Welcome to the Department of Political Studies

Politics is about power – who has it and how it is exercised by nation-states, individuals, groups, classes, or political parties, and how different interests are reconciled in and between communities. Political science is also concerned with institutions created to govern communities, as well as practices such as voting habits or protests, and how rules, behaviour, and culture are created in societies. And since power in society is often dependent upon material resources, political scientists study the distribution of wealth, both within and between nations.

As one of Canada’s premier departments of political science, the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University is committed to both research and teaching. Our faculty are actively engaged in a wide range of research activities and projects and is highly visible in the discipline of political science both in Canada and abroad. Our undergraduate program, one of the most popular programs at Queen’s, provides students with a solid grounding in political science, and at the graduate level, we offer the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in: