Celebrating the journey with our December A&S grads
December graduates walk the stage this month, so we sat down for a talk with three A&S grads who’ve taken different pathways through Cornell.
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As a government major, you’ll learn how to think and write rigorously and creatively about issues of public life. You’ll have the choice of courses in four subfields: American politics (the political behavior, policies and institutions of the U.S.), comparative politics (the institutions and political processes of other nations), political theory and philosophy (normative theories of politics and history of political thought) and international relations (transactions between states, international organizations and transnational actors).
Academic Resources
Undergraduate Program
Course offerings reflect the breadth of faculty expertise in this exciting and growing discipline, and the study of Government at Cornell trains students with skills that are in high demand in public service, business, law, the non-profit sector, and many other professions. Our introductory courses in American politics, comparative politics, political theory, and international relations introduce students to the major tools and approaches to the study of politics. From there, students apply these tools to understand the many facets of public life, from contemporary political thought to campaigns and elections, public policy, conflict and peace, and beyond. The Department of Government not only offers a major program, but also an honors program and two minors.
Graduate Program
The graduate program in Government at Cornell prepares students for academic and research careers in political science. All students admitted to the program are expected to earn a doctoral degree. Completion of the Ph.D. program normally requires two-to-three years of full-time course work at Cornell and several additional years of dissertation research and writing.
Government News
Domestic politics driving Thailand-Cambodia border tensions says Cornell Southeast Asia expert
Thailand and Cambodia have long had fraught relations, professor Tom Pepinsky says after Thailand’s military launched air strikes along the Thailand-Cambodia border.
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Workshop, talk focused on applying lessons learned from COVID
Scholars converged at Cornell to talk about lessons policymakers and elected officials could glean from their research into the COVID pandemic to help deal with the next public health emergency.
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Cornell-China trip celebrates 20 years of Levinson Program
Leaders celebrated the Levinson Program and joined other Cornell delegates at the Cornell-China Forum.
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Cornell Center for Social Sciences awards fall grants targeting $50M in external research support
The Cornell Center for Social Sciences offers multiple grants to help Cornell faculty maximize their research impact. These awards help seed ambitious projects and provide support to teams of faculty applying to major external funding and collaboration opportunities.
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Chile latest test case in South America’s far right shift
“Chile's vibrant democracy faces a new challenge in a highly polarized second-round presidential election" Dec. 14, says Ken Roberts, professor of government.
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Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Jacqueline Allen ’23
"I got a taste of what neuroscience research is really like."
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Relationship between China and Japan ‘on a knife’s edge,’ says Cornell expert
Japan’s refusal to retract remarks about military intervention if China moved to seize Taiwan has left relations between the two countries the worst they've been in a decade, says Allen Carlson, associate professor of government.
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