four students posing with senior thesis sign

During the senior year, each student writes a thesis. The senior thesis is expected to make an original (or otherwise distinctive) contribution to broader knowledge in the field in which the student is working. It is important that the thesis be situated explicitly in relation to existing published literature. The senior thesis must be judged satisfactory by two members of the faculty, at least one of whom must be a member of the Department of Politics. 

It is common, but by no means required, for junior paper topics, especially in the spring term, to serve as starting points for a senior thesis topic. The Department encourages students to use the summer between junior and senior year for work on the senior thesis.

Your senior thesis may expand upon ideas that you explored in the JP. You may draw on and cite your own JP just like you would use other resources. In addition, you may re-use a limited portion of your JP in your senior thesis; for instance, the literature review could be re-used across the two. Whenever material from the JP is re-used, you must add a footnote noting the duplication across the JP or senior thesis. Note this policy does not affect the standard university guidelines for attributing ideas and research findings, whenever appropriate. The same policy holds with respect to incorporating the Fall junior research prospectus into either the Spring JP or senior thesis.

The length of a senior thesis is generally about 100 double-spaced pages and rarely under 80 pages. No thesis should be longer than 125 pages, including appendices. (This limit does not include the ancillary pages for the title, dedication, table of contents, abstract, bibliography and honor code statement.) Any pages after 125 may or may not be read by the second reader. A thesis longer than 125 pages will not be considered for Politics thesis prizes.

Also, seniors are required to prepare and present a professional poster describing their senior thesis results.

Senior Thesis Advisers 2025-2026
Advisers Availability Fields of Study Areas of Expertise
Nancy Bermeo Available Comparative Politics Regime Change, Political Parties, Political Mobilization, Democracy
Gregory Conti Available Political Theory History of Political Thought, Democratic Theory, Representation, Freedom of Speech
Rafaela Dancygier Available Comparative Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Representation, Immigration, Elections, Political Violence
Aaron Friedberg Available International Relations International Security, Globalization, Political Economy, East Asia, Foreign and Defense Policy
Paul Frymer Available American Politics, Public Law, Race, Ethnicity and Identity American Political Institutions, Law, Parties and Organizations, Civil Rights and Race, Labor and Employment, Historical Institutionalism
Robert P. George Available Political Theory, Public Law Philosophy of Law, Constitutional Interpretation, Civil Liberties, Moral and Political Philosophy, Bioethics, Law and Religion, Natural Law Theory
Naima Green-Riley Available International Relations Chinese Foreign Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy, Political Communication, Public Opinion
G. John Ikenberry Available International Relations International Relations Theory, U.S. Grand Strategy, International Organizations, International Order, Liberalism and International Relations
Marzenna James Available International Relations Case Study Methods, Economic Power in Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Foreign Policy
Gleason Judd Available Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Political Economy, Elections, Lobbying, Legislative Bargaining
Ethan Kapstein Available International Relations International Political Economy, Economic Development, U.S. Foreign Policy, Conflict
Atul Kohli Available Comparative Politics Political Economy of Development, Politics in India, Imperialism and the Developing World
Nicholas Kuipers Available Comparative Politics Comparative Politics, Bureaucracy, Development, Southeast Asian Politics
Melissa Lane Available Political Theory Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, Plato, Aristotle, Climate Change, Environmental Political Theory, Modern Political Thought
Frances Lee Available American Politics Congress, Political Parties, Policymaking
John B. Londregan Available International Relations, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods South America, Political Economy, Electoral Politics, Text as Data
Nicholas Lotito Available Comparative Politics International Security, Civil-Military Relations, Middle East and North Africa, Political Violence, Terrorism, Conflict, Democratization, Extremism
Stephen Macedo Available Political Theory Citizenship and Civic Education, The Constitution, Marriage and Family, Immigration, Diversity, Civil Liberties, Free Speech and Hate Speech
Nolan McCarty Available American Politics American Politics, Political Institutions, Political Polarization, Economic and Social Inequality, Political Economy of Financial Markets
Corrine McConnaughy Available American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity American Politics, Gender and Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Politics, American Political Development, Democratization, Social Movements and Protests, Policymaking, Social Identities, Federalism, State and Local Politics, Voting Rights, Political Decisionmaking
Tali Mendelberg Available American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Political Communication, Race, Ethnicity and Politics, Public Opinion, Political Psychology, Experimental Methods, Gender and Politics
Andrew Moravcsik Available International Relations European Union Politics, International Relations Theory, Transatlantic Relations, International Human Rights, Qualitative Methods, International Organizations, International Law, Foreign Policy, Far-Right Populism, Global Democracy
Layna Mosley Available International Relations, Political Economy International Political Economy, Globalization, International Finance, Multinational Corporations, Global Supply Chains, International Trade, Sovereign Debt
Jan-Werner Müller Available Political Theory Democratic Theory, Constitutionalism, European Union, Politics and Religion
Elizabeth Nugent Available Comparative Politics Comparative Politics, Middle East and North Africa, Political Psychology, Authoritarianism, Politics and Religion
Temi Ogunye Available Political Theory Activism, Authority and Political Obligation, Civil Resistance, Social Norms, Political Theory, Social Change, Civil Disobedience
Grigore Pop-Eleches Available Comparative Politics Comparative Political Behavior, Authoritarian Politics, Historical Legacies, Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Latin America
Markus Prior Available American Politics Public Opinion, Media and Politics, Political Involvement, Elections, Politics of Time
Kristopher Ramsay Available International Relations, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Violent Conflict, War, Strategy, Political Economy, Environmental Politics
Jacob N. Shapiro Available International Relations Conflict, Political Economy, Security, Development, Disinformation
Arthur Spirling Available Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods Comparative Politics, Political Methodology, Text as Data, Machine Learning/AI, Political Institutions, Parliaments, British Politics
Sarah Staszak Available American Politics, Public Law American Political Development, Bureaucratic Politics, Public Law
LaFleur Stephens-Dougan Available American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Racial Attitudes, Public Opinion, Black Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Politics, Political Communication, Experimental Methods
Rocío Titiunik Available Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods Quantitative Methods, Political Methodology, Applied Statistics, Comparative Politics, Party Systems
Rory Truex Available Comparative Politics Chinese Politics, Authoritarianism, Repression, Human Rights
Guadalupe Tuñón Available Comparative Politics, Political Economy Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Politics and Religion, Judicial Politics, Latin American Politics
Sam Van Noort Available Comparative Politics Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Democratization, Democratic Backsliding
James Raymond Vreeland Available Comparative Politics, International Relations International Political Economy, International Organizations, Democratization, Transparency
Leonard Wantchekon Available Comparative Politics, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Political Economy, Elections, Democratization, Governance
Ismail White Available American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Race, Ethnicity and Politics, Racial Attitudes, American Politics, Political Behavior, Public Opinion, African American Politics
Jennifer Widner Available Comparative Politics Public Management, State Capacity, International and Comparative Constitutional Law, Public Law, African Politics, Public Goods Provision, Politics of Reform, Disaster Response, Electoral Systems, U.S. Community Development Block Grant Program
Andreas Wiedemann Available Comparative Politics, Political Economy Political Economy, Economic Inequality, Social Policy, Representation
Lauren A. Wright Available American Politics Media and Politics, Executive Branch Politics and Policymaking, Public Opinion, Gender and Politics, Celebrity Politics
Xu Xu Available Comparative Politics, Political Economy Digital Authoritarianism, Repression, Chinese Politics, Political Economy of Development
Hye Young You Available American Politics Interest Groups, Lobbying, American Political Institutions, Political Economy, Congress, Bureaucracy, Federalism
Zeyang (Arthur) Yu Available Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods Causal Inference, Political Methodology, Political Institutions, Quantitative Methods, Comparative Politics, Chinese Politics, Political Economy of Development, Bureaucratic Organizations, Political Communication, Media and Politics