Political Science

Political Science at Brown University

The Political Science department enjoys a reputation for intellectual pluralism, creativity and research productivity.

Political Science is one of the largest and most dynamic concentrations at Brown. Undergraduates gain skill in critical thinking, empirical analysis, and normative inquiry, preparing them for leadership careers in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. Our doctoral program features close interaction with professors and offers state-of-the art training in American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory.

The department is enriched by its close ties to key research centers, institutes, and programs at Brown, including the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Modern Culture and Media, Cogut Institute for the Humanities, and Urban Studies.

The department graduates approximately 75 undergraduate concentrators annually, making it one of the larger social science concentrations at Brown.
Brown's community of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and faculty members in political science is a close and collegial one.
Brown's Political Science faculty are deeply committed to excellence in both undergraduate teaching and graduate training.

Recent News

International Studies Association

Mark Blyth EARNS IPE Distinguished Scholar Award from the ISA

The International Political Economy (IPE) Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes outstanding senior scholars whose influence and path-breaking intellectual work will continue to impact the international political economy field for years to come.
In the aftermath of the refugee crisis caused by conflicts in the Middle East and an increase in migration to Europe, European nations have witnessed a surge in discrimination targeted at immigrant minorities. To quell these conflicts, some governments have resorted to the adoption of coercive assimilation policies aimed at erasing differences between natives and immigrants. Are these policies the best method for reducing hostilities? Native Bias challenges the premise of such regulations by making the case for a civic integration model, based on shared social ideas defining the concept and practice of citizenship.

Drawing from original surveys, survey experiments, and novel field experiments, Donghyun Danny Choi, Mathias Poertner, and Nicholas Sambanis show that although prejudice against immigrants is often driven by differences in traits such as appearance and religious practice, the suppression of such differences does not constitute the only path to integration. Instead, the authors demonstrate that similarities in ideas and value systems can serve as the foundation for a common identity, based on a shared concept of citizenship, overcoming the perceived social distance between natives and immigrants.

Addressing one of the most pressing challenges of our time, Native Bias offers an original framework for understanding anti-immigrant discrimination and the processes through which it can be overcome.
Brown University’s Wendy Schiller and Coastal Carolina University’s Kaitlin Sidorsky call for more targeted laws and federal/state cooperation to address a widespread problem of gun-based domestic violence against women.

Contact Us

Political Science
Brown University

111 Thayer Street
Third Floor
Providence, RI 02912

Phone 401-863-2825
Fax 401-863-7018
brownupolisci@brown.edu

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