Master of Arts in Political Science

The MA in Political Science at UMass Amherst is a cross-disciplinary exploration of six fields of political inquiry: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, public policy, and public law.

While each field is its own thriving research community, UMass Amherst also convenes multiple research clusters whose work crosses subfields, including conflict, violence and security, political economy, computational social science, and ambiguities of democracy.

You’ll explore many methodologies to suit your professional goals, including tools as diverse as statistical modeling, network analysis, ethnography, textual analysis, comparative case studies, and experimental and survey methods.

The master’s degree in political science is available in special cases to students who can demonstrate that a terminal Master of Arts degree from UMass Amherst is vital to the pursuit of their career. Students seeking training in political science as a vocation are encouraged to apply to the doctoral program.