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The College of Arts & Sciences
The department of government offers students a variety of opportunities to engage with politics and political science, beginning in the classroom, with the chance to work one-on-one with faculty; by participating in internships, and by drawing on the department's ties with programs across the College of Arts and Sciences.
As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, courses across Cornell educate students about democracy. Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences programs teach civil discourse, data-driven policymaking, and First Amendment advocacy to prepare students to defend democracy.
The School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University, a six-week summer program that serves as a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry in the humanities and social sciences, celebrated its 50th anniversary with events June 16-17.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea soon after hosting American and Russian presidents, signaling push for global influence, says Cornell College of Arts & Sciences professor Allen Carlson, who ties the outreach to domestic economic strain in China.
“Polarization and Democracy in Latin America: Legacies of the Left Turn," co-authored by Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Kenneth Roberts, examines how inequality, elite strategy and democratic failures have fueled political polarization and challenged democracy across Latin America.
Cornell University launched the Cornell Center on Democracy to strengthen democratic institutions through research, education and public engagement. The initiative convenes scholars to address disinformation, polarization, governance and civic engagement challenges globally.
Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Isabel M. Perera won the Charles H. Levine Memorial Book Prize and the 2026 European Studies Book Award for “The Welfare Workforce.” Her book examines disparities in mental health care policy.
The Government Department at Cornell is committed to free speech and academic freedom, to creating and sustaining a community all of whose members can teach, study, work and thrive, whatever their backgrounds or beliefs, without fear of intolerance, bigotry, harassment, or reprisal. Cornell University is justifiably proud of having committed itself to an affirmative responsibility to protect academic free speech, including extramural speech. It has declared this to be a year of "freedom of expression" at Cornell. We reaffirm.
Our doctoral students are trained in all the main fields of the discipline and have extensive research and teaching experience. Government graduates have gone on to outstanding careers in higher education, public service, and the private sector.