
Elizabeth
Theiss-Morse
Department Chair
Welcome!
The Department of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is home to nationally and internationally renowned scholars and award-winning teachers who have made it one of the nation’s best.
Our expertise is at your disposal, as it has been to The New York Times, Time Magazine, CNN, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Whether you are an undergraduate, graduate student, alum, or citizen of Nebraska, we look forward to hearing from you.
Political Science at Nebraska
The New Frontier
David Forsythe is a co-editor of the Human Rights Encyclopedia

Political Science major Zachary Smith earns prestigious Marshall Scholarship
John Hibbing selected as a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science


Patrice McMahon wins the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education
From Ike to Obama, project studies evolution of TV campaign ads
News
Political science senior published in PNAS (May 4, 2012)
Political science major named Academic Star (February 2012)
POLS professors and graduate students' work featured on BBC (January 30, 2012)
Astronaut Mark Kelly Gives Hoagland Lecture, Meets POLS Students (January 24, 2012)
Support the Department!
Help us continue our tradition of research and teaching excellence and our focus on biology & politics and conflict & human rights.
From Students
“My favorite classroom experiences have generally been in Dr. Wagner's political science classes.
My favorite of these was the Presidency course I took last semester.
The classroom was a small intimate group and discussion was always lively and stimulating and the lectures were always easy to relate to and interesting.”
Jared,
Political Science major
“Political Science is the best major because through it you must learn and analyze the World's and America's policies.
Furthermore what other major forces you to question your presumed knowledge and assumptions.”
Michael,
Political Science major
“Ever wanted to know how insurgencies operate?
Recently in Insurgency and Terrorism (Political Science 479) we did a research paper on the insurgency of our choice.
I picked the 30 year Eritrean struggle for independence against Ethiopia.
My paper could teach you about social, economic, and foreign conditions that created the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, inter-group struggles that slowed its success between 1972 and 1988, and why they were ultimately successful in 1991.”
Paul,
Political Science major
“When Dr. Wals assigned to our class the task of interviewing a immigrant to the United States about their immigration experience, he reminded us that the facts and figures in our textbooks didn't tell the whole story: they were only representations of a vast and varied human phenomenon.
What I learned - and what Dean Manderscheid could learn - is to never forget that our actions, opinions, and policies have real-world consequences and should be considered carefully, not carelessly.”
Benjamin,
Political Science major
Undergraduate
- American Politics
- Biology and Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Political Theory
- Public Policy
Graduate
- American Government
- Comparative Government & Politics
- Historical & Normative Theory
- International Relations
- Methodology & Empirical Theory
- Public Policy
- Public Administration
Videos
Making of the UNL Election Study
Political Science professor Michael Wagner and some of his students talks about the first student-built politics survey in 2010.
N the Know: How can the U.S. help support peace in Egypt and the Middle East?
Patrice McMahon shares her view of how the U.S. should support peace and democratization in Egypt in light of the events there since protests began January 25, 2011.