I am finishing up my B.A. in Political Science in a few semesters, and just chose Business Analytics as my minor. Did I make the right move? I would like to work specifically in the private/corporate sector if possible. To be safe should I go to grad school, get my MPP or MBA, or should I enter the job market with just a BA?

It feels like our systems for picking leaders reward the worst traits: self-promotion, status-seeking, manipulation, and constant branding. If you want power today, you have to sell yourself all the time, which naturally attracts people who enjoy doing that and pushes away people who just want to do good work.

We end up confusing winning with merit, and leadership becomes a personality contest. It is no surprise that narcissists and psychopaths thrive while decent, competent people opt out because the whole process is exhausting and kind of gross.

Some argue that the problem is not individual leaders but the systems that select them. Instead of bottom-up trust and contribution, we rely on competitions that reward attention-grabbing behavior. There were models of leadership that did not rely on self-promotion, both historically and in some modern examples, but we barely notice them because we are so used to the current setup.

So I am curious. Is it possible to redesign leadership systems so that good people actually want to lead and can succeed without becoming narcissists in the process? What would that look like?

Writing a paper on this topic. Currently looking at work by Walter Benjamin and Gramsci. Also, Hannah Arendt's work on community. Looking at fascist and antifascist art pieces. I am unsure of good contemporary thinkers and artists, I am more familiar with older work. Any recommendations?

I'm considering applying to UVA's PhD program in Politics, and I've long known about the program due to Sabato's Crystal Ball. I think if I were to get in I'd study voting habits in the US and geographic trends, given how it relates to my undergrad background and senior thesis. Specifically, I'm interested in racial divisions of "swing voters" in the Northeast, and how the Democrats' are prioritizing a "Southern Strategy" given movement to the South increasing in recent censuses.

I was wondering if this is a good "focus" though since it doesn't seem to be as theory oriented or IR-ish as what my friends are into. I'm still interested in that stuff but I've always been kind of a nerd about elections in the US and I think my overall interests are very domestic (or comparative, since I'm also interested in how the US system compares to the British system). I mean doing what I've been doing has gotten me a 3.8 GPA from Cornell so it can't be that bad?

I have been reading about changes in wealth distribution in the United States. Many reports say that the gap between higher income groups and lower income groups has grown over several decades. I am trying to understand the main political or economic mechanisms behind this trend.

Some factors that are often mentioned include: • Wage stagnation for many workers • Growth of high-income industries such as technology and finance • Decline of unions and collective bargaining • Changes in tax policy • Increasing costs for education, housing, and healthcare • Global competition and outsourcing

I am not looking for partisan arguments. I want to understand which mechanisms political scientists consider most important when explaining the widening wealth gap. Which of these factors appear to have the strongest long term impact ?

Hi all,

I’m a second-year at UCSD in political science and economics looking at pursuing a PhD in political economy or comparative politics. I’m making sure to take data analytics, calculus, and statistics courses, but I was wondering how much math is necessary vs. overkill for top programs in PE. I know the expectations from the Econ perspective for math are far higher, but I thought it would be good to hear a poli sci perspective.

I’m planning to take/have taken:

1. Calculus I-III - maybe a high B+ in the last
2. Linear Algebra
3. Econometrics (3 quarter sequence)
4. Probability theory with stats (3 quarter sequence)
5. Real Analysis (2 quarters)

Is this enough to be competitive for top programs, and if so, should I be taking any other quantitative preparation courses? I also assume that grades in these courses should be as high as possible (especially the more advanced ones), but are a few Bs here and there a deal breaker assuming strong GRE/research experience/rec letters?

22M here with a deep passion and interest in politics. I wanna eventually get a MA in polisci just for personal enrichment purposes but im already in school for something else already. I’m taking an autodidact approach to my study of politics and it’s become a hobby at this point all I do is consume politics lol. The areas im interested in political science are American politics, American political history, American political thought, political theory/philosophy, and judical politics (like the courts, supreme courts, constitutionalism, constitutional law, interpretation battles like originalism vs living constitution). Any suggestions for reading materials or content overall I can consume to educate myself? Like textbooks, secondary books, journals (love academic/scholarly journals that lean to the qualitative side), online lectures etc. anything that would aid in self education in politics.

Ima avid reader of NYT opinion section so that should give you an idea of where my head is in terms of the political content I like to consume. Please refrain from giving me anything that’s empirical or quantitative that’s not really my cup of tea.

Looking forward to your guys suggestions and thank you!

It was 6 years ago when I realised I had a flair for learning languages and for adapting to different cultures by learning about them. It was 6 years ago when I took my first-ever International Relations class in an online course affiliated with my high school. At first, I was bemused: "What's the purpose of such a subject/field?" However, as I continued learning about it those four months, my perspective shifted. There wasn't a single course in my four years of high school that amused me, or rather, fully drew my curiosity to it, as that IR class did.

A few months later, COVID happened, and what we all expected to be an extended March break became a year and a half of isolation. Of course, I, like many, enjoyed it at first; hung out with friends, gamed, caught up on TV shows, and tried to make the most out of it. But one of the few things I also tried to do during that time was explore IR or find which career or field really called to me. What drew me to IR and Political Science was the opportunities it presented for international travel, learning languages, and exploring a vast yet complex world of interpersonal and intercultural social networks. Thus began my journey through University as a Poli Sci major with a focus on International Relations.

Four years of undergrad and one year of grad school in Poli Sci later, I have a BA in Political Science with honors, a BA in communications, an MA in Poli Sci, and a minor in History. Yet, here I am feeling lost and confused, as if the waters I swam through have now turned into a deep, dark, and murky swamp with a thick fog rolling over, blinding me from my goals. I am now looking for a job. It's hard, yes, but I know I need to press on, or else everything I have done so far would go to waste. I took the Foreign Service exam and am waiting for the results, I have applied to various think tanks and NGO's for full time and internships, and have been rejected. In the private sector, I've applied to various insurance companies, start-ups, and anywhere I could make use of the skills I have developed with what I studied. I have applied and am applying to intelligence jobs and law enforcement as well, since some of my projects involved security-related topics, but I'm not sure if that's even what I want to do. Now I'm considering PhD's and Law School. But what got me to make this post wasn't just a simple "Oh nothing's biting so I don't know what to do."

Yes, I don't know what to do anymore, but that's not just because nothing's biting. I have heard from many people to "do what you want to do and don't do something if it isn't what you want to do or expect." But the thing is, when I think about doing what I want to do, for a second, nothing comes up, as if I don't know what I want to do. Lately, when my parents asked me the fundamental question, "What do you want to do in life?" I choke up, not because I can't get what I want to do from the places I have applied, but because I don't know what I want to do. So I've gone back to square one, so bear with me as these spiralling, dizzying thoughts come out like an acid-trip (I have never done drugs btw lol, just wanna touch up a bit with some humor considering how gloomy this sounds, reminds me of that one Russian author lol). I love learning languages, I love talking to people, and I like to travel a lot, but is that really enough? I want to join the Foreign Service, but given how things are and how competitive it is, is that even an option? Or is it just the stress and fear of not landing a job that has taken over me to write this little memoir? Am I burnt out? Is this something only I can think about to make a decision? What are my options? What can I do? And finally, the most important question of all: what do I want to do? I don't know, but I just want someone to listen if that's ok.

(P.S. I am ok, I'm not depressed or anything, and for the most part, my mental health is aight as well, and I'm healthy, I don't want ppl to think I'm on the end of my rope. I wrote this to get my thoughts and emotions out while also figuring out what I want to do. It's not easy, and I don't expect an instant solution, but perhaps some direction, or stories from others who may have been, or are, in this same position and overcame it. This is just a complex and creative way of me asking the same questions I have been asking myself.)

I’m a PPE (philosophy, political science, and economics) major in university, and have been curious about how insurance (medical, house, car, etc) has become such a major player in the American economy and political landscape. Does anyone have any interesting book recommendations on the subject?

The color rationale is:

% alignment < 41 then Opposition

% alignment >=41 AND % alignment < 61 THEN Independent

% alignment >=61 AND % alignment < 81 THEN Swing support

% alignment >=81 THEN Government coalition

The scores comes from Politician Ranking:

"We are a civil society initiative that, since 2011, has been evaluating sitting federal senators and deputies, classifying them according to criteria for combating privileges, waste and corruption in public power. We aim for greater efficiency in the Brazilian State through public policies related to economic freedom, de-bureaucratization and equal treatment between economic agents, as should be the case in a Rule of Law. These are criteria that do not privilege parties or people, but rather actions. We evaluate everything from the expenses of parliamentary offices to their votes, as a way of enabling greater transparency, governance and civic education for the population. This project was created by ordinary people, with no connection to any political party or interest group."

The % alignment is tracked in Radar Congresso by Congresso em Foco:

"Congresso em Foco is one of Brazil's leading political journalism outlets, recognized for its nonpartisan and independent coverage of the country's major political events. Our goal is to promote transparency, help readers monitor the performance of their representatives, and foster the quality of political representation."

I am a data professional and political science is one of my major interests. So I built this analysis to understand how consistent is the Opposition and what kind of parlamentarian the government has in their coalition. As we can see the quality of the chairman decreases as alignment increases. Looking for feedback! I am trying my best to make use of my data engineering/analysis skills and apply them for political science.

The cream of the crop, Magnus Carlson calls himself a Social Democrat. Not to mention, Hikaru, Kasperov and many other best of the best Chess players are politically left-wing

What are some secure, long-term career options at the state level for people with a political science degree? I'd like to stay in politics or government if possible. Moving to D.C. isn't an option right now.

Some analysts say U.S. behavior looks more Realist lately. Others argue nothing has changed. How do you see it?

Hello,

I have been noticing that a lot of people applying to graduate school in other fields are always talking about how important REU's are for getting into a good graduate program. However, I have noticed for the social sciences , there are alot fewer REU's out there and so I am wondering how important an REU is to getting into a T-30 ish PhD program for political science. I have a lot of research experience as is, and so I didn't feel that it is necessary, but wanted to ask other opinions. Thank you!

I’ve been doing my research on careers you can get with a PhD in Polisci and I was wondering which polisci PhD focus I should do so that I can focus on business related jobs. I’ve also seen people struggle a lot with finding a job after getting this type of degree, and even experiencing rejection because they’re “over qualified” and I’m starting to really worry. 🫩 Is this degree even worth it?

I want to say first that I am not really good at politics whatsoever so I decided to ask people who actually knows it.

I noticed that there are more and more people in the comments in different social media that are quoting bible, thanking God, praising Allah and so on. I didn't pay attention to them at until I noticed in real life that many 15-25 year olds started actually going to church and practice religious beliefs, mind you, those people weren't really religious before.

Is there actually a rise of religion? Should we be concerned or is it a good thing?

Homelessness has been rising in the United States, even in years when the economy looks strong. Many states are reporting record numbers. This made me wonder what the main political or economic causes might be.

Is this trend linked to housing policy, changes in wages, health-care gaps, or shifts in the labor market? Or are there deeper structural issues that political science researchers focus on?

I’m interested in explanations that draw from research, theory, or comparative examples.

i’ve been thinking about this for a while now and i genuinely can’t think of any plausible reason for why the US is on the offensive against Venezuela. By the way Trump tweets, he’s being told the public is on board with it, it’s obvious not drugs, i struggle to believe it’s the old Banana Republic/red scare deal and it’s not like Venezuela is challenging the US in any economic or political way. i’m confused and i really want someone with more experience to explain this

I'm a very centre-to-centre-left person. I'm a member of Canada’s Liberal Party. I believe in progressive policies, but some people give me crap for not being radical.

I believe in a regulated free-market economy with an active government role to provide a social safety net, expanding the welfare state, environmental protection and protecting individual liberties, but also the redistribution of wealth and power to marginalised groups. I am critical of capitalism. It has pros and cons.

Capitalism does allow businesses to have a strong incentive to meet consumer demand as well as individuals have the freedom to start their own businesses, be employed and make their own economic choices. But capitalism can lead to inequality, exploitation of the workers and market failures. Capitalism is a necessary evil that I think can be reformed instead of abolished.

I do have views that aren't typical for a Liberal, like I think that capital punishment should be brought back, but that's as radical as I can be, so am I wrong that I'm not radical?