Ph.D. Program and Designated Emphasis
The Politics Department offers a distinctive approach to studying politics and building bridges among politics and other disciplines and topics. Our department is the “Politics Department” for a reason:
- We study politics through historical, philosophical, cultural, conceptual, and other perspectives in addition to the scientific approaches customary in the U.S. discipline of political science.
- We emphasize the study of politics in context. We are skeptical of grand or formalistic theorizing that lies far removed from empirical realities or textual support.
- We put the substance of politics front and center. Methodological training, while important, is in the service of research, not an end in itself.
- We encourage interdisciplinary approaches to the study of politics. Our students often take seminars from and work with faculty in other departments and programs, including but not limited to those who are formally Affiliated Graduate Faculty. Graduate students also have the opportunity to develop research topics and work with advisors not only in the Social Sciences but also in Arts, Humanities, Physical and Biological Sciences, and even Engineering.
We have a strong record of placing Ph.D. graduates in jobs. The Politics Ph.D. Prospective Student Guide provides more information. Have questions about the program or requirements? Contact the program at pol-phd@ucsc.edu.
Ph.D in Politics
Program requirements
Learning outcomes
- Advanced general knowledge of scholarly political inquiry, the ability to contextualize individual pieces of research in terms of broader scholarly concerns and projects, and the ability to analyze different scholarly emphases in relation to each other and integrate them.
- Expert knowledge of scholarly literature particularly relevant to their research interests.
- The ability to produce quality scholarship. This means students can identify an interesting project, plan how to conduct it appropriately, carry out the research, and produce a final written account that effectively communicates its significance and scholarly contributions.
Curriculum
We believe that many of the best studies of politics today disregard the conventional boundaries of political science’s disciplinary subfields. Therefore, the core graduate curriculum and qualifying examination process are structured around four interrelated themes central to political inquiry: political and social thought, political institutions, political economy, and political and social forces.
We also recognize the importance of informed and critically engaged methodology, so we investigate approaches to the study of politics and social science enterprise using positivist, interpretive, historical, and critical approaches. Our students learn how authors in politics and related fields convince their readers of validity in their theories, how readers can distinguish between convincing and unconvincing research, and how to design their own research to be as convincing as possible.
Our curriculum ranges beyond the methods of conventional social science research too, drawing upon cultural studies, historical sociology, and history to inform the study of politics. Students learn to articulate important questions before developing the methods for grappling with them, while also recognizing the importance of appropriate methodological tools for meaningful political research.
1. Political and Social Thought
We bring together the history of political thought, contemporary social and critical theory, and the contributions of legal and institutional analysis of various kinds. This area of inquiry emphasizes the critical study of political practices that are experienced or understood as in some way limiting, oppressive, or wrong. The work of political and social theory, as we see it, transforms our understanding of these practices, shows their contingent conditions, and articulates the possibilities of governing ourselves differently.
2. Political Institutions
We emphasize the comparative and international study of political institutions as instruments of collective decision-making and action, focusing on the state and transnational, subnational, and regional political institutions. We study historical patterns of institutional development in relation to domestic political conflict, the changing contours of international political economy, and patterns of conflict and cooperation among states.
3. Political Economy
We focus on the relationship between states, markets, and societies, addressing the history of the liberal state in the context of the origins and development of markets and capitalism and the historical evolution of national and supranational economies. We consider the relationships among labor, capital, production, and consumption; political contexts for economic regulation and management; and the global and national problems of social welfare, resources, and the environment.
4. Political and Social Forces
We investigate the interaction of social forces and political ones, drawing upon the work of scholars focused on social mobilizations and histories. Accordingly, we focus on articulating and organizing political interests and identities. We study the mutual interaction of these interests and identities with structures (states, discourses, public policy, and the law), uniting substantive and theoretical concerns across regional, national, and global politics.
Designated emphasis
Graduate students from other departments may obtain a designated emphasis in Politics on their Ph.D. diploma, indicating that they have completed an additional specialized course of study with our department. Requirements are listed in the UCSC General Catalog, and more information about the process is available on our Graduate Advising page. Students within our Ph.D. program are also welcome to add a designated emphasis in a different field and should consult our graduate program coordinator for more information.
Learning to teach
Ph.D. students in the Politics Department work closely with faculty and undergraduates as teaching assistants. Throughout its history, our department has always been strongly committed to undergraduate teaching, and as part of that commitment, we focus on “the teaching of teaching” with our graduate students. Our training of college educators emphasizes the importance of civic education in undergraduate instruction.
Image: Graduate Computer/Study Lab
Politics faculty
Our faculty members are a mix of senior scholars, whose work has led the field toward interdisciplinary and engaged research, and junior scholars, whose work represents the diverse cutting-edge of U.S. and international political research. The small size of our Ph.D. program encourages close interaction among faculty and students. We encourage prospective students to learn about our faculty and their areas of research expertise before applying.
Image: Mark Massoud, Chair of Politics Department
Connections with our affiliated Legal Studies program
The Politics Department at UC Santa Cruz also administers an undergraduate Legal Studies Program. Students in the politics Ph.D. program have opportunities to connect with this program through specialized research and teaching.
Meet our students and alumni
Lucia Vitale: studying the social and political implications of AI in public health
As tools powered by artificial intelligence increasingly make their way into health care, Politics Department doctoral candidate Lucia Vitale has been conducting research that takes stock of the current landscape of promises and anxieties. She argues that AI ultimately engages in a “politics of avoidance” that diverts attention away from, or even worsens, more fundamental structural problems in global health.
Theresa Enright: Associate Professor at the University of Toronto
Alumna Theresa Enright (’12, Ph.D.) teaches in University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science, where she also serves as Graduate Director and Associate Graduate Chair. Enright’s research is situated at the intersection of critical theory and urban politics, focusing on transit-oriented development, mega-projects, urban democracy, and global suburbs. She is the author of The Making of Grand Paris Metropolitan Urbanism in the Twenty-First Century.
James Rowe: Associate Professor at the University of Victoria
Alumnus James Rowe (’09, Ph.D.) is an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Victoria in Canada. His research and teaching areas are political ecology, political theory, and social movement strategy. He co-authored the book Globalization, Governmentality, and Global Politics with UCSC Politics Professor Ronnie Lipschutz. Rowe’s work appears in many journals in the fields of political ecology and political theory.
Application requirements
Applicants to the Ph.D. program should have either completed an undergraduate politics major or demonstrated excellence in some related discipline (e.g. sociology, economics, history, anthropology, or philosophy). We’re looking for evidence of outstanding achievement in rigorous fields and the promise of originality of thought. Applicants are not required to take the GRE.
Applications will be reviewed only after all the application materials and the application fee are received. The Politics Department does not admit students seeking a Master’s Degree.