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The Political Science Department is home to several major funded research projects and professional activities, many of which integrate undergraduate and graduate students into the faculty-led research process. The links below connect to some of our major projects. Individual faculty members have many additional research projects as well; click here to see a list of our faculty members arranged by areas of research.
COW ( http://correlatesofwar.org/ ): The Correlates of War project oversees the collection, updating and distribution of many standard data sets widely used in empirical analyses of international relations. A major focus of the project is international conflict, with particular emphasis on conflicts involving the threat, use or display of force. Other data sets include national capability measures (military, population, and economic indicators), diplomatic relations, alliances, geographic proximity and intergovernmental organizations. The project features a strong commitment to standard scientific principles of replication, data reliability, peer review, and transparency of data collection procedures.
PSS ( http://pss.la.psu.edu ): Penn State is home to the Peace Science Society (International), an academic society focused on studying the causes of war and peace using rigorous, scientific methods. Since its founding in the early 1960s, the Society has been a major catalyst for peace and conflict research around the world through its national and international conferences and publication of two major journals, Conflict Management and Peace Science and the Journal of Conflict Resolution.
PEIR : The Program on Empirical International Relations consolidates the strengths of Penn State's faculty in studying international relations using rigorous empirical data. PEIR works to bring together students, faculty and guests focused on studying international relations using sophisticated quantitative methods, carefully developed theories and appropriate data. Students in the department benefit from regular speakers brought in from other institutions, reading groups, research with faculty and expanded training opportunities. PEIR also coordinates student and faculty involvement with the Peace Science Society, the Correlates of War Project, and EUGene.
EUGene ( http://www.eugenesoftware.org ): The Expected Utility Generation and Data Management Program is a Windows-based data management tool developed at Penn State that facilitates the creation of data sets for use in the quantitative analysis of international relations by making a standard set of data management tasks less cumbersome. In particular, EUGene automates the process of managing and merging multiple input data sets on the way to generating new dyadic data sets. EUGene also generates data for variables used to test rational choice theories. While originally designed to make the testing of expected utility theories easier, the software and supporting databases are constantly being expanded and improved.
Advocacy and Public Policymaking Project (the "Lobby Project," http://lobby.la.psu.edu/ ) With substantial funding from the National Science Foundation, Professors Baumgartner and Hojnacki lead a team of students at Penn State and elsewhere in a study of how lobbyists attempt to achieve their goals in Washington, DC. Based on a random sample of issues of public debate, the project focuses on advocates' efforts to reframe debates and to affect the terms of discussion, as well as how money and resources. The project web site includes primary source material allowing students and scholars to analyze the sample of issues themselves.
The Policy Agendas Project ( http://www.policyagendas.org ) With continuing funding from the National Science Foundation, Professor Baumgartner and his collaborator Bryan Jones of the University of Washington direct the Policy Agendas Project. This involves the collection and dissemination of a consistent set of indicators of governmental activity since World War Two. Their extensive web site includes data resources for the study of the history and development of public policies over the last 50 years as well as an analysis tool to allow for students and scholars to analyze the data over the web or to download the data files for their own use.
Globalization Seminar Series (http://www.personal.psu.edu/qxl4/globalization-seminar/webpage3.htm) The Globalization Seminar Series is an interdisciplinary project that facilitates debates and cross-disciplinary research on the causes and consequences of globalization. Scholars from a variety of disciplines, ranging from economics and political science to women's studies, meet biweekly to share insights on globalization from the perspective of their own academic field and to discuss ways of integrating methods, arguments, and findings from various fields.
QuaSSI (http://qssi.psu.edu/) The Quantitative Social Science Initiative is a consortium of scholars interested in statistical methods for research and teaching. The mission of the SSSP is to produce highly trained students in statistical methods and to create an intellectual community for students and faculty pursuing statistical methods for use in the analysis of social science research problems. Each year it hosts a variety of programs for both faculty and graduate students on a wide range of topics.
Social Thought Program (http://www.stp.psu.edu/) The Social Thought Program at Penn state is motivated by the assumption that narrow disciplinary training can be inadequate preparation for the multi-faceted and multi-lingual nature of intellectual and political life in the 21st century. The Program is intended as a conduit and point of contact for those members of the university community in various disciplines with shared interests in social values, historical understanding, and interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Organizers of this Program intend especially to share the benefits of this cross-disciplinary cooperation with the graduate student community in a wide array of research fields. To that end, the Program includes a PhD Minor in Social Thought and is engaged in coordingating public events, informal gatherings, reading groups, and other modes of connection for young scholars and their faculty colleagues.
Recent and Currently Funded Research Grants
All the faculty in the Department have active research projects; many have recently received external grants for their work and may be interested in hiring undergraduate and graduate students. A list of our recently funded external grants can be found... click here