Faculty research and teaching continues to put the program at the forefront of its field, nearly 100 years after department formation (1940s faculty photo).
Established subfields include American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Methods and Models, Political Theory, and Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.
The department hosts or co-sponsors nearly 100 events each academic year, including major annual lectures, cross-disciplinary symposia, subfield workshops, and doctoral student job talks.
Ralph J. Bunche (B.S. Political Science, 1927; summa cum laude). Winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize; United Nations Undersecretary from 1955 to 1970.
2013 Mock Constitutional Convention as part of PS 149 Applied Politics course, “Amending the Constitution”
Joel D. Aberbach is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
James DeNardo joined the faculty at UCLA in 1987, after teaching in the Department of Politics at Princeton University.
Since his retirement, Leonard Freedman has taught a seminar on political satire in UCLA’s undergraduate Honors Collegium.
READ Prof. Gonzalez's NY Times' "Cuba Policy" Opinion
Edmond J. Keller is professor and former chair of Political Science, Director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center-Africa and former Director of the James S. Coleman African Studies Center at the University of California-Los Angeles.
Gary Orfield is Distinguished Research Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning and Co-Director of The Civil Rights Project.
Carole Pateman has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 1990, most recently as Distinguished Professor of Political Science. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science and was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2007.
David C. Rapoport joined the department in 1962 as a political theorist.
Richard Rosecrance is also Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Senior Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Marc Trachtenberg studies national security strategy, diplomatic history, and international relations.
David Wilson retired in 1992, after serving 33 combined years on the faculty of Political Science and in administrative roles within the University of California system statewide.
Charles E. Young is the chancellor emeritus of UCLA, a professor at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and past chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
