Department of Political Science

As a community of students, faculty and staff, the Department of Political Science is committed to academic freedom, equal access to education and collegial self-governance. Our ultimate aim is to enable our diverse student body to become successful and influential professionals in the future social, political and academic life of their home countries.

We offer a one-year Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs in Political Science registered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York (US) for and on behalf of the New York State Education Department. Our two-year MA program is accredited by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee of the Ministry of Education since October 2007 and the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York (US) since March 2010.

The Department of Political Science provides a comprehensive program of instruction and research in the fundamental areas of the discipline: political institutions and processes; the origins, development and transformation of theory and concepts; understanding different approaches to political analysis; political philosophy; social theory; political economy; public policy; political and economic sociology; constitutionalism and the legal contexts necessary for understanding politics and debates about it.

The cognitive skills the department seeks to impart include the employment of different methods of analysis and critical thinking. Use of these will enable students to deepen and broaden their knowledge of politics and to articulate their own ethical stance on issues studied. The department strives to develop and nurture a scholarly community of faculty and students who engage in a common process of education and research, with emphasis on understanding the problems and challenges contemporary political communities and their citizens face.

Hungary in the Spotlight lecture series: The Unconstitutional ConstitutionThe Department of Political Science, CEU cordially invites you to attend the first lecture in the series Hungary in the Spotlight, "The Unvonstitutional Constitution" delivered by Kim Lane Scheppele on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 5:30 pm in the CEU Auditorium. Opening and introduction by Gabor Toka, Professor; discussant Renata Uitz, Professor of Law. . For more information follow this lin k.

Call for Papers: On the Scope of Distributive Justice: Relational and Non-relational ViewsThe Department of Political Science, CEU and the lobal Justice Network calls for papers on the scope of distributive justice: relational and non-relational views. The workshop aims to bring together these two debates in contemporary political theory, with the expectation that insights from one may shed new light on problems discussed in the other. To apply, please send us an abstract of max. 500 words by January 30th 2012 to the email address: ceuglobaljustice@gmail.com. More info here

Our Department among the Top European Universities The Die Zeit published the European ranking of universities in seven disciplines, including political science. The results are public at www.zeit.de/excellenceranking. 52 Universities have been selected into this “excellence” group and besides our department, only three other departments from the region made it onto the list. The departments were evaluated on ten dimensions and the best ones received “stars”. Our department received five stars, toping 41 universities. This publication sends the message that CEU is one of the best in Europe in Political Science.

Our Department Top Ranked in the WorldAccording to the latest QS rankings, released in 2011, CEU’s Political Science is among the world’s best. Our department ranked highest and among Hungarian universities, only CEU scored three programs in the top 200. The Political Science department rated among the top 51 to 100 overall. The Philosophy department made it onto the top 101 to 150 list; the Sociology department was included among the top 151 to 200. For more info follow this lin k.

Julian Casanova publishes new article in El PaisJulian Casanova, Visiting Professor at the Political Science Department, published a second article in El Pais, this time about Budapest 1944. To read the article please follow this link.

Central Europe as A CityCantral Europe as a City: A presentation and of a new common English language issue of the Visegrad journals Res Public Nowa (PL), Host (CZ), Kritika and Kontext (SK), Lettre (HU) with the participation of Polish and Hungarian editors, authors and discussants András Bozóki, Artur Celinski, Gábor Csordás, Wojciech Prybylski, László Rajk, Csaba Zahorán at the Polish Institute (Budapest, VI., Nagymezo u. 15.) on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 6 p.m. For more info, download the flyer.

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