Your November 2024 Reads
This month’s featured titles include an homage to a beloved government professor, edited by three alumni
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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
A wide array of opportunities
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
Things to do: Much music, Supreme Court panel, advice for aspiring filmmakers 
Pick from several concerts, attend the Town-Gown Awards, consider the Supreme Court and get advice for a career in film at events around campus.
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Veterans Day celebrated through campus camaraderie
On Veterans Day, a series of speakers shared personal reflections about how camaraderie shapes both military and academic life as part of Cornell’s celebration of its military and veteran community.
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Microbe atlas could reveal how to mine critical metals sustainably
A Cornell-led team will use a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to develop a “microbe-mineral atlas,” a catalog of microorganisms and how they interact with minerals, key for mining critical metals used for generating sustainable energy.
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BTPI releases new report on AI regulation
The Brooks Tech Policy Institute, with support from the Jain Family Institute (JFI), has released a new report that offers “a high-level framework to analyze regulation of AI technologies.”
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Polarized Supreme Court explored in Nov. 20 panel
The panel, moderated by the Washington Post’s Supreme Court correspondent, Ann Marimow ‘97, the College's Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist, will include Peter John Loewen, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
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What the election of Donald Trump says about democracy globally
Trump’s actions and signaling illustrate that the U.S. is not immune to the same democratic backsliding now occurring in an unprecedented number of wealthy countries, says Rachel Riedl, professor of government and policy and director of the Center on Global Democracy.
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A new political landscape: Hispanic voters, Trump's transactional politics
With about 45% of Hispanics voting for Trump, we’re witnessing an important realignment of a group previously thought to be squarely within the coalition supporting Democratic candidates, says professor Gustavo Flores-Macías.
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