Areas
of Interest
American Politics
The American politics field involves study of the workings
of American political institutions and processes, using
a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.
At Northwestern, particular areas of strength arerational
choice modeling of political decision-making, political
communication, law and politics, individual behavior, social
movements and collective action. Faculty members approach
their work from a variety of theoretical points of view,
including political economy, democratic theory, political
psychology, and the role of law in structuring political
outcomes. Research methods include qualitative approaches
such as interviewing, participant observation, and archival
research as well as quantitative data collection and analysis,
experimentation, and formal modeling.
Comparative Politics and Comparative Political Economy
Comparative politics at Northwestern has a national reputation
for area expertise in Western Europe, the Pacific Basin,
and Latin America. We have a critical mass of scholars working
on these areas, enabling Northwestern to provide depth to
its area studies training. Another strength is its political
economy focus, as many of the faculty work at the interface
between politics and economics and between domestic politics
and international relations. The major research interests
of faculty in comparative political economy lie in three
areas: (1) development theory and policy; (2) labor unions,
business associations and policy formation in advanced industrial
societies; (3) welfare state and social democracy. Another
feature of comparative politics is its methodological diversity.
While some scholars work in the tradition of historical
method, others use formal methodology in their research.
This combination of commonality and diversity distinguishes
the comparative faculty at Northwestern, one of the finest
in the country.
International
Relations
The study of International Relations (IR) is typically divided
in international relations theory, international security,
international law and organization, and international political
economy. International relations theory focuses on the study
of the essential nature of the international system, the
type of units that populate that system, and the dynamics
that inform the interaction between the various components
of that system, and the possibility of moral or institutional
progress. International security analyzes the factors that
determine the causes of war and peace. International political
economy concentrates on foreign economic policy, globalization,
and the multilateral governance structures that determine
patterns of trade and monetary relations. The study of international
law and organization in various respects overlaps with the
study of security and economy. The World Trade organization
as well as regional organizations such as the European Union
and NAFTA have become important actors in the international
economy. The United Nations (UN) has increasingly become
the arena in which security issues are discussed.
Methodology
Methods at Northwestern comprises two related areas: statistical
methods and positive political theory. Students have the
opportunity to take classes in both but specialize in only
one. The statistical methods training runs from elementary
probability theory through regression analysis and more
advanced topics such as nonlinear estimation. Positive political
theory classes include game theory, social choice and voting
theory and the topics classes dealing with particular issues
(eg comparative institutional analysis, formal political
economy). In addition to courses offered and faculty within
the department, various members of the business school and
economics departments are working in the field and offer
additional teaching and research resources.
Political Theory
The Department of Political Science at Northwestern University offers a program of study in political theory leading to the Ph.D. Our program trains students in the history of political thought and in the main philosophical currents of contemporary political theory. We have six core faculty (Mary Dietz, James Farr, Bonnie Honig, Sara Monoson, Lars Tønder, and Linda Zerilli) with specialties in classical political thought, early modern and modern political thought, philosophy of social science, democratic theory, and contemporary and feminist theory. We encourage students to undertake interdisciplinary and internationally inflected research and maintain close ties with other subfields in Political Science and with programs and faculty outside the Department, including Philosophy (Penelope Deutscher, Charles Mills, Richard Kraut), German (Peter Fenves and Samuel Weber), the Program in Rhetoric and Public Culture (Keith Topper, Robert Hariman, and Dilip Gaonkar), the Northwestern Law School (Andrew Koppelman), Gender Studies, and the Program in Critical Theory. Additionally, our students regularly take classes with Ernesto Laclau, who is Distinguished Visiting Professor in Rhetoric and the Humanities.
Our program is home to the journal Political Theory (Mary Dietz, editor). In conjunction with the journal, we host colloquia that bring journal authors to Northwestern to discuss their recent work. We also have a regular political theory colloquium, which meets several times annually.
