Washington University in Saint Louis

Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > University Groups > Arts & Sciences >

Political Science


URL: http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/46.html

Media Assistance:

Gerry Everding
Dir. of News and Electronic Communications
gerry_everding@wustl.edu

(314) 935-5230
Chair: Andrew Martin

Department Secretary: Janet Rensing (jlrensin@artsci.wustl.edu)

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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/101.html) , the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/121.html) and the American Culture Studies (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/11.html) program.


News Stories & Tip Sheets:

Showing Stories 1 through 3 of 48.  - Show More
Oil or spoil?

McCain, Obama similarities on oil, gas, energy only go so far, expert suggests (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/11944.html)

June 20, 2008 --
President Bush's call this week for Congress to end its decades-old ban on offshore oil and gas drilling has highlighted key differences in the big-oil platforms of presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees Barak Obama and John McCain, suggests William Lowry, an expert on the politics of environmental and energy issues at Washington University in St. Louis.


Chinese earthquake

Earthquake may rattle China's hydropower plans, raising spectre of more coal-fired pollution, tighter energy markets (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/11802.html)

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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11664.html)

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.



Showing Stories 1 through 3 of 48.  - Show More

Faculty Experts:

Showing Experts 1 through 5 of 12.  - Show More
James Davis

Professor Emeritus of Political Science in Arts & Sciences (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/447.html)

James Davis
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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/115.html)

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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/147.html)

William Lowry
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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/454.html)

Steven Smith
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 (http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/442.html)

Sobel
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



Showing Experts 1 through 5 of 12.  - Show More
Related News Clips:

Showing Clips 1 through 5 of 47.  - Show More
Show More Clips
Republicans tense as voter disillusionment sets in
USA Today

May 20, 2008 -- Iraq is one of several tides running against GOP candidates, driving away independent voters and some party faithful. Except for Missouri, independent voters in five Senate races polled by USA Today were swinging toward the Democrat. Party loyalty was stronger among Democrats than Republicans in every state but Ohio. Michael Minta, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, comments on how the stem cell research issue is dividing Republicans in Missouri.


China: Quake death toll could reach 50,000
Associated Press and 23 others

May 16, 2008 -- WUSTL political science professor Andrew Mertha, author of a book on Chinese dams, "China's Water Warriors: Citizen Action and Policy Change," comments on the aftermath of the Chinese earthquake.


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."


Additional Information: The field of American Politics includes the study of political behavior (electoral politics, public opinion, politics of interest groups), public policy analysis (economic policy, social welfare policy, urban public policy), and the study of governmental institutions (the Presidency, Congress, judicial process and public law, the politics of bureaucracies).

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.



Contact Information


Contact Information

Related Information


Related Links:
Dept. of Political Science (http://polisci.wustl.edu/)

Related Groups: