Graduate Program

The graduate program in Political Theory at Michigan State University offers a rigorous training in the whole range and history of political philosophy. Whatever the student’s ultimate area of specialization, he or she will acquire a solid background in the philosophic tradition from Plato to Heidegger. At the same time, students receive up-to-date training in the methods and findings of modern political science.

The Political Science Department contains two senior theorists — Arthur Melzer and Dustin Sebell. Students may also study with political theorists at James Madison College (a residential social science college within MSU), including Richard Zinman — University Distinguished Professor Emiratus – Tobin Craig, Eric Petrie, and Benjamin Lorch. The number and quality of these scholars make MSU a major center for political thought. In a recent survey of the last twenty-two years of the American Political Science Review — the premier journal of the profession — the MSU political science department ranked third in the nation for articles published in the field of political philosophy.