A quick note on scope: political science is a broader discipline than international relations — it covers domestic politics, comparative politics, political theory, and public administration in addition to the international-relations subfield. If you already know you want to specialize specifically in diplomacy, foreign policy, or global affairs, see our separate guide to international relations programmes, which covers dedicated IR schools and departments. This guide is for students choosing a political science degree in the fuller sense — one that might lead toward law, public policy, journalism, or academic political research just as easily as toward international affairs.
Top Political Science Programmes (QS World University Rankings by Subject: Politics)
A note before the table: QS publishes a dedicated "Politics" subject ranking (distinct from its "Politics and International Studies" grouping in some years), and exact order shifts year to year between QS, Times Higher Education, and other subject rankings. The schools below are the ones that appear at or near the top consistently — treat this as "the group of schools that matter," not a fixed order. Always check the current-year QS World University Rankings by Subject directly before finalizing a list.
| University | Country | Notable For |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | USA | Large Government department; strong theory and comparative politics faculty |
| University of Oxford | UK | PPE and standalone Politics degrees; deep political theory tradition |
| Sciences Po | France | Long-standing strength across comparative politics and policy analysis |
| University of Cambridge | UK | Strong political theory and comparative politics research base |
| London School of Economics (LSE) | UK | Dedicated Government department; strong quantitative political science |
| Princeton University | USA | Strong political theory and American politics faculty |
| Yale University | USA | Broad political science department across all major subfields |
| University of California, Berkeley | USA | Strong comparative politics and political theory research |
| Stanford University | USA | Strong political methodology and comparative politics |
| University of Michigan | USA | One of the largest and most methodologically rigorous political science departments in the US |
| Columbia University | USA | Strong comparative politics and quantitative methods |
| Australian National University | Australia | Strong Asia-Pacific comparative politics focus |
| University of Toronto | Canada | Large department with broad strength across subfields |
| Peking University | China | Leading political science research base in China |
How to Choose: Criteria That Matter More Than Overall Rank
1. Subfield Strength
Political science departments vary in where their faculty depth actually sits, and this matters more for graduate study than undergraduate:
| Subfield | What It Covers | Programmes Worth Prioritizing |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative politics | Cross-country institutional and electoral analysis | LSE, Michigan, Berkeley, ANU |
| Political theory / philosophy | Normative and historical political thought | Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Harvard |
| American/domestic politics (where relevant) | Legislative behavior, elections, public opinion | Princeton, Michigan, Yale |
| Quantitative political methodology | Statistical and formal modeling of political behavior | Stanford, Columbia, Michigan |
| Public administration / policy-adjacent | Governance, institutions, policy process | Sciences Po, LSE, ANU |
2. Career Path
Political science is unusually broad in where it leads, and the right programme shifts depending on the destination:
| Goal | Programmes Worth Prioritizing |
|---|---|
| Law school feeder | Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford (strong pre-law advising and LSAT-adjacent skill-building) |
| Public policy / government careers | Sciences Po, LSE, ANU, Georgetown-adjacent programmes |
| Journalism / political commentary | Columbia, LSE, Sciences Po (strong writing and public-facing research culture) |
| Academia / PhD track | Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Michigan (strong placement into top PhD programmes) |
3. Political Science vs. International Relations vs. PPE-Style Degrees
Some universities offer a standalone Politics or Government major; others fold it into a joint degree like Oxford's PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) or pair it structurally with international relations. A joint degree gives you more breadth (and, in PPE's case, an economics grounding that's genuinely useful for policy or finance-adjacent careers) at the cost of less specialization within politics itself. Check whether a school's "political science" degree is a dedicated single-honours major or part of a broader joint programme before comparing curricula.
Programme Length, Cost, and Other Practically Relevant Differentiators
Undergraduate political science degrees typically run 4 years in the US and Canada, and 3 years in the UK (or 3-4 years for joint programmes like PPE); Sciences Po's undergraduate college runs 3 years and often includes a mandatory year abroad. The shorter UK and French formats mean less overall tuition and living cost but also earlier specialization, with fewer general-education electives outside the major compared to US programmes. Graduate political science (particularly PhD-track programmes at research universities like Harvard, Michigan, and Stanford) commonly comes with funded teaching or research assistantships, which changes the real cost of a research-focused graduate degree substantially compared to a standalone taught master's. Confirm current tuition and funding structures directly on each school's site, as these are revised annually.
Acceptance Rates and Selectivity Context
| University | Approximate Selectivity Context |
|---|---|
| Harvard | ~3-5% (overall undergraduate; Government is one of the most popular Harvard concentrations) |
| Princeton | ~4-5% (overall undergraduate) |
| Yale | ~4-5% (overall undergraduate) |
| Oxford (PPE) | Highly selective; PPE is consistently one of Oxford's most applied-to courses |
| LSE (Government) | Highly selective; among the more competitive courses at LSE |
| Sciences Po | ~20-30% (varies by campus and admissions track) |
| University of Michigan | Moderately selective overall; political science admission tracks the university-wide rate closely |
These are approximate, cycle-dependent figures, and several are overall university-wide rates rather than department-specific ones. Confirm current-year numbers directly on each school's admissions page before using them to calibrate your application strategy.
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