Aerial photo of Memorial Mall
We value excellence in discovery and learning that addresses longstanding and fundamental questions in governance and politics, improves the world in tangible ways, and is relevant to different communities outside the university.

With the United States facing both unprecedented challenges and opportunities, there is no better time to study American politics. Scholars of American Politics focus on (1) political behavior among citizens and elites; (2) mediating institutions such as political parties, elections, interest groups, social movements, the media, and bureaucracy; and (3) political institutions such as the Congress, the presidency, and the courts. American Politics scholars are often interested in understanding American institutions and behavior within a cross-national context. The field equips students with the analytical skills necessary to do theoretical and empirical studies in all these areas.

In particular, American Politics faculty at Purdue are interested in the following:

  • The political behavior of citizens and political elites. Core areas include public opinion, political participation, political psychology, and legislative and judicial behavior.
  • The functioning of political and mediating institutions. Core areas include legislatures and representation, interest groups, electoral politics and democratic inclusion, and political communication.
  • The impact of new technology and AI on governance and representation.
  • Social inequality and group-based politics.
  • A range of theoretical and methodological approaches to studying American Politics including experimental methods, statistical methods, formal models, computational methods, case-studies, interviews, and mixed-methods designs.

The Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL) supports research on the social, ethical, and governance implications of artificial intelligence, producing rigorous and impactful policy-relevant work.

The Program on American Institutional Renewal (PAIR) brings together scholars, students, and practitioners interested in improving the workings of legislatures, courts, executive agencies, and other institutions. 

The Court of Claims Lab examines and collects data on a little-studied but crucially important federal court that is a frequent site of litigation against government policies. 

The Parties, Polarization, and Pluralism Lab is engaged in a multi-year data collection effort to analyze whether organized interests, political parties, and American democracies still operate as envisioned in James Madison's Federalist 10.

The Computational Social Science Lab examines mass and elite behavior with a particular focus on data from non-traditional sources, like audio and video data. Current projects include work utilizing the C-SPAN Archives, political advertisements, political advertisements, social media, and pedestrian interactions on traffic camera feeds. 

Research and Faculty

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts | Undergraduate
  • Master of Arts | Graduate
  • Doctor of Philosophy | Graduate

 

The field of Comparative Politics involves the study of politics across local, national, and cultural boundaries. Students are expected to become familiar with various ways in which scholars conceptualize and theorize to make sub-national and cross-national comparisons of phenomena such as political development, national integration, political institutions, electoral systems, elites and mass behavior, interest groups, political parties, and policy-making processes. Insightful questions lead us not only to amass illustrative case study data and aggregate comparative data, but they also guide us to understand the context and impact of political decisions. 

Specific areas of interest in the field include:

  • The comparison of political institutions and political economies across countries and across time.
  • Elections, voting, and election administration
  • Comparative political economy and development
  • Authoritarianism and democratic backsliding
  • Comparison of political behavior and ideologies across countries and across time
  • Impacts of artificial intelligence and new technology on governance, law, and politics
  • Mixed and multi-method approaches including statistical, experimental, computational methods, case-study, and comparative methods. 
The Law and Conflict Research Lab brings together scholars studying the implications of law for armed intra- and inter-state conflict, governance, foreign policy, and peace processes.

 Research and Faculty

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts | Undergraduate
  • Master of Arts | Graduate
  • Doctor of Philosophy | Graduate

 

Researchers in International Relations take a broad and interdisciplinary approach to exploring the relationships among sovereign state actors and consider the role of non-state actors (for example, guerrilla organizations, multinational corporations, and civil society organizations working at the global level). Scholars in this field address matters of national and international security and inform U.S. foreign policy.  They study impact of international law and organizations, the nature of bargaining among nations, the functioning of the international political economy, and the factors that underly human security and political violence. 

Research areas in this field include

  • Peace research, including coercive bargaining and war between and among nation-states
  • The conditions that threaten and advance the protection of human rights
  • International governance through formal and informal institutions
  • The operation of the international political economy 
  • The use of terrorism and counterterrorism as political strategies. 
  • Technology and governance
  • U.S. Foreign Policy

The Law and Conflict Research Lab brings together scholars studying the implications of law for armed intra- and inter-state conflict, governance, foreign policy, and peace processes.

The International Politics and Responsible Tech Lab (iPART) develops original research on the global politics of Big Tech as firms engage in unprecedented "algorithmic governance."

Research and Faculty

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts | Undergraduate
  • Human Right minor | Undergraduate
  • International Securities Certificate | Undergraduate
  • Master of Arts | Graduate
  • Doctor of Philosophy | Graduate

Researchers in Public Policy at Purdue bring rigorous grounding in the theory and methods of political science and public policy to collaborative interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary partnerships to address complex problems in society. Our emphasis is on innovative new approaches to understanding both emerging and long-standing problems. Our labs lead research in technology, politics, and policy. Our scholars partner with researchers across campus and in Centers and Institutes at Purdue's Discovery Park to address real-world challenges facing populations around the globe. We bring core expertise in political institutions, policy processes, political attitudes and behavior, policy analysis, complex modeling, causal inference, and program evaluation.     

Areas of research include: 

  • Technology and Governance
  • AI Policy and Ethics
  • Sustainability and Sustainable Development
  • Deliberation and Collective Decisionmaking
  • Theoretical Foundations of Ethics, Policy, and Governance
  • Resilience, Natural Disasters  
  • Education Policy
  • Policing and Security
  • Experimental Methods and Causal Inference
  • Complex Modeling for Policy

The field of Public Policy provides students with theoretical perspectives, methodological skills, and substantive knowledge for analyzing and evaluating (1) public policies; that is, collective responses to political issues or problems, (2) the processes by which public policies are produced and implemented, including problem recognition and agenda setting, and (3) the social, institutional, and conceptual frameworks that structure policy and policy change, including policy knowledge, norms and framing. 

The Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL) brings together faculty and students pursuing research and knowledge in the growing field of AI ethics and policy. 

The International Politics and Responsible Tech (iPART) Lab develops and houses projects related to the regulation of big tech worldwide, including assembling a Tech Transparency Database that collects public interest reports and disclosures of the 18 largest online platforms in the world.  

Faculty

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts | Undergraduate
  • Environmental Politics and Policy Minor | Undergraduate
  • Environmental and Sustainability Studies Certificate | Undergraduate
  • Public Policy Certificate | Undergraduate
  • Master of Arts | Graduate
  • Doctor of Philosophy | Graduate
  • Environmental Policy Certificate | Graduate
  • Social Policy Certificate | Graduate

 

Purdue Political Science scholars also contribute to the field of political methodology, the study existing tools and develop new tools for extracting meaning from empirical data. This field encompasses research designs and tools for quantitative and qualitative empirical analysis as well as formal theory and its implications for empirical tests. Recent work by department faculty in political methodology can be found in Political Analysis, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Political Science Research and Methods, Nature Human Behaviour, PLOS ONE, Public Opinion Quarterly, among others. 

Areas of strength include:

  • Survey research for mass and elite populations
  • Experimental Methods
  • Causal Inference
  • Qualitative content analysis
  • Computational and AI methods for social science
    • Audio and video analytics
    • Machine learning and NLP
    • Complex modeling
    • Remote sensing using satellite data 
  • Latent variables   
  • Utilizing experts for measuring concepts
  • Process tracing
  • Formal theory and bargaining model

Labs and programs: 

The Methodology Center at Purdue is a cross-college initiative that brings together scholars in the behavior, health, and social sciences to increase methodological expertise and collaborative opportunities. It offers a certificate program for graduate students. 

The Computational Social Science Lab examines mass and elite behavior with a particular focus on data from non-traditional sources, like audio and video data. Current projects include work utilizing the C-SPAN Archives, political advertisements, political advertisements, social media, and pedestrian interactions on traffic camera feeds. 

The JMK Social Science Lab is a collaborative lab in the College of Liberal Arts managed by Political Science and Sociology. It provides space and advanced facilities for conducting experiments and facilitating research space for our labs. 

Faculty

Professor Girard and undergraduate students
photo of study abroad students and Professor Tyler Girard (2025-26 Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award winner)

Knowledge Applied

Professor Tyler Girard created a Global Trade Governance study abroad program in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland, which provided a unique opportunity to deepen students' understanding of the evolution of global trade governance, and different perspectives managing both the benefits and challenges of trade. From a trade negotiation simulation with students at the University of Glasgow to a tour of Adam Smith’s house and original works in Edinburgh, this course combined active, hands-on learning with immersive, on-the-ground experiences.

 

Get to Know Our Faculty