Quicklinks

Faculty by Subfield

In addition to the four main fields, the department has significant strength in a number of subfields:


Area Studies

Name
Phone
Email
(206)-543-2398
(206)-543-4949
Gill, Anthony
(Latin America)
(206)-543-4718
Goldberg, Ellis
(Middle East)
(206)-543-7197
Hanson, Stephen E.
(Russia & Eastern Europe)
(206)-543-9460
Hellmann, Donald
(East Asia)
(206) 543-4904
(206)-543-9163


Methodology

The department offers a strong core of courses in political methodology, which in combination with courses taken through the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS) constitute the field of political methodology. Along the way, students may also receive a certificate from the CSSS. Departmental courses focus on the basics of modern research methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches. These feed into more advanced courses taken in conjunction with CSSS which may focus on hierarchical models, social network  analysis, causal inference, and Bayesian approaches to statistical inference, among others.



Political Communication


Political Economy

The University of Washington boasts internationally renowned faculty in the field of political economy, particularly in the areas of rational choice institutionalism, network theory, and transitional economies. The focus is on political economy as a substantive area (the influence of political institutions on economic outcomes, and vice-versa) as well as a method of inquiry (the use of economic models to study political institutions and political behavior). The faculty rely on a range of approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, to study governmental and non-governmental actors and institutions in domestic, comparative, and international settings. Collaborative research with graduate students is encouraged.


Public Law

Graduate study in the public law field addresses a host of issues related to the politics of legal institutions, actors, practices, and norms.  The public law field at UW is broader in character than public law subfields in most U.S. Political Science departments.  Distinctive features of study include:
•    Emphasis on the interaction of courts and adjudicatory processes with other legal domains, including the politics of legislation, economic and social regulatory practice, health and welfare administration, policing and criminal justice, and ordinary civil disputing. 
•    Attention to legal phenomena at multiple levels of political interaction, including subnational (local business, workplace, neighborhood, religious, familial) and transnational levels as well as national arenas.
•    Emphasis on comparative cross-national study.  We offer strengths in comparative socio-legal theory as well as area specialization in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America as well as North America.
•    Close working relationships with faculty in other fields, including the American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory fields as well as in the subfields of Public Policy, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Studies, Political Economy, and various geographic area specializations.
•    Sophisticated socio-legal study regarding the “politics of rights,” including human rights around the world, with an emphasis on analyzing relationships “from the bottom up.”
•    Option for the interdisciplinary CLASS Graduate Certificate, which expands the classes, faculty, graduate students, and funding available for student development.
    See http://depts.washington.edu/class/graduate.html#fellows
•    A very impressive record of placing Ph.D. students in diverse types of faculty positions at top institutions across the US and around the world.

 

Core Faculty

  
Name
Phone
Email
(206)-543-4949
(206)-543-8144
(206)-543-4717
(206)-543-2377
(206)-543-9228
(206)-543-9163

 

Adjunct Faculty

  
Name
Phone
Email
Barzilai, Gad (206)-685-0668 gbarzil@u.washington.edu
Migdal, Joel (206)-543-6406 migdal@u.washington.edu



Public Policy

Public Policy faculty study public policy processes with attention to various influences upon the formulation and implementation of policy at the national, subnational, and cross-national comparative contexts. They have focused on questions that bear upon issue emergence and policy agendas, the construction of policy problems, policy enactment, and policy implementation. Faculty associated with this subfield have undertaken innovative research concerning institutional influences on policy, policy coherence, policy disruptions, policy learning, the political environment for policy formation, and policy implementation. Substantive concerns include communication policy, criminal
justice policy, environmental policy, health policy, labor policy, urban
policy, veterans policy, race policy, and regulatory policy.




Race, Ethinicity, and Politics

The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics subfield at the University of Washington offers training in a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to address of range of substantive issues. Anchored in American politics and political theory, the field features faculty who study black, Latino, and Asian-American politics, and who examine questions at the intersection of race and political behavior, race and political socialization, race and institutions, and race and political theory. A variety of methods are used to shed light on these questions, including survey research, in-depth interviews, historical analysis, and textual interpretation. Please click here for information on Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Sexuality.


 
Department of Political Science
101 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
Seattle, WA 98195-3530
Phone: (206) 543-2780
Fax: (206) 685-2146

All content copyright 2007. Political Science Department, University of Washington. All rights reserved.