Overview

The Department seeks to provide its students with more than extensive knowledge of political institutions and processes; it aims to arm them with additional tools that help them to better evaluate, advance, and refute political arguments. These tools involve logical analysis, causal inference, research skills, and effective communication of ideas.

A degree in Government from Georgetown University cultivates relevant skills in a number of different ways. Most Government courses require students to practice and develop analytic writing skills — whether in the form of in-class essays, out-of-class essays, or research papers. Students also must complete at least one Department Seminar. These seminars, which majors usually take during their junior or senior years, are limited to fifteen participants and involve significant writing assignments geared toward developing a student’s skills under the close supervision of a faculty member or advanced graduate student.

Honors Program

The Government Honors Program is an intensive, three-semester program of closely mentored research and writing that culminates in a Senior Honors Thesis. As part of the program, students take an advanced seminar in Political Theory and GOVT 201 Analysis of Political Data-I (formerly GOVT 229 Scope and Methods of Political Science)  in the spring of the junior year. Students then prepare a thesis proposal in the fall of their senior year (as participants in the Honors Research Seminar) and complete the thesis (in consultation with their mentor) in the spring. Students defend their work in an oral examination at the conclusion of their last semester.