Political Science Ph.D. Program

The Political Science Department and Law School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invite students to enroll in a Dual-Degree Program whereby students can earn both a Ph.D. and a J.D. with a course of student and writing requiring approximately seven years to complete.

The Dual-Degree Program involves meeting the individual requirements for each of the two degrees, but also allows work taken in Political Science to count toward the J.D. program and the J.D. program to fulfill some requirements of the Ph.D. program.

For detailed information on the dual JD/PhD program, please see our most recent Graduate Guide.

Department of Political Science Ph.D. students are encouraged to participate in our weekly workshops and colloquia. The workshops and colloquia offered in the Department are the American Politics Workshop, Comparative Politics Colloquium, International Relations Colloquium, Political Economy Colloquium, MEAD – Models, Experiments, and Data Workshop, Political Theory Workshop, and the Diversity, Equity, Justice and Power (DEJP) Lecture Series.

Workshops are one of the most important intellectual spaces in the department, providing an opportunity to become exposed to cutting-edge research and a chance to meet with scholars from other universities. In addition to featuring faculty papers and outside speakers, the workshops are an integral part of graduate training, serving as a place for students to present papers, as well as dissertation prospectuses, grant proposals, dissertation chapters, and practice job talks.

The department also hosts the Political Science Graduate Workshop (PSGW), which focuses on personal and professional development for graduate students in the department. The PSGW’s mission is to “foster communication and information-sharing among the grad students and faculty members of the political science department and to promote professional development opportunities for the grad students.” The topics covered in PSGW range from topics in graduate life (health and balance, financial life) to discipline professional development (publishing, communications). This workshop convenes several times per semester each academic year.

The following are a few examples of recent presentations by speakers at our workshops:

• Justin Grimmer (Stanford University), “How to Measure the Burdens of Voting”
• Christina Wohlbrecht (Notre Dame), “Do Voting Rights Matter? State Legislative Consequences of Women’s Suffrage”
• Barry Burden and Matthew Kim (UW-Madison), “Primary Polarization Due to Differential Voter Criteria”
• Sven-Oliver Proksch (University of Cologne), “Rise of the Radical Right and Government Formation: A Survey Experiment of Voters’ Coalition Preferences”
• Nicholas Kuipers (Princeton University), “Frustrated Expectations, Time Horizons, and Trust in Elections”
• Amanda Lea Robinson (Ohio State University), “Gender, Deliberation, and Natural Resource Governance: Experimental Evidence from Malawi”
• Jonathan Renshon (UW-Madison), “Identity and the Social Construction of Reputation in World Politics”
• Richard Clark (Notre Dame), “Risk and Responsibility: Climate Vulnerability and IMF Conditionality”
• Don Casler (UIUC), “Lucid Leaders: Declining Powers and Threat Credibility”
• Matthew Blackwell (Harvard), “Assumption Smuggling in Intermediate Outcome Tests of Causal Mechanisms”
• Yiqing Xu (Stanford), “Factorial Difference-in-Differences”
• Arash Davari (University of Minnesota), “The Existence of Non-Existence: Insurgent Politics in Revolutionary Iran”
• Davide Panagia (UCLA), “Politics, Media, and Aesthetic Judgment: Nineteenth-Century Photography and the Invention of Automated Intellects”

We consider all applicants for funding, and you do not need to submit any additional materials to be considered for funding. We commit to providing five years of funding for every admitted student (contingent on satisfactory academic status and availability of funds). This support may come as a combination of fellowships, teaching assistantships (TA), project assistantships (PA), or lectureship (LSA) for one of our undergraduate courses. Our funding package includes a stipend, tuition, and excellent healthcare coverage.

Teaching assistant (TA) duties vary from course to course, but they generally involve attending lectures, leading discussion sections, meeting with students outside of class, and grading class assignments and examinations. Project assistant (PA) positions give you a chance to work closely with a faculty member on his or her research. Your duties would depend on the nature of the specific research project, but we try to match incoming students with faculty working in their areas of interest.

All appointments include two valuable benefits. First, you qualify for complete remission of the cost of tuition. Second, you receive a fringe benefit package that includes single or family health care coverage at little cost.

Students are also eligible for a number of internal awards in the Department and at the University. These include awards through the Department’s Summer Initiative, which supports research and training during the summer; the Graduate School, which supports research and conference travel; a number of area and thematic research centers on campus; the Election Research Center, which supports research on elections; and a variety of other sources.

Department of Political Science Ph.D. students are encouraged to participate in our weekly workshops and colloquia. The workshops and colloquia offered in the department are the American Politics Workshop, Comparative Politics Colloquium, International Relations Colloquium, Political Economy Colloquium, MEAD – Models and Data Workshop, and the Political Theory Workshop.

Workshops are one of the most important intellectual spaces in the Department, providing an opportunity to become exposed to cutting-edge research and a chance to meet with scholars from other universities. In addition to featuring faculty papers and outside speakers, the workshops are an integral part of graduate training, serving as a place for students to present papers, as well as dissertation prospectuses, grant proposals, dissertation chapters, and practice job talks.

The Department also hosts the Political Science Graduate Workshop (PSGW), which focuses on personal and professional development for graduate students in the Department. The PSGW’s mission is to “foster communication and information-sharing among the grad students and faculty members of the political science department and to promote professional development opportunities for the grad students.” The topics covered in PSGW range from topics in graduate life (health and balance, financial life) to discipline professional development (publishing, communications). This workshop convenes several times per semester each academic year.

The Department also actively supports our students throughout their job search. The Director of Graduate Studies and the major advisors review all job market materials such as CVs, writing samples, and diversity and teaching statements.  In addition, the department arranges special informational sessions, “mock” interviews, and practice job talks to prepare students for the kinds of questions they will face from potential employers. This support complements other departmental activities designed to professionalize graduate students, including brown bag discussions about attending professional conferences, publishing opportunities, and seeking grant funding.

As part of our commitment to your success as a scholar, the Department provides a number of complementary mentoring structures to support you in your first year and beyond.

Faculty advisors

All first year students are matched with a faculty member who serves as their first year advisor. This is your first point of contact for questions regarding courses, requirements, and anything else that comes up during your first year. Although your first year advisor is likely to be someone whose interests align with yours, you may switch your advisor at any time.

Peer mentorship program

During your first year you will also be matched with a more advanced graduate student who will serve as your peer mentor.

Semi-annual meeting requirement

What you need from an advisor will change at different stages of the program. To ensure that you are getting the advising you need, mentors and mentees are required to meet at least once each semester (virtually or in person).

Graduate Program Manager

The graduate program coordinator is your source for all administrative questions. If your question begins “How do I…?”, start with the Graduate Program Manager.

Director of Graduate Studies

The Director of Graduate Studies oversees the graduate program from admissions to placement.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for the department of political science at UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The Political Science Department fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background — people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. We commit ourselves to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment in our learning spaces and workspaces.

As part of that commitment, we encourage members of historically under-represented groups, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and first-generation college students to apply. Fellowships are available to assist historically under-represented applicants, as well as those from any background that might have made educational achievement more difficult. The Graduate School offers admissions fee grants for low-income students and those who participate in selected pipeline programs designed to prepare students for graduate studies (e.g., McNair Scholars and SROP participants). As part of its commitment to the diversity of the graduate program, the Political Science Department also provides admission fee grants for participants in APSA’s Ralph Bunche Summer Institute and Diversity Student Recruitment Program.

Our Department is an active member of APSA’s Diversity Student Recruitment Program. To enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of its graduate program (and of the discipline as a whole), the Department hosts an annual Diversity Recruitment Conference for undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds with the interest and ability to pursue graduate study in political science. Unfortunately, last year’s conference was cancelled due to the pandemic. We hope to resume our outreach and recruitment efforts as soon as we can.

We strive to create a climate where every student can feel supported and thrive regardless of their background. There are a number of initiatives on campus that help foster this environment at UW, including the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding and First Generation Student Success network. These programs are part of the way we show that we value diversity together with colleagues across the University.

Madison has an atmosphere unlike anywhere else! A blend of college town and capital city, Madison is consistently ranked one of the top places to live in the US.

The Capital

Madison is not only home to the University of Wisconsin, it is also the state capital. There are many active organizations involved in local government in and around the City of Madison. It’s easy to get involved, whether you’re interested in attending proceedings of the state legislature, county board, or city council – all of which are open to the public – or want to be active in your local neighborhood association.

Arts

The Overture Center is the crown jewel of the Madison arts community and easily accessible on State Street. A wide variety of events, ranging from concerts to Broadway shows, are presented by local arts groups and traveling performers. The Wisconsin Union Theater on campus is a multipurpose performing arts facility offering a varied, quality program of dance, music, theater, film, and cultural events. The city also boasts the Madison Museum of Modern Art and the Chazen Museum of Art, both of which are free to students.

Outdoor activities

In Madison, people appreciate the weather and take advantage of it. In general, Madisonians are very active, participating in winter sports like skiing, ice skating, and snowshoeing. Once the weather gets warmer, outdoor activities abound. From sailing on the lakes (or sitting lakeside at the Memorial Union Terrace), to biking through the Arboretum, to participating in the numerous local festivals each year, people are out enjoying the spring and summer. The Wisconsin Hoofers club is one of the oldest and largest outdoor recreational organizations in the country. Founded in 1931 as an outing club, Hoofers has grown from a single club to having over 3,000 members in its six separate clubs: Mountaineering, Outing, Riding, Sailing, Scuba, and Ski & Snowboard.

There are always fun things to do and events to attend on and around campus. A few great ideas:

• See the University’s collection of artwork at the Chazen Museum of Art.
• Tour our beautiful State Capitol.
• Discover the Arboretum, one of the campus’s most celebrated features. Take in the scenery on the rooftop of Monona Terrace.
• Visit beautiful Allen Centennial Gardens.
• Walk the Lakeshore Path to Picnic Point.
• Visit a state park. Wisconsin is a beautiful state and maintains a state park system with modern facilities for camping and hiking. There are four great parks within easy driving distance of Madison: Lake Kegonsa State Park, Devil’s Lake State Park, Governor Nelson State Park, and Blue Mounds State Park.
• Catch a (free) movie on campus. The university is also home to a number of groups that bring films to campus. Most active and diverse is the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Film Committee which presents four to five different series each week, from recent releases to international cinema.
• Catch a Madison Mallards game
• Attend the Taste of Madison, where local restaurants showcase tastes of their fare in this Labor Day weekend event on Capitol Square.

Adapted from Graduate Student Life: A guide to the graduate experience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You can check out more fun things to do in Madison here, and check out great examples of events around town here. 

Madison, Wisconsin Rankings & Accolades

 #3 Best State Capitals to Live In
wallethub.com February 2020

#3 Top 100 Best Places to Live
Livability.com February 2019

One of the Best Small Cities in America
National Geographic, January 2018

#1 Nicest Cities in America
Cheatsheet.com, June 2018

Biking and Walkability

#1 Surprisingly Bike-Friendly Cities
Liveability.com, August 2018

#2 Most Walkable Cities
Expedia.com, May 2018

Families

#1 Best Places in the U.S. for Raising Children
diversitydatakids.com, January 2020

Food & Drink

#2 Best Cities for Farmers’ Markets
Better Homes & Gardens, June 2019

#1/#2 Best Cheese Curds in Wisconsin
10best.com, June 2019

Each spring we welcome admitted students to Madison for our Prospective Student Visit Days. During these two days we will have a number of sessions to introduce students to our program in greater detail and opportunities to interact with our faculty and current graduate students. We also schedule one-on-one meetings between admitted students and faculty in their areas of interest. The visit is a terrific opportunity to talk with faculty, meet future classmates, and learn more about our program and Madison.