Department of Government

Georgetown's Department of Government is one of the leading programs in political science in the United States. Our faculty has expertise in all major regions of the world including the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Antarctic. We also have a wide range of functional expertise and offer training in international relations (security studies, international political economy, U.S. foreign policy, and international law, institutions, and ethics), comparative politics (comparative methodology, development theory, democratic transitions, state building, and the political economy of development), political theory (classical and medieval philosophy, early modern political thought, continental political thought, federalism and early American political thought), and American government (the presidency, Congress, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, political parties, women and politics, and public opinion and political behavior).
 

The Department of Government is a community of theoretically-sophisticated and policy-engaged scholars and students. We have a teaching mission, a research mission, and a service mission. In teaching, the Department seeks to provide its students with the theoretical and practical knowledge at the heart of the discipline of political science and to develop skills that will be important within and beyond the discipline. These skills include critical thinking, writing, and communicating abilities that will enable our students to be productive citizens and leaders in their chosen fields.

The Department’s research mission is to produce scholarship that meets the highest disciplinary standards for excellence and contributing to contemporary political debates. We emphasize hiring and retaining faculty members who will contribute to these efforts and expend considerable energy creating an intellectually open and challenging environment.

Building on the Jesuit ideal of service and leveraging our position as the best university in Washington, D.C., our faculty members and students participate in political debates, advise practitioners, and disseminate knowledge to scholars, practitioners, and the public at-large.

Department of Government quicklinks:

• Undergraduate Program Handbook
• Graduate Program Handbook
• Faculty Resources