Political Science

Chair: Andrew Martin Department Secretary: Janet Rensing

Home Page: http://polisci.wustl.edu/ Email: polisci@artsci.wustl.edu Telephone: (314) 935-5810

Although relatively small in size, the Department of Political Science in Arts & Sciences is consistently ranked among the nation's top graduate programs. Faculty offer strength in all areas of American politics, with special emphasis on mass behavior (voting, public opinion), judicial politics, interest groups, and public policy. The department offers first-rate training in formal theory and has a national reputation for excellence in this area. It also offers considerable expertise in the areas of international relations and comparative politics. Department faculty are involved in a variety of campus, cross-disciplinary initiatives, including the Center for Political Economy, the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy and the American Culture Studies program.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Chinese earthquake Earthquake may rattle China's hydropower plans, raising spectre of more coal-fired pollution, tighter energy markets May 15, 2008 -- The massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province last week may have dealt a huge blow to China's plans for a vast network of hydro-electric power dams, and the aftershock could mean more reliance on coal, more pollution and more competition for scarce global energy resources, suggests the author of a new book on the politics of China's epic dam-building campaign.

Quincy Jones among recipients Washington University to award six honorary degrees at 147th Commencement May 1, 2008 -- Six distinguished individuals, including a pioneer of women in medicine and a multimedia entrepreneur, will receive honorary degrees May 16 during Washington University's 147th Commencement ceremony. The university also will bestow academic degrees on more than 2,500 students during the ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in Brookings Quadrangle.

Obituary Merle Kling, Ph.D., 89; former provost, vice chancellor, dean and professor April 9, 2008 -- Merle Kling, Ph.D., former provost, executive vice chancellor, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis, died April 8 of esophageal cancer in St. Louis. He was 89.

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Faculty Experts:

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James Davis Professor Emeritus of Political Science in Arts & Sciences Davis Download Davis, an expert on defense and public policy, health care policy, presidential campaigns and party platforms, is a close follower of current issues in politics. Davis has taught courses focusing on the presidency, military history and political literacy and is a frequent commentator on news events, ... Expertise: presidency, campaigns, budget battles, American politics, military history, politics of war on terrorism, U.S. intelligence operations, … Direct contact: (314) 935-5828 / davis@artsci.wustl.edu

Victor Le Vine Professor Emeritus of Political Science Le Vine Download Victor Le Vine is an expert on hostages, terrorism, guerrilla warfare and political problems of the Middle East and Northern Africa. Other areas of interest include international law and politics and ethnic politics. He has followed the situation in Iraq closely since well before the Gulf War and can ... Expertise: politics, terrorism, guerrilla warfare, Middle East, Iraq, Africa, Liberia, … Direct contact: (314) 935-5867 / vlevine@artsci.wustl.edu

William Lowry Professor of Political Science William Lowry Download William Lowry studies American politics, public policy and political institutions with a special emphasis on natural resources, public lands and related environmental policiy issues. In recent years, Congressional Quarterly has called upon Lowry to write an updated chapter for the annual CQ Press ... Expertise: American politics, environment, national park system, environmental policy, natural resources, public policy, American rivers, … Direct contact: (314) 935-5821 / lowry@artsci.wustl.edu

Steven Smith Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences, Director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy Steven Smith Download Steven S. Smith is director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University. He has authored or coauthored six books on congressional politics and recently a book on the formation of the Russian State Duma. He is working on books on party leadership in ... Expertise: Congress, American politics, legislative institutions Direct contact: (314) 935-5697 / smith@wc.wustl.edu

Andrew Sobel Associate Professor of Political Science and Resident Fellow in the Center in Political Economy Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo Sobel Download Sobel specializes in the politics of international finance with a focus upon domestic explanations of international behavior. His books include Domestic Choices, International Markets (1994), which examines the politics underpinning the liberalization and globalization of national securities markets ... Expertise: international relations, international political economy, globalization, foreign investment Direct contact: (314) 935-5856 / sobel@artsci.wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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Show More Clips

Which Democrat Has Bigger Coattails? CBS News.com and 1 others March 11, 2008 -- Democrats now hold slim majorities in the House and Senate, and the party is expected to make gains in both chambers in November. Clinton's presence on the ticket could make it harder for Democrats in tight races, some suggest. But Steven Smith, political science professor at WUSTL, questions the notion that Obama would necessarily give Democrats a bigger boost than Clinton would.

LUNCHTIME LIVE! Today: Q & A with political analyst Steve Smith KARE 11 News (MN) Feb. 5, 2008 -- Steve Smith answers questions on the Minnesota caucuses for KARE 11, LUNCHTIME LIVE!. Smith is the director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

A faith-based stop for the president Chicago Tribune and 1 others Jan. 11, 2008 -- WUSTL American culture studies Professor Wayne Fields comments on President Bush's recent Mideast trip. "President Bush believes in a religion of dramatic revelations — his conversion and 9/11 being the most notable — in which a person's life is transformed or the world is changed," said WUSTL American culture studies professor Wayne Fields. "These moments ... are the sources of the important 'truths' which inform his understanding of life and shape his behavior as well as his rhetoric."

Huckabee oratory deemed 'low-key,' Obama's classic The Boston Globe Jan. 7, 2008 -- WUSTL political rhetoric specialist Wayne Fields is one of the experts commenting on victory speeches following the Iowa presidential caucuses.

Pundit Says Iowa's Power to Pick the President May Be Over All Headline News online Jan. 7, 2008 -- This year's Iowa caucus may be the last time the largely rural, sparsely populated and predominately white conservative Midwestern state exerts a huge influence on the U.S. presidential nomination process, a political expert predicted. WUSTL political science professor Steven Smith comments.

Courses in Comparative Politics include the study of various political phenomena from a comparative perspective (revolution and political violence, political elites, political modernization and development, comparative public policy), and the study of government and politics in particular geographical areas (Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe).

Courses in International Politics include the study of international development, international political economy, national security and defense policy, nuclear weapons and arms control, terrorism and guerrilla warfare in international perspective, international organizations, bargaining and negotiation.

Political and Social Theory involves the study of various political, empirical, and conceptual aspects of the ways in which we seek to understand the political world. It includes courses in the history of political thought, modern ideologies, and contemporary political philosophy, political psychology, and political sociology.

Finally, the Department offers a number of courses in Formal and Mathematical Approaches to the study of politics. There is also among the faculty a variety of intellectual styles and approaches to the discipline and a considerable willingness to adapt the curriculum to meet the developing interests of students, either with new courses or through independent study.