four students posing with senior thesis sign

During 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.

At the end of your junior year, you will be asked to complete a short survey on your thesis plans. This information will be used to match you with an appropriate faculty adviser. If you already have an informal arrangement in place with a faculty member (e.g., your JP adviser), we will do our best to take that into account if possible, but such arrangements are not required or expected.

As part of their independent work, all seniors must enroll in POL 498 in the fall semester and POL 499 in the spring. POL 498 is graded as P/D/F; in order to pass, students are required to meet with their thesis advisors at least twice in the fall semester and to submit a thesis progress report. POL 499 reflects the final grade for the senior thesis. Note that neither of these placeholder courses counts as a departmental.

An excellent senior thesis can be 75 pages or less. No thesis should be longer than 120 pages. (The page count does not include the ancillary pages for the title, dedication, table of contents, abstract, bibliography and honor code statement. It also does not include any appendix material.) Any pages after 120 may or may not be read by the second reader. A thesis longer than 120 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 Fields of Study Areas of Expertise
Gregory Conti Political Theory History of Political Thought, Democratic Theory, Representation, Freedom of Speech
Rafaela Dancygier Comparative Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Representation, Immigration, Elections, Political Violence
Aaron Friedberg International Relations International Security, Globalization, Political Economy, East Asia, Foreign and Defense Policy
Paul Frymer 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 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 International Relations Chinese Foreign Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy, Political Communication, Public Opinion
G. John Ikenberry International Relations International Relations Theory, U.S. Grand Strategy, International Organizations, International Order, Liberalism and International Relations
Marzenna James International Relations Case Study Methods, Economic Power in Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Foreign Policy
Gleason Judd Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Political Economy, Elections, Lobbying, Legislative Bargaining
Ethan Kapstein International Relations International Political Economy, Economic Development, U.S. Foreign Policy, Conflict
Atul Kohli Comparative Politics Political Economy of Development, Politics in India, Imperialism and the Developing World
Nicholas Kuipers Comparative Politics Comparative Politics, Bureaucracy, Development, Southeast Asian Politics
Melissa Lane Political Theory Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, Plato, Aristotle, Climate Change, Environmental Political Theory, Modern Political Thought
Frances Lee American Politics Congress, Political Parties, Policymaking
John B. Londregan International Relations, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods South America, Political Economy, Electoral Politics, Text as Data
Nicholas Lotito International Relations International Security, Civil-Military Relations, Middle East and North Africa, Political Violence, Terrorism, Conflict, Democratization, Extremism
Stephen Macedo Political Theory Citizenship and Civic Education, The Constitution, Marriage and Family, Immigration, Diversity, Civil Liberties, Free Speech and Hate Speech
Nolan McCarty American Politics American Politics, Political Institutions, Political Polarization, Economic and Social Inequality, Political Economy of Financial Markets
Corrine McConnaughy 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
Andrew Moravcsik 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 International Relations, Political Economy International Political Economy, Globalization, International Finance, Multinational Corporations, Global Supply Chains, International Trade, Sovereign Debt
Jan-Werner Müller Political Theory Democratic Theory, Constitutionalism, European Union, Politics and Religion
Temi Ogunye Political Theory Activism, Authority and Political Obligation, Civil Resistance, Social Norms, Political Theory, Social Change, Civil Disobedience
Grigore Pop-Eleches Comparative Politics Comparative Political Behavior, Authoritarian Politics, Historical Legacies, Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Latin America
Markus Prior American Politics Public Opinion, Media and Politics, Political Involvement, Elections, Politics of Time
Kristopher Ramsay International Relations, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Violent Conflict, War, Strategy, Political Economy, Environmental Politics
Jacob N. Shapiro International Relations Conflict, Political Economy, Security, Development, Disinformation
Arthur Spirling Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods Comparative Politics, Political Methodology, Text as Data, Machine Learning/AI, Political Institutions, Parliaments, British Politics
Sarah Staszak American Politics, Public Law American Political Development, Bureaucratic Politics, Public Law
LaFleur Stephens-Dougan American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Racial Attitudes, Public Opinion, Black Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Politics, Political Communication, Experimental Methods
Rocío Titiunik Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods Quantitative Methods, Political Methodology, Applied Statistics, Comparative Politics, Party Systems
Rory Truex Comparative Politics Chinese Politics, Authoritarianism, Repression, Human Rights
Sam Van Noort Comparative Politics Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Democratization, Democratic Backsliding
James Raymond Vreeland Comparative Politics, International Relations International Political Economy, International Organizations, Democratization, Transparency
Leonard Wantchekon Comparative Politics, Formal Theory & Quantitative Methods, Political Economy Political Economy, Elections, Democratization, Governance
Ismail White American Politics, Race, Ethnicity and Identity Race, Ethnicity and Politics, Racial Attitudes, American Politics, Political Behavior, Public Opinion, African American Politics
Jennifer Widner 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 Comparative Politics, Political Economy Political Economy, Economic Inequality, Social Policy, Representation
Lauren A. Wright American Politics Media and Politics, Executive Branch Politics and Policymaking, Public Opinion, Gender and Politics, Celebrity Politics
Xu Xu Comparative Politics, Political Economy Digital Authoritarianism, Repression, Chinese Politics, Political Economy of Development
Hye Young You American Politics Interest Groups, Lobbying, American Political Institutions, Political Economy, Congress, Bureaucracy, Federalism
Zeyang (Arthur) Yu 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
Noah Zucker Comparative Politics, International Relations, Race, Ethnicity and Identity, Political Economy Comparative Political Economy, Climate Change, Identity Politics, International Political Economy