, knowing the kind of writing task you've been assigned will help you to write a good paper. Two of the most common kinds of writing assignments in political science are the research paper and the theory paper.

Writing political science research papers

Your instructors use research paper assignments as a means of assessing your ability to understand a complex problem in the field, to develop a perspective on this problem, and to make a persuasive argument in favor of your perspective. In order for you to successfully meet this challenge, your research paper should include the following components: (1) an introduction, (2) a problem statement, (3) a discussion of methodology, (4) a literature review, (5) a description and evaluation of your research findings, and (6) a summary of your findings. Here's a brief description of each component.

In the introduction of your research paper, you need to give the reader some basic background information on your topic that suggests why the question you are investigating is interesting and important. You will also need to provide the reader with a statement of the research problem you are attempting to address and a basic outline of your paper as a whole. The problem statement presents not only the general research problem you will address but also the hypotheses that you will consider. In the methodology section, you will explain to the reader the research methods you used to investigate your research topic and to test the hypotheses that you have formulated. For example, did you conduct interviews, use statistical analysis, rely upon previous research studies, or some combination of all of these methodological approaches?

Before you can develop each of the above components of your research paper, you will need to conduct a literature review. A literature review involves reading and analyzing what other researchers have written on your topic before going on to do research of your own. There are some very pragmatic reasons for doing this work. First, as insightful as your ideas may be, someone else may have had similar ideas and have already done research to test them. By reading what they have written on your topic, you can ensure that you don't repeat, but rather learn from, work that has already been done. Second, to demonstrate the soundness of your hypotheses and methodology, you will need to indicate how you have borrowed from and/or improved upon the ideas of others.

By referring to what other researchers have found on your topic, you will have established a frame of reference that enables the reader to understand the full significance of your research results. Thus, once you have conducted your literature review, you will be in a position to present your research findings. In presenting these findings, you will need to refer back to your original hypotheses and explain the manner and degree to which your results fit with what you anticipated you would find. If you see strong support for your argument or perhaps some unexpected results that your original hypotheses cannot account for, this section is the place to convey such important information to your reader. This is also the place to suggest further lines of research that will help refine, clarify inconsistencies with, or provide additional support for your hypotheses. Finally, in the summary section of your paper, reiterate the significance of your research and your research findings and speculate upon the path that future research efforts should take.

Writing in political theory

Political theory differs from other subfields in political science in that it deals primarily with historical and normative, rather than empirical, analysis. In other words, political theorists are less concerned with the scientific measurement of political phenomena than with understanding how important political ideas develop over time. And they are less concerned with evaluating how things are than in debating how they should be. A return to our democracy example will make these distinctions clearer and give you some clues about how to write well in political theory.

Earlier, we talked about how to define democracy empirically so that it can be measured and tested in accordance with scientific principles. Political theorists also define democracy, but they use a different standard of measurement. Their definitions of democracy reflect their interest in political ideals – for example, liberty, equality, and citizenship – rather than scientific measurement. So, when writing about democracy from the perspective of a political theorist, you may be asked to make an argument about the proper way to define citizenship in a democratic society. Should citizens of a democratic society be expected to engage in decision-making and administration of government, or should they be satisfied with casting votes every couple of years?

In order to substantiate your position on such questions, you will need to pay special attention to two interrelated components of your writing: (1) the logical consistency of your ideas and (2) the manner in which you use the arguments of other theorists to support your own. First, you need to make sure that your conclusion and all points leading up to it follow from your original premises or assumptions. If, for example, you argue that democracy is a system of government through which citizens develop their full capacities as human beings, then your notion of citizenship will somehow need to support this broad definition of democracy. A narrow view of citizenship based exclusively or primarily on voting probably will not do. Whatever you argue, however, you will need to be sure to demonstrate in your analysis that you have considered the arguments of other theorists who have written about these issues. In some cases, their arguments will provide support for your own; in others, they will raise criticisms and concerns that you will need to address if you are going to make a convincing case for your point of view.

Drafting your paper

If you have used material from outside sources in your paper, be sure to cite them appropriately in your paper. In political science, writers most often use the APA or Turabian (a version of the Chicago Manual of Style) style guides when formatting references. Check with your instructor if he or she has not specified a citation style in the assignment. For more information on constructing citations, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Although all assignments are different, the preceding outlines provide a clear and simple guide that should help you in writing papers in any sub-field of political science. If you find that you need more assistance than this short guide provides, refer to the list of additional resources below or make an appointment to see a tutor at the Writing Center.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout's topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Cuba, Lee. 2002. A Short Guide to Writing about Social Science , Fourth Edition. New York: Longman.

Lasswell, Harold Dwight. 1936. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How . New York, London: Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, inc.

Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. 1998. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual , Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Turabian, Kate L. 1996. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers , Theses, and Dissertations, Sixth Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

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Research Topics & Ideas: Politics

100+ Politics-Related Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Political science research topics and ideas

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation or thesis. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a politics-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of politically-related research ideas across a range of disciplines, including political theory and philosophy, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also, be sure to sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Politics-Related Topics

  • Political theory and philosophy
  • Comparative politics
  • International relations
  • Public administration
  • Public policy
  • Examples of politics-related dissertations

Topics & Ideas: Political Theory

  • An analysis of the impact of feminism on political theory and the concept of citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030
  • A comparative study of the political philosophies of Marxism and liberalism and their influence on modern politics
  • An examination of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility in political philosophy
  • A study of the impact of race and ethnicity on French political philosophy and the concept of justice
  • An exploration of the role of religion in political theory and its impact on secular democracy in the Middle East
  • A Review of Social contract theory, comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
  • A study of the concept of the common good in political philosophy and its relevance to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe
  • An examination of the relationship between political power and the rule of law in developing African countries
  • A study of the impact of postmodernism on political theory and the concept of truth, a case study of the US
  • An exploration of the role of virtue in political philosophy and its impact on the assessment of moral character in political leaders

Research topic idea mega list

Topics & Ideas: Comparative Politics

  • A comparative study of different models of federalism and their impact on democratic governance: A case Study of South American federalist states
  • The impact of ethnic and religious diversity on political stability and democracy in developing countries, a review of literature from Africa
  • An analysis of the role of civil society in promoting democratic change in autocratic regimes: A case study in Sweden
  • A comparative examination of the impact of globalization on political institutions and processes in South America and Africa.
  • A study of the factors that contribute to successful democratization in authoritarian regimes, a review of the role of Elite-driven democratization
  • A comparison of the political and economic systems of China and India and their impact on social development
  • The impact of corruption on political institutions and democracy in South East Asia, a critical review
  • A comparative examination of the impact of majoritarian representation (winner-take-all) vs proportional representation on political representation and governance
  • An exploration of Multi-party systems in democratic countries and their impact on minority representation and policy-making.
  • A study of the factors that contribute to successful decentralization and regional autonomy, a case study of Spain

Research Topic Kickstarter - Need Help Finding A Research Topic?

Topics & Ideas: International Relations

  • A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of diplomacy and military force in resolving international conflicts in Central Africa.
  • The impact of globalization on the sovereignty of nation-states and the changing nature of international politics, a review of the role of Multinational Corporations
  • An examination of the role of international aid organizations in promoting peace, security, and development in the Middle East.
  • A study of the impact of economic interdependence on the likelihood of conflict in international relations: A critical review of weaponized interdependence
  • A comparative analysis of the foreign policies of the EU and the US and their impact on international stability in Africa
  • An exploration of the relationship between international human rights and national sovereignty during the Covid 19 pandemic
  • A study of the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)s in international politics and their impact on state behaviour
  • A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of international regimes in addressing global challenges such as climate change, arms control, and terrorism in Brazil
  • An examination of the impact of the rise of BRICS on the international system and global governance
  • A study of the role of ideology in shaping the foreign policies of states and the dynamics of international relations in the US

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Tops & Ideas: Public Administration

  • An analysis of the impact of digital technology on public administration and the delivery of public services in Estonia
  • A review of models of public-private partnerships and their impact on the delivery of public services in Ghana
  • An examination of the role of civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability of public administration in Papua New Guinea
  • A study of the impact of environmentalism as a political ideology on public administration and policy implementation in Germany
  • An exploration of the relationship between public administration and citizen engagement in the policy-making process, an exploration of gender identity concerns in schools
  • A comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, decentralisation and pay and employment reform in developing countries
  • A study of the role of collaborative leadership in public administration and its impact on organizational performance
  • A systematic review of the challenges and opportunities related to diversity and inclusion in police services
  • A study of the impact of corrupt public administration on economic development and regional growth in Eastern Europe
  • An exploration of the relationship between public administration and civil rights and liberties, including issues related to privacy and surveillance, a case study in South Korea

Research topic evaluator

Topics & Ideas: Public Policy

  • An analysis of the impacts of public policy on income inequality and poverty reduction in South Sudan
  • A comparative study of the effectiveness of legal and regulatory, economic and financial, and social and cultural instruments for addressing climate change in South Korea
  • An examination of the role of interest groups in shaping public policy and the policy-making process regarding land-use claims
  • A study of the impact of globalization on the development of public policies and programs for mitigating climate change in Singapore
  • An exploration of the relationship between public policy and social justice in tertiary education in the UAE
  • A comparative analysis of the impact of health policies for the management of diabetes on access to healthcare and health outcomes in developing countries
  • Exploring the role of evidence-based policymaking in the design and implementation of public policies for the management of invasive invertebrates in Australia
  • An examination of the challenges and opportunities of implementing educational dietary public policies in developing multicultural countries
  • A study of the impact of public policies on urbanization and urban development in rural Indonesia
  • An exploration of the role of media and public opinion in shaping public policy and the policy-making process in the transport industry of Malaysia

Examples: Politics Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a politics-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various politics-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

  • We, the Righteous Few: Immoral Actions of Fellow Partisans are Judged as Less Possible (Varnam, 2020)
  • Civilizing the State: Civil Society and the Politics of Primary Public Health Care Provision in Urban Brazil (Gibson, 2012)
  • Political regimes and minority language policies: evidence from Taiwan and southeast Asia (Wu, 2021)
  • The Feminist Third Wave: Social Reproduction, Feminism as Class Struggle, and Contemporary Women’s Movements (Angulo, 2019)
  • The Politics of Immigration under Authoritarianism (Joo, 2019)
  • The politics of digital platforms: Sour Dictionary, activist subjectivities, and contemporary cultures of resistance (Okten, 2019)
  • Vote choice and support for diverse candidates on the Boston City Council At-Large (Dolcimascolo, 2022)
  • The city agenda: local governance and national influence in the policy agenda, 1900-2020 (Shannon, 2022)
  • Turf wars: who supported measures to criminalize homelessness in Austin, Texas? (Bompiedi, 2021)
  • Do BITs Cause Opposition Between Investor Rights and Environmental Protection? (Xiong, 2022)
  • Revealed corruption and electoral accountability in Brazil: How politicians anticipate voting behavior (Diaz, 2021)
  • Intersectional Solidarity: The Political Consequences of a Consciousness of Race, Gender and Sexuality (Crowder, 2020)
  • The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives (Munoz, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. In other words, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

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Political Science Research Topics

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Political science plays an important role in how we shape the world around us. It offers insight into governments, political systems, public policies, international relations, and more. This makes it a broad subject to explore. But it can also be challenging to find a captivating political science research topic. 

To make things easier, we’ve collected multiple political science research paper topics that suit any taste and need. We made a step further and divided these ideas into accessible categories. Choose the area you are most interested in and get ready to find a bunch of political science research topics in your domain.

But first things first, let’s figure out what politics is all about.

What Are Political Science Research Topics?

Politics is the study of governments, public policies, and political processes. It investigates how societies make decisions. Political science also examines how decisions affect people, both on a small scale, like a neighborhood, and on a global scale, like international relations.

Political science research paper topics can range widely within this discipline. Depending on your interests and goals, you could explore anything from voting behavior to gender equality in politics. You can also study global diplomatic relations, electoral systems, or the influence of media on political outcomes.

Characteristics of Good Political Science Research Paper Topics

Politics shapes our world in myriad ways. Every aspect of it bears relevance and offers a platform for thoughtful discourse, making it a fertile field for academic exploration.

However, good political science topics aren’t just about selecting a subject itself. Great ideas require elements of intrigue, relevance, and potential for in-depth examination, all while showcasing your input. So, what should you consider while choosing between different political research topics? Well, your passion and expertise are pivotal. Your topic should resonate with your interests and align with your academic focus.

Here's a brief overview of characteristics that make up engaging political science research topics:

  • Relevant and contemporary
  • Balanced in its scope
  • Well-documented and containing enough material
  • Interesting to you as well as your readers
  • Suitable for follow-up studies and/or additional research.

How to Choose a Political Science Research Topic?

Stumped about which political science topic to choose for your research paper? It's a common dilemma for many students. You shouldn’t just pick a theme. You must ensure that your topic sustains your interest, meets academic requirements, and resonates with your audience.

No need to stress, though! This blog is here to help you navigate these tricky waters. Our online essay writer team has shared these step-by-step guidelines to help you choose a successful topic for your political science paper:

  • Start with something you’re passionate about. Your enthusiasm and interest will animate the project and guide you to success.
  • Come up with an original idea that hasn’t been explored in depth before or is still relevant today.
  • Find something that’s timely and engaging to a wider audience. This should be something that people care about and are actively discussing.
  • Look for hidden connections, patterns, and solutions. Make sure your political science research topic is complex enough to ensure in-depth research.
  • Gather the necessary materials beforehand. Ensure availability of information before you begin analyzing your theme.

List of Political Science Research Topics

Before you plunge into our expertly compiled list, remember to double-check your instructor's guidelines. Aligning your choice with your course requirements is vital. Now, prepare to browse through the most captivating politics research topics that could be the launchpad for your future paper.

  • Understanding democracy: An evolving concept.
  • Rise of populism in 21st-century politics.
  • Climate change and global governance.
  • Role of United Nations: Effectiveness and criticisms.
  • Politics behind nuclear disarmament.
  • Influence of social media on political campaigns.
  • Immigration policies: A comparative study.
  • Human rights and foreign policy.
  • Impact of political instability on economic growth.
  • Cybersecurity in international relations.
  • Decoding political symbolism in public spaces.
  • Feminism and its political impact.
  • Role of youth in politics.
  • Is healthcare a political issue?
  • Examining political bias in media.

Easy Political Science Research Topics

While the field of political science can seem intricate, there are areas within it that are more accessible, yet equally intriguing. If you're new to the discipline or prefer less complex issues, this list of simple political science paper topics could be your go-to. Each topic is designed to offer an easy entry point into political science, but still, provide room for critical analysis .

  • Defining basic political ideologies: Liberalism, Conservatism, and Socialism.
  • How does voting work? An overview.
  • Impact of political cartoons on public opinion.
  • Presidential vs. parliamentary systems.
  • Role of lobby groups in shaping policy.
  • Political satire and its influence.
  • Environmental policy: Understanding basics.
  • What role does local government play?
  • Does every vote count in elections?
  • How accurate are public opinion polls?
  • Politics in sports.
  • Privacy rights in a digital era.
  • Gender representation in politics.
  • Patriotism vs. nationalism: Understanding the difference.
  • Role of celebrities in political campaigns.

Interesting Political Science Research Topics

Political science never falls short of captivating topics. With its dynamic nature and its intricate connection to real-world issues, there's always something noteworthy to explore. We've done our utmost to curate a list of topics in political science that will pique anyone’s curiosity:

  • Lessons from literature on dystopian governance.
  • The war on drugs policy.
  • What influence does propaganda have on contemporary governance?
  • How governing ideologies influence art.
  • Balancing national security with personal freedoms.
  • Importance of whistleblowers in democratic societies.
  • Rhetoric and reality behind political speeches.
  • Implications of artificial intelligence on governance.
  • Attainability of world peace: A critical perspective.
  • Dynamics of power in non-democratic systems.
  • Global pandemics and their effects on governance.
  • Competing for Mars: A new space race.
  • Impact of religion on governance.
  • Perspective on animal rights from a political viewpoint.
  • Food accessibility: Who decides who gets to eat what?

Good Topics for a Political Science Research Paper

Scoring points with your professor often comes down to choosing compelling and thought-provoking research paper ideas . The following list includes good political science research questions that are in tune with contemporary discourse. Each topic offers plenty of room to showcase your analytical skills and knowledge.

  • Evaluating e-democracy: Benefits and drawbacks.
  • How migration policies shape nations.
  • Media as a tool for political persuasion.
  • Political philosophy in science fiction literature.
  • Trade wars and global relations.
  • Is there a global shift towards autocracy?
  • Understanding diplomatic immunity: Rights and abuses.
  • Role of non-state actors in shaping international policy.
  • Rise of nationalism in globalized societies.
  • Impact of climate change on national security.
  • Examination of censorship laws across nations.
  • Can blockchain technology revolutionize voting systems?
  • Decoding political rhetoric in campaign promises.
  • Gender pay gap: A policy analysis.
  • Influence of economic inequality on social unrest.

Best Political Science Research Topics

We have curated an irresistible list of political science topics for a research paper. These ideas range from pressing international issues to more granular policy questions, all guaranteed to challenge your analytical skills.

  • Exploring causes and effects of global populism.
  • Transparency as a key to ethical political leadership.
  • Evaluating the role of social media censorship in political landscapes.
  • Influence of multiculturalism on policy development.
  • Unpacking the outcomes and justifications of military interventions.
  • Corruption's destructive role in democratic systems.
  • Merits and pitfalls of technocracy.
  • Interplay of bureaucracy and governance.
  • Pathways to address political polarization.
  • Effects of historical colonization on current government structures.
  • Role of extremism in shaping international relations.
  • How global climate commitments affect nations.
  • Using sanctions as a diplomatic tool.
  • Conflict resolution through international law.
  • Geopolitics in outer space exploration.

Current Research Topics in Political Science

Political science is a progressing field, so the problems you research will always be relevant. Our list of up-to-date topics of political science will help you make sure your paper is on point.

  • Artificial intelligence in global governance.
  • Global health governance in pandemics.
  • Impact of digital currencies on economies.
  • Changes in contemporary immigration attitudes.
  • Climate crisis' role in diplomatic dialogues.
  • Social movements and societal change.
  • Tech giants and information control.
  • Civil liberties in pandemic responses.
  • Gender disparities in political representation.
  • Decolonization trends in the 21st century.
  • Cyber warfare and national security.
  • Ethics of drone warfare.
  • Crypto-anarchy and state sovereignty.
  • Right-wing extremism in the digital age.
  • Power dynamics in international space law.

Political Science Research Topic Ideas for Students

Navigating politics can be overwhelming for students, given its broad nature and intersecting disciplines. With the right research topics for political science, however, this complexity transforms into an opportunity for a decent study. Our list of political science research topics ideas is designed with students in mind, focusing on engaging, relevant, and manageable themes.

Political Science Research Paper Topics for College Students

For college students, political science topics for research papers should strike a balance between complexity and approachability. With that in mind, here's a collection of college-level political topics to write about.

  • Leadership styles across governments.
  • Impact of gender roles in election campaigns.
  • Role of think tanks in shaping public opinion.
  • Studying historical revolutions and their aftermath.
  • Influence of socio-economic status on voting behavior.
  • Exploring ethical dilemmas in international relations.
  • Cultural diplomacy and its effectiveness.
  • Sovereignty disputes and their resolution.
  • Rise and implications of digital citizenship.
  • Evaluating meritocracy as a system of governance.
  • Role of peacekeeping operations in conflict resolution.
  • Comparing capitalist and socialist economies.
  • Decoding cyber diplomacy in the digital age.
  • Relationship between economic crises and political changes.
  • Minority rights in democratic societies.

Political Science Research Topics for University

When it comes to political topics to talk about in university, politics offers a variety of interesting options. Here's a list of captivating research ideas that are sure to get you top grades:

  • Political revolutions in the digital age.
  • Comparative study of political systems.
  • Effectiveness of international climate agreements.
  • Unraveling political consequences of economic sanctions.
  • Studying neocolonialism in modern economies.
  • Impact of income inequality on social stability.
  • Debating political implications of universal basic income.
  • Role of international courts in global governance.
  • Influence of cultural diversity on national policies.
  • Dissecting geopolitics in Arctic resource exploitation.
  • Understanding post-conflict reconciliation processes.
  • Evaluating state responses to refugee crises.
  • Study of civil disobedience in democratic societies.
  • Role of soft power in international relations.
  • Disentangling politics of global water disputes.

Political Science Research Topics by Subjects

Political science is a diverse field, consisting of multiple subdomains. To help you spot a fitting theme, we've organized research paper topics for political science according to these subjects. From international relations to public policy, this assortment promises a treasure trove of research opportunities just waiting to be explored.

Philosophy Political Science Research Topics

Philosophy politics research topics explore the intersection of political science and philosophical thought. These themes focus on fundamental questions, such as the purpose of politics and its effects on society. Here are a few ideas to get your started:

  • Relevance of Machiavelli's theories today.
  • Understanding justice in Plato's Republic.
  • Influence of Kantian ethics on governance.
  • Are human rights universal or culturally relative?
  • Interplay of liberty and equality in societies.
  • Exploring Hobbes' notion of social contract.
  • Rawls versus Nozick: theories of justice compared.
  • Feminist perspectives on political participation.
  • Role of ethics in bureaucratic institutions.
  • Marx's theory of capitalism: A critical review.
  • Foucault's perspectives on power and control.
  • Locke's influence on modern democracies.
  • Concepts of civil disobedience in Thoreau's writings.
  • Arendt on violence, power, and authority.
  • Exploring Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony.
  • Derrida's deconstruction: A political tool?
  • Nietzsche’s perspectives on societal structure.
  • Understanding politics through Spinoza's lens.
  • Evaluating communitarianism in contemporary societies.
  • Habermas on communicative action in politics.

>> View more: Philosophy Paper Topics

Political Science Research Topics on Public Law

Public law is one of the most popular subdomains of political science, as it focuses on legal systems and state power. It's a domain that lets you explore how laws are formulated, implemented, and impact society. Below you can find various political research questions in public law, including constitutional issues, administrative governance, and individual rights, among others.

  • Role of constitution in shaping governance.
  • Impact of judicial activism on democracy.
  • Analyzing separation of powers in governments.
  • Free speech rights in digital platforms.
  • Repercussions of surveillance laws on privacy.
  • Comparative study of electoral laws.
  • Analyzing federalism in constitutional law.
  • Police power and civil liberties.
  • Effectiveness of anti-discrimination laws.
  • Administrative discretion: Power and accountability.
  • Impact of immigration laws on societies.
  • Understanding lawmaking process in parliamentary systems.
  • Role of supreme courts in constitutional interpretation.
  • Law enforcement and minority rights.
  • Legal aspects of environmental protection.
  • Hate speech laws and freedom of expression.
  • Public health laws in times of crisis.
  • Legal mechanisms to fight corruption.
  • Analyzing gun control laws across nations.
  • Legal challenges in the implementation of welfare policies.

>> Learn more:  Law Research Topics

Research Topics in Political Science on Public Administration

Public administration is the study of how governments and other public institutions are managed. It examines their structures, operations, policies, and politics to understand how they work in practice. Here's a collection of project topics for political science on public administration worth attention:

  • Understanding bureaucracy in modern governance.
  • Role of public administrators in policy implementation.
  • Effect of administrative reforms on public services.
  • Importance of ethics in public administration.
  • Evaluating public financial management systems.
  • Role of e-governance in public service delivery.
  • Analyzing gender representation in public administration.
  • Public administration in urban planning.
  • Role of public-private partnerships in governance.
  • Crisis management strategies in public administration.
  • Leadership challenges in public organizations.
  • Role of transparency in public service delivery.
  • Organizational culture in public administration.
  • Analyzing the politics-administration dichotomy.
  • Decision-making processes in public organizations.
  • Evaluating accountability mechanisms in public administration.
  • Human resource challenges in public services.
  • Impact of corruption on public administration.
  • Role of citizens' participation in public administration.
  • Comparative study of public administration models.

Political Science Research Paper Topics on Comparative Politics

Comparative politics research topics offer a window into how different political systems operate, what works, and what needs reevaluation. It encourages you to step outside the boundaries of your local context and grasp a more global perspective on political processes. The following political essay topics and paper ideas will fit any compare and contrast essay or project.

  • Social welfare measures across democracies.
  • Examining stability in different governmental systems.
  • Comparative analysis of electoral mechanisms.
  • Impact of societal culture on governance.
  • Federalism versus unitary systems: A comparative study.
  • Scrutinizing corruption in diverse economies.
  • A cross-nation study of education systems.
  • Protection of minority rights across countries.
  • Comparing freedom of the press globally.
  • Role of armed forces in various governmental structures.
  • Analyzing constitutional designs across nations.
  • A study on decentralization efforts in different countries.
  • Comparative research on party systems.
  • Gender and leadership: A cross-country examination.
  • Populism in different societal contexts.
  • Comparative view of environmental conservation measures.
  • Human rights protections in different nations.
  • Influence of colonial history on modern governance.
  • Cross-national study of immigration rules.
  • Role of religion in different governance systems.

Political Science Research Topics on Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an essential field in political science, focusing on the methods and strategies used to mitigate disputes on local, national, and international levels. It opens up opportunities to explore how peace is achieved, maintained, and sometimes lost. Below you can find political issues to write about if you want to focus on different disputes.

  • Peacebuilding strategies in post-war societies.
  • Role of diplomacy in averting conflicts.
  • Effectiveness of international arbitration.
  • Power sharing as a tool for peace.
  • Influence of civil society on conflict resolution.
  • Role of United Nations in global peacekeeping.
  • Mediation strategies in intra-state conflicts.
  • Women in peace negotiations.
  • Strategies for resolving territorial disputes.
  • Analyzing post-conflict reconciliation processes.
  • Impact of economic sanctions on conflict resolution.
  • Role of international law in conflict mitigation.
  • Effectiveness of non-violent resistance.
  • Analyzing the success of peace treaties.
  • Study of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes.
  • Resolving resource-based conflicts.
  • Role of third parties in conflict resolution.
  • Approaches to addressing ethnic conflicts.
  • Influence of climate change on conflict resolution.
  • Cyber conflict resolution strategies.

Political Science Research Topics on Meditation and Negotiation

Mediation and negotiation sit at the heart of conflict resolution, focusing on peaceful strategies to address disputes and foster cooperation. These techniques find wide application in various contexts, from local disagreements to international conflicts. These interesting research topics in political science allow you to understand how these processes work in theory and practice:

  • Role of intermediaries in peace processes.
  • Strategies for successful diplomatic discussions.
  • Comparative analysis of negotiation techniques.
  • Dialogue styles in international diplomacy.
  • Analyzing the success of secret diplomatic talks.
  • Role of non-state actors in negotiation.
  • Gender dynamics in discussion processes.
  • Influence of cultural factors on dispute resolution.
  • Role of international organizations in diplomatic dialogues.
  • Arbitration in maritime territorial disputes.
  • Use of discussions in trade agreements.
  • Role of trust in successful dialogues.
  • Addressing power asymmetry in discussions.
  • Track II diplomacy in mediation.
  • Impact of communication technology on dispute settlement.
  • Role of empathy in successful negotiation.
  • Influence of domestic politics on international mediation..
  • Conflict resolution strategies in labor disputes.
  • Role of transparency in negotiations.
  • Evolution of dispute resolution techniques over time.

>> View more: Communication Research Topics

International Relations Political Research Topics

International relations explores connections among nations, the roles of sovereign states, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and multinational corporations. This field offers a multitude of engaging research topics ranging from issues of diplomacy, international conflict, global cooperation, to international trade. Here are some political science research ideas that focus on international relations:

  • Role of multinational corporations in global governance.
  • Cross-border environmental cooperation.
  • Effectiveness of international law enforcement.
  • Influence of globalism on sovereignty.
  • Impact of digital diplomacy in foreign relations.
  • Evolution of global power structures.
  • Influence of cultural diplomacy in global partnerships.
  • Strategies for global poverty reduction.
  • Understanding geopolitics in Arctic exploration.
  • Challenges to global health collaboration.
  • Role of non-state actors in global governance.
  • Interplay of economics and international relations.
  • Humanitarian interventions: A critical analysis.
  • Cross-border migration and its global implications.
  • International responses to global pandemics.
  • Role of international courts in justice delivery.
  • Diplomacy in the age of information technology.
  • Analyzing global disarmament efforts.
  • Global efforts in counter-terrorism.
  • Evolution of international trade agreements.

American Politics Research Paper Topics

American politics is a wide-ranging field, including issues from the local, state, to national levels. It incorporates diverse aspects like public opinion, public policy, ideological shifts, and more. The United States' unique political system offers abundant potential for research. Here are American politics research topics for your next project:

  • Evolution of American federalism.
  • Impact of Supreme Court decisions on society.
  • Understanding American political polarization.
  • Role of third parties in U.S. elections.
  • Influence of social movements on legislation.
  • Examining executive orders' effectiveness.
  • Shifts in public opinion on climate change.
  • Impact of lobbying on American health care reform.
  • Influence of Presidential debates on voters.
  • Effects of gerrymandering on electoral outcomes.
  • Analyzing campaign finance reform in U.S.
  • Role of think tanks in shaping U.S. policy.
  • Implications of immigration reform on U.S. economy.
  • Gun control debate and policy outcomes.
  • Social justice and law enforcement reform.
  • Influence of race and ethnicity on voting patterns.
  • Role of the media in shaping public opinion.
  • Analyzing the U.S. response to global pandemics.
  • Examination of U.S. trade policies.
  • Impact of technology on U.S. governance.

Government Research Paper Topics

Government is a broad field that includes many different subdomains and politics topics to discuss. It revolves around the structures, processes, and functions of governing bodies, allowing you to explore the inner workings of various political systems. Here are some useful ideas on government:

  • Evaluating the meritocracy in civil services.
  • Digitization of public services: Impact and challenges.
  • Understanding state surveillance: Balancing security and privacy.
  • Impact of decentralization on local development.
  • Government's role in disaster management.
  • Analyzing the government's role in fostering innovation.
  • Study on government initiatives for financial inclusion.
  • Role of government in mitigating income inequality.
  • Government strategies in promoting renewable energy.
  • Analysis of government responses to recessions.
  • Public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.
  • Government regulation of the gig economy.
  • Role of government in promoting cultural heritage.
  • Public sector reforms for better governance.
  • Government interventions in housing markets.
  • Assessing government transparency initiatives.
  • Government's role in universal health care provision.
  • The impact of political term limits on governance.
  • Government initiatives in curbing the opioid crisis.
  • The role of governments in combating online misinformation.

Political Science Research Questions

Research questions provide a clear direction to your studies, defining what you want to achieve. Here are some unique research questions for political science that span a wide array of sub-areas:

  • How does social media shape public opinion on climate change policy?
  • How can local governments boost civic engagement?
  • How does income inequality impact political participation?
  • How do trade policies affect domestic industries?
  • How do immigration laws influence national identity?
  • How does political advertising affect voter turnout?
  • How does corruption impact public trust in government?
  • How does gender representation in government influence policy decisions?
  • What role does education play in political awareness?
  • How does political satire influence public perception of politicians?
  • How have government responses to pandemics evolved over time?
  • How does foreign aid impact the donor-recipient relationship?
  • How can governments leverage technology to improve public services?
  • How does cybersecurity impact national defense strategies?
  • How do international treaties impact national sovereignty?
  • How do political ideologies shape foreign policy?
  • How can governments promote sustainable urban development?
  • What is the role of youth in shaping future politics?
  • How does political stability affect economic growth?
  • How does political rhetoric shape public perception of immigration?

Extra Political Science Topics for Research Papers

Although the topics for political science research papers given above should help you kickstart your project, here are a few extra ideas to make sure you write an excellent project:

  • Green parties' influence on environmental sustainability.
  • Significance of political graffiti in social movements.
  • Virtual reality's potential in public engagement.
  • Role of cognitive psychology in voter behavior.
  • Understanding biopolitics: control and manipulation.
  • Space law's implications for international cooperation.
  • Implications of Internet of Things (IoT) for national security.
  • Analysis of language used in peace treaties.
  • Incorporating indigenous governance in modern state systems.
  • Decoding humor in political satire.
  • Political underpinnings in fantasy literature.
  • Political landscapes in virtual communities.
  • The politics of cryptocurrency regulation.
  • Using machine learning to predict election outcomes.
  • Role of street art in political protests.
  • Exploring the politics of veganism.
  • Political dimensions of genetic engineering ethics.
  • Pop culture's influence on political consciousness.
  • Influence of climate fiction ("cli-fi") on environmental policy.
  • Geopolitical consequences of the commercialization of space.

Bottom Line on Political Science Topics

We did our best to provide you with an assortment of good topics for political science research paper in every subdomain. Whether you're interested in philosophy, public law, international affairs, or something else entirely – this collection should have it all. We hope that at least one of these themes motivates you to do your best work yet! Remember that you can buy coursework or any other academic paper from certified writers with solid experience.

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Making it personal: Considering an issue's relevance to your own life could help reduce political polarization

by Rebecca Dyer and Keelah Williams, The Conversation

thinking

Political polarization can be reduced when people are told to think about the personal relevance of issues they might not care about at first glance.

We, a social psychologist and an evolutionary psychologist , decided to investigate this issue with two of our undergraduate students , and recently published our results in the journal PLOS One .

Previous research has found that conservatives tend to judge "disrespecting an elder" to be more morally objectionable behavior than liberals do. But when we had liberals think about how "disrespecting an elder" could be personally relevant to them—for example, someone being mean to their own grandmother— their immorality assessments increased , becoming no different than conservatives'.

When people consider how an issue relates to them personally, an otherwise neutral event seems more threatening . This, in turn, increases someone's perception of how morally objectionable that behavior is.

The pattern was different with conservative participants, however. When conservatives considered the personal relevance of what is typically considered a more "liberal" issue—a company lying about how much it is contributing to pollution—their judgments of how immoral that issue is did not significantly change.

Contrary to what we expected, both conservatives and liberals cared relatively equally about this threat even without thinking about its personal relevance. While some people did focus on the environmental aspect of the threat, as we intended, others focused more on the deception involved, which is less politically polarized.

All participants, no matter their politics, consistently rated more personally relevant threats as more immoral. The closer any threat feels, the bigger—and more wrong—someone considers it to be.

Why it matters

In the United States today, it can feel like conservatives and liberals are living in different realities . Our research speaks to a possible pathway for narrowing this gap.

People often think of moral beliefs as relatively fixed and stable: Moral values feel ingrained in who you are. Yet our study suggests that moral beliefs may be more flexible than once thought, at least under certain circumstances.

To the extent that people can appreciate how important issues—like climate change —could affect them personally, that may lead to greater agreement from people across the political spectrum.

From a broader perspective, personal relevance is just one dimension of something called " psychological distance ." People may perceive objects or events as close to or far away from their lives in a variety of ways: for example, whether an event occurred recently or a long time ago, and whether it is real or hypothetical.

Our research suggests that psychological distance could be an important variable to consider in all kinds of decision-making, including financial decisions, deciding where to go to college or what job to take. Thinking more abstractly or concretely about what is at stake might lead people to different conclusions and improve the quality of their decisions.

What still isn't known

Several important questions remain. One relates to the differing pattern that we observed with conservative participants, whose assessments of a stereotypically "liberal" threat did not change much when they considered its relevance to their own lives. Would a different threat—maybe gun violence or mounting student loan debt—lead to a different pattern? Alternatively, perhaps conservatives tend to be more rigid in their beliefs than liberals, as some studies have suggested .

In addition, how might these findings contribute to actual problem-solving? Is increasing the personal relevance of otherwise-neutral threats the best way to help people see eye to eye?

Another possibility might be to push things in the opposite direction. Making potential threats seem less personally relevant, not more, might be an effective way to bring people together to work toward a realistic solution.

Journal information: PLoS ONE

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Aksoy, Enamorado, and Yang accepted in International Organization

Deniz Aksoy, Ted Enamorado, and Tony Yang's co-authored paper “Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Chinese Public Support for War” has been accepted in International Organization. 

Abstract: This study examines how the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent Western responses influence Chinese public opinion toward the use of force. Using two original, pre-registered online survey experiments, first in June 2022 and then in June 2023, we show that the Russian invasion is associated with a modest but statistically significant increase in Chinese support for using military force in international affairs in general and against Taiwan in particular. However, information about Western military measures aiding Ukraine curbs the modest impact of the invasion. Such information is especially effective in diminishing support for an outright military invasion of Taiwan. Causal mediation analyses reveal that the Russian invasion influences public opinion by inducing optimistic expectations of military success and pessimistic expectations of peaceful conflict resolution. These findings underline the possibility that foreign military aggression and subsequent international countermeasures can be determinants of domestic public opinion toward using military force.

Deniz Aksoy is an Associate Professor of Political Science; Ted Enamorado is an Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Tony Yang is a rising PhD graduate who will begin as Assistant Professor at Emory University this fall. 

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The American Political Science Association's Impact on Presidential Rankings

Examining the influence of apsa on political science research and rankings..

description: an auditorium filled with diverse scholars and researchers engaged in lively discussions about political science research and presidential rankings. the atmosphere is vibrant and dynamic, with attendees sharing insights and exchanging ideas on a variety of topics related to political phenomena.

The American Political Science Association is pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG) Awardees for the upcoming year. This grant aims to support doctoral students in their research endeavors, providing them with the necessary resources to further their academic pursuits. The association recognizes the importance of fostering young talent in the field of political science and is committed to investing in the next generation of scholars.

Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project survey have arrived this President's Day. According to a survey completed by experts, political scientists, and historians, President Donald Trump has been ranked as the worst president in American history. This controversial ranking has sparked debates and discussions within the political science community, highlighting the significance of evaluating presidential legacies and leadership.

Dr. Rebecca Glazier, a professor in the School of Public Affairs at UA Little Rock, has been recognized for the impact of her faith-based research on political participation. Her work sheds light on the intersection of religion and politics, offering valuable insights into the behavior of religious voters and their influence on electoral outcomes. Dr. Glazier's contributions exemplify the diverse and multifaceted nature of political science research.

A survey of historians timed to Presidents Day weekend found Donald Trump to be the worst president to have served the United States, while President Joe Biden was ranked 14th. These rankings underscore the complexities of evaluating presidential performance and the varying perspectives within the academic community. The American Political Science Association plays a crucial role in facilitating such discussions and promoting rigorous analysis of political phenomena.

PRESS RELEASE. De Gruyter and American Political Science Association (APSA) Announce Partnership Agreement on New Political Science publications. This collaboration aims to expand the dissemination of cutting-edge research in political science, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and advancing the field's knowledge base. The association's commitment to promoting academic excellence is reflected in its partnerships with leading publishers and institutions.

In a recent survey conducted by a panel of experts specializing in the American presidency, President Biden was ranked the 14th-best president in U.S. history. This ranking showcases the diverse perspectives within the political science community and the ongoing debates surrounding presidential evaluations. The American Political Science Association serves as a platform for scholars to engage in meaningful discussions and exchange ideas on pressing political issues.

Today, on President's Day, Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin Vaughn discuss their new survey of experts on presidential greatness. This survey sheds light on the intricate process of ranking presidents and the factors that shape historians' evaluations. Through rigorous analysis and scholarly debate, the American Political Science Association contributes to a deeper understanding of presidential leadership and its impact on American society.

Political scientists rank Trump the worst president in American history, while Biden claims 14th place. These rankings highlight the divergent views within the academic community and the challenges of assessing presidential performance objectively. The American Political Science Association plays a vital role in fostering scholarly debates and promoting critical inquiry into political phenomena.

A hotel-workers strike has prompted some scholars to call on the American Political Science Association to change or cancel its annual conference. This call to action reflects the association's commitment to social justice and ethical engagement with political issues. The APSA's response to such calls will influence its reputation and standing within the academic community, showcasing its dedication to promoting inclusive and responsible practices.

May Interest You

Research Paper The purpose of the project is to provide students an...

Research Paper

The purpose of the project is to provide students an opportunity to discuss a key political science concept and to show a basic understanding of academic research and reporting skills. The project consists of producing an essay of  at least 1750 words  on one of the provided topics (see below), as well as a works cited page with  at least five  sources containing information used in the essay (note: there must be a parenthetical citation at the end of each sentence that contains information from a source). The assignment is to be formatted according to the Modern Language Association (MLA) style. Students should research this style in order to properly format the assignment (see the  Purdue Online Writing Lab ).

It is important to think critically about your chosen topic and clearly express your thoughts about it in writing. Where appropriate, make sure to include specific evidence and/or examples (along with appropriate citations).  When writing your analysis, consider the eight standards for critical thinking (Paul and Elder, 2013): clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness.  Ask yourself questions, such as

  • How can I validate the accuracy of my statement?
  • How is this information relevant?
  • How does my conclusion address the complexities of the issue?
  • What is another interpretation or viewpoint of the issue?
  • Does my conclusion follow from the data and/or statements I have provided?

Students should use 12 point as the paper's font size, double space the text, and create one inch margins on all four sides of the page. In addition, the writing assignment does not need to have a separate title page.

All writing assignment submissions will be processed through the SafeAssign program. Do not cut and paste from online sources or use information word for word from the textbook. The assignment needs to be your own work and if it is not, the submission will receive a failing grade or a zero. Students may not submit a writing assignment for this class that has been previously submitted for another course.

  • The U.S. Constitution creates a federal system of government whereby powers are distributed between a national government and fifty state governments. There are times when the federal government and state governments clash over state laws that may violate federal law or federal mandates. What methods does the federal government use to get states to comply with federal mandates? What are the ways that states can resist federal mandates? Find an example of a policy conflict (such as marijuana legalization, the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, civil rights, immigration, same-sex marriage, etc.) between a state (or states) and the federal government. What were the arguments made by the federal government and states about the issue?  How were their differences resolved (if it is an issue that hasn't been resolved, what steps have been taken by each side to advance their position)?  
  • The number of people represented by each member of the U.S. House of Representatives has more than tripled since the size of the House grew to 435 members in the early 20th Century. Should the number of congressional representatives be increased in the House right now? Would representation be improved if more representatives were added?  Is there a limit to the size the House can reach before it cannot operate effectively and efficiently as a legislative body?  
  • Two of the last three presidents have been elected to office without winning the popular vote. There have been subsequent discussions about eliminating the Electoral College. What is the Electoral College and why was it originally created? What are the arguments for keeping the Electoral College? What are the arguments for using the popular vote instead of the Electoral College to elect presidents? Does it impact a president's legitimacy when they are not elected by a majority of the population?   
  • The founders wanted the courts to be protected from politics. In what ways was the judiciary designed to limit the role of politics? Are the courts completely immune from politics? What role does politics play in Supreme Court confirmation proceedings? Should there be term limits for federal judges, including Supreme Court justices?  Why or why not?     
  • Legislation has been introduced in recent years to enact lobbying bans of varying lengths on former members of Congress. What are the current lobbying restrictions on former members of Congress? What are the arguments for and against preventing former members of the House and Senate from lobbying Congress? Should former members of the House and Senate be banned permanently from lobbying Congress? If not, should there be a short-term ban or no ban at all?  (Note:  Including at least one specific proposal (bill) in your discussion will help strengthen your essay.)  
  • Find three polls on the same issue (for example, the death penalty, marijuana legalization, same-sex marriage, or any other policy topic) from three different time periods (such as the 1990s, the 2000s and the 2010s). Compare the polls by type (internet, phone), sample size, and the wording of question. Have the attitudes reflected in the polls changed or stayed relatively the same? If the polls show that attitudes have changed, what are some of the reasons for that change?   
  • The United States ranks around 26th in voter turnout when compared to other developed democracies.  What are some of the causes of low voter turnout in the United States?  Do you think it is important to have high voter turnout? Discuss at least two ways to increase voter turnout. You should discuss  specific  proposals that are either being used in some states (or other countries) or have been proposed by outside election observers seeking to increase turnout in the United States. Would these proposals actually increase turnout around the U.S. or would people resist the proposals you have discussed?  Why or why not?  
  • There are some groups that remain restricted from voting in some or all parts of the U.S. (for example, legal aliens and people under 18). One group that has been in the news lately is ex-felons. Voting restrictions on ex-felons vary from state to state. What are some of the different voting restrictions placed on ex-felons by states? In the past few years, there has been a push in some states to restore voting rights to ex-felons. What are the arguments for and against restoring voting rights to ex-felons?  Discuss the various methods being used to restore voting rights (for example, executive action by the governor, referendum passed by the public, actions in state legislatures, etc.) and include specific examples from two different states. Do you agree with restoring voting rights to ex-felons?  Why or why not?

Submission Instructions :

Complete your assignment using word-processing software such as MS Word, Open Office (download free software at http://www.openoffice.org/), or other per course requirements. Save your file as an .rtf file or a Word docx file to ensure that it can be opened at any computer. Submit your assignment by selecting the title link in Blackboard , browsing to, and attaching your saved file. Make sure to select SUBMIT.

write me an essay in one of this 

Answer & Explanation

Title: The Electoral College: A Contested Legacy and the Future of American Democracy

Introduction

Begin your essay by introducing the topic, elucidating on the core issue at hand - the Electoral College and its controversial role in modern US presidential elections. Highlight the instances where presidents were elected without winning the popular vote, providing a brief overview of the Electoral College system.

For example:

"The United States Electoral College is a mechanism established by the Constitution for the indirect election of both the president and vice president of the country. This system, a product of a compromise between the election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote, has played a critical role in several elections throughout American history."

BodyOrigin and Purpose of the Electoral College

Explore the historical context and rationale behind the creation of the Electoral College. Discuss how it was meant to balance the influence of populous versus less populous states, and to serve as a buffer between the populace and direct election of the President.

For example: 

"The Electoral College was created for a number of interconnected reasons. The framers of the Constitution aimed to construct a system that balanced the electoral influence of states, regardless of size, and mitigated the risks of direct democracy perceived at the time (Madison, Federalist No. 68)."

Arguments to Keep the Electoral College

Illustrate the main arguments posited by proponents of the Electoral College. These might include federalism, stability in election outcomes, and protection against populous states dominating federal elections.

"Proponents argue that the Electoral College system preserves the federalist structure of the United States, ensuring that all parts of the country are involved in selecting the President (Ross, 2020). Additionally, it is believed to contribute to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system."

Arguments for The Popular Vote

Outline the arguments made by those advocating for the direct election of the President via the popular vote. Key points could include enhanced democratic legitimacy, simplicity and fairness, and encouragement of wider voter participation.

"Advocates for the abolition of the Electoral College argue that a direct popular vote would be simpler, more democratic, and fairer, ensuring that every vote is equal and directly contributes to the election outcome (Peirce, 2023). They also argue it would eliminate the possibility of a candidate losing the popular vote but winning the presidency."

Impact on Presidential Legitimacy

Discuss whether and how the legitimacy of a president is affected when they do not win the popular majority. Dive into public perception, the debates on democratic principles, and potential impacts on governance and policy implementation.

"The election of a president who loses the popular vote but wins in the Electoral College raises questions about democratic legitimacy and governance. Such scenarios can lead to public dissatisfaction and questioning of the electoral system itself (Dionne et al., 2019)."

Conclude by summarizing the key arguments for and against the Electoral College, reflecting on the potential impacts of keeping or abolishing this system on American democracy. Offer insights into the ongoing debate and its implications for future presidential elections.

"The debate over the Electoral College versus the popular vote encapsulates core tensions in American democracy between federalist principles and democratic ideals. As the nation moves forward, this debate will likely continue, reflecting broader discussions about the nature and future of the American electoral process."

Works Cited

  • Madison, James. "Federalist No. 68." The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, 2020.
  • Ross, Tara. "Why We Need the Electoral College." Regnery Publishing, 2020.
  • Peirce, Neal R. "The People's President: The Electoral College in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative." Yale University Press, 2023.
  • Dionne, E.J., Jr., Ornstein, Norman J., and Mann, Thomas E. "One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported." St. Martin's Press, 2019.

Key references:

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  25. Making it personal: Considering an issue's relevance to your own life

    Political science; February 24, 2024 ... Our research suggests that psychological distance could be an important variable to consider in all kinds of decision-making, including financial decisions ...

  26. Aksoy, Enamorado, and Yang accepted in International Organization

    Deniz Aksoy, Ted Enamorado, and Tony Yang's co-authored paper "Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Chinese Public Support for War" has been accepted in International Organization. Abstract: This study examines how the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent Western responses influence Chinese public opinion toward the use of force.

  27. The American Political Science Association's Impact on Presidential

    Glazier's contributions exemplify the diverse and multifaceted nature of political science research. A survey of historians timed to Presidents Day weekend found Donald Trump to be the worst president to have served the United States, while President Joe Biden was ranked 14th. These rankings underscore the complexities of evaluating ...

  28. [Solved] Research Paper The purpose of the project is to provide

    Research Paper. The purpose of the project is to provide students an opportunity to discuss a key political science concept and to show a basic understanding of academic research and reporting skills.

  29. News & Events 2/20/2024

    Dr. Tyson D. King-Meadows is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). He holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his research primarily focuses on African American political behavior and attitudes, race and representation, Congress, and ...