The Political Science major is designed to help students attain a deeper understanding of politics in its various dimensions. The department encourages students to study politics at local, state, national, and international levels and to become theoretically sophisticated in their analyses.

Students can focus on American politics, law and politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, but we encourage all students to engage with several of these subfields as they explore various issues areas such as power, democracy, inequality, and conflict. In addition to taking courses, students can pursue independent research under the guidance of individual faculty members.

Studying in Baltimore provides an opportunity to understand today’s political and public policy challenges, and the university’s proximity to Washington, D.C., offers a wide variety of internship possibilities for interested students. Several courses in comparative and international politics are given at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. Exchange programs with universities in Europe and China are in place or under development.

Pizza & Politics

The Pizza & Politics talk series brings undergraduates into conversation with policy-makers and practitioners in the DC region. The series for Fall 2024 has included Christine Emba from The Atlantic, CBS contributor Kim Wehle (University of Maryland Law School), and Marshall Kosloff from the Hudson Institute.

The Julius Turner Award

The Julius Turner Award is bestowed each year for the best student thesis in Political Science. Past winners have produced theses of exceptional quality, originality, and creativity.  Turner was a graduate student at Hopkins and the author of Party and Constituency in Congress (1952), which is regarded as a pathbreaking work. The Turner Award provides a cash award of $250.