American Politics: The American politics subfield at UCSB examines political behavior and public opinion, and the relationships between political institutions and policy.

 

Comparative Politics:  The comparative politics subfield has wide ranging interests that encompass democratization, political institutions, parties, identity, social mobilization, and political communication.

 

International Relations:  The international relations subfield examines political processes and outcomes at the international level, including conflict, international organizations, civil-military interactions, and international finance.

 

Political Theory: The theory subfield engages normative questions about politics.  It includes faculty and graduate students from several departments, and it has particular interests in contemporary political theory, political concepts, democratic theory, and ethics & international relations.

 

Political Communication: Faculty and students interested in political communication examine media and political behavior, with particular expertise in technology and “new” media, and their influence on collective action, civic engagement, and political campaigns.

 

Politics of Identity:  Faculty and students interested in identity examine it as both cause and effect, studying the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other politically relevant factors shape political behavior and attitudes.  We also explore the ways in which identities are constituted, and what this means for politics.

 

Politics of Public Policy:   Faculty and students focusing on the politics of public policy study environment, agriculture, macro-economic and monetary policy, and education.  Environmental politics is a special focus, especially on issues of human-environment interactions in climate change and energy.

 

Methods: All doctoral students in the program (except political theorists) are required to complete a non-exam field in methods consisting of a sequence of three courses.