The Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis strives to be one of the best in the world. We are widely recognized for our strengths in theory, methods, and the rigorous combination of the two. The members of our faculty are leading scholars in their fields. The Ph.D. students we train go on to be some of the most productive in the discipline. The undergraduate student body at WashU is among the tops in the country, and our majors have their choice of careers, graduate programs, and professional schools.
Ph.D. Candidate Joshua D. Potter has been selected one of the winners of the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for 2011-2012. This award recognizes superb performance by a graduate teaching assistant in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Professor Brian F. Crisp has been selected for a 2012 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award by the WU Graduate Student Senate. This award, which will be presented April 11th, is given to honor faculty who ...Read More
Professor Clarissa Rile Hayward’s research is in the field of contemporary political theory. It focuses on questions that are central to understanding and to evaluating political life, such as “What is social power, and how does it shape human freedom?” “ What does democratic government entail, and what are its practical and institutional implications?” and “How do social actors create and maintain political identities, and how can we do so in ways that are more democratic?” Unlike political theorists who attempt to answer questions such as these by relying exclusively on what Rawls calls “ideal theory,” Hayward approaches these problems ...Read More