100 Best Political Science Research Topics
June 3, 2024
Political science is an incredibly broad and variated discipline, containing numerous subfields that attract immense amounts of research. Researchers in the field can utilize diverse empirical or theoretical methodologies, sometimes in combination. There are specialized fields based on geographic areas, time periods, political forms and institutions, and bodies of thought. Researchers might aim to impact policy, inspire advocacy, or produce knowledge about the nature of political ideas, systems, and processes. There are even sub-disciplines that focus separately on either relations or comparisons between nation-states (international relations and comparative politics, respectively). Given this expansiveness, it can be challenging to quickly pick out compelling political science research topics.
This article provides a broad sample of political science topics. Most of the topics are already the subject of intensive research, which is ultimately something to look for when identifying a topic. Understanding the themes and subfields that already structure study in the field can ultimately help toward locating a unique research interest. From there, it鈥檚 a matter of refining interests into specific topics and, eventually, questions that drive research.
Picking Political Science Research Topics
Finding political science topics usually involves doing two things, sometimes simultaneously. The first requires understanding what prominent topics already exist in the field(s). After all, this discipline has been around for many decades, with incredible amounts of published research each year. It鈥檚 best to not try to wholly reinvent the wheel in this case, or risk selecting a topic for which there is no available research. The second entails reflecting on what feels important to research. A topic could be significant because it is remarkably timely or because there is some pragmatic outcome in mind. The researcher might even have a personal connection with the topic on top of these other kinds of factors. Pursuing research that feels important is an evergreen recommendation 鈥 otherwise, research can be produced without any clear purpose or benefit in mind.
So, when picking political science research topics, consider these processes and resources:
1) Start with what interests you. Take inventory of your personal and intellectual experiences and how they might intersect with what you know about political research. How would you map your experiences geographically or historically? What themes in the political sphere grab your attention? In what ways have you and others around you interacted with formal politics? Understanding what you are motivated to learn about makes the process of selecting among political science topics more organic.
Picking Political Science Research Topics (Cont.)
2) Consider what feels urgent. Political science has a good deal of overlap with the discipline of history. But perhaps even more than historians, political scientists are committed to understanding and improving politics in the present. A great deal of tremendous scholarship is sparked from this presentist impulse. What news items are persistently interesting or seem to revolve around intractably complex problems? A topic connected to widely recognized issues in the present will almost immediately justify the resulting research.
3) Survey field categories and literature. Usually, topics that are timely will already be drawing attention from other researchers. It鈥檚 also possible to spark curiosity through understanding how others have framed topics and questions. However, the most important reason for this step is to ensure that a research topic will have enough published writing around it to warrant attention. There are many ways to complete a survey within or across political science fields. To start, fields like comparative politics have field-specific journals and anthologies with useful descriptions and citations. There is the Journal of Comparative Politics, a journal called Comparative Political Studies, and a big anthology called . Another extremely helpful resource is the research database known as . There, political science scholars compile bibliographic entries that define subfields and provide key citations.
Picking Political Science Research Topics (Cont.)
Again, these are not strictly sequential steps. Often, it鈥檚 necessary to engage existing topics and research questions and use them to inspire reflection on what feels significant. Or it鈥檚 likely that specific interests will help delimit subfields, making it easier to comb through topics.
It鈥檚 important to narrow topics so that a researcher could reasonably become an expert on. In Oxford Bibliographies, many times they break very broad topics into multiple subtopics, each with its own body of literature. But it can also be useful to think about the research question that might stem from the broad topic. What specifically is it that needs to be known about this topic? What causes and effects are involved in phenomena we can see and describe but have not yet analyzed? Or what can be critiqued, evaluated, improved or replaced? Finding how a broad topic can lead to descriptive, analytical, or evaluative research questions is the most effective way to identify compelling and specific topics.
The List 鈥 Political Science Research Topics (1-30)
African Politics
1) African Ethnic, Linguistic, and Religious Minority Political Representation
2) Authoritarianism in the Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa
3) Comparative Political Structures of African Urban Governments
4) Democratization Policies and Political Movements in Africa
5) Ethnic and Religious Plurality in the Politics of Nigeria
6) National and Transnational LGBTQ Political Movements in Africa
7) Political Organization Around Climate Crises in Africa
8) Public Opinion on International NGOs in Africa
9) South Africa鈥檚 Governmental Policies for COVID Vaccination
10) Women in African Politics
Asian Politics
11) Competing Claims to Sovereignty in the South China Sea
12) Economic and Cultural Effects of China鈥檚 One-Child Policy
13) Labor Politics in China
14) Media Politics and Expression in Asian Countries
15) Nationalism and Religious Minorities in India
16) Philippine Politics and the Illicit Drug Economy
17) Social Movements in East Asia
18) South Korean Policies Addressing Demographic Decline
19) Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong
20) Youth Protest Movements in Taiwan
Comparative Politics
21) Authoritarian Populism in Brazil, Hungary, and India
22) Countries that Host Foreign-Owned Nuclear Weapons
23) Diasporas and National Politics in South and East Asian Countries
24) Differences in Environmental Politics Between the Global North and Global South
25) Elections in Sierra Leone and Their Differences from Other Countries
26) Governmental Responses to Gang Violence in Different Latin American Countries
27) Income Inequality in Advanced Democracies
28) Indigenous Rights and Politics in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
29) Laws Surrounding Abortion in the U.S. and the U.K.
30) State Legitimacy and Authority in Botswana and Somalia
Political Science Topics (31-60)
European Politics
31) Authoritarianism and Media Politics in Turkey
32) Austerity, White Identity Politics, and Brexit
33) Ethnic and Religious Minority Representation in the European Union
34) European Public Opinion on Russia鈥檚 Invasion of Ukraine
35) Far-Right Political Mobilization in Europe
36) France鈥檚 Political Opposition to Multicultural Pluralism
37) Immigration, Islamophobia, and European Union Political Campaigns
38) Political Challenges and Opportunities for European Integration
39) Regime Transitions in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
40) Welfare State Development in Western Europe
International Relations
41) Border Security Politics, Immigration, and International Relations
42) Efficacy of International Criminal Justice Bodies
43) Energy Politics of International Relations
44) Global Economy of Illicit Drugs
45) Global Politics of Intellectual Property
46) International Conflict Management
47) International NGOs and Their Effects on National Politics
48) Political Responses to Transboundary Pollution
49) Preferential Trade Agreements and Tariff Wars
50) Regulation of International Private Corporations
Latin American Politics
51) Authoritarianism and Democratization in Brazil鈥檚 Political History
52) Christian Transnational Political Mobilization in Latin America
53) Electoral Volatility and Suppression in Venezuela
54) Government Responses to Organized Crime in Mexico and Central America
55) Guerilla Insurgencies in Latin America
56) Neoliberalism and Democracy in Latin America
57) Military Government in Latin America, 1959-1990
58) Populism鈥檚 Role in Shaping Latin American Politics
59) Poverty, Inequality, and Development in Latin America
60) Regional Economic, Political, and Cultural Integration in Latin America
Political Science Research Topics (61-90)
Methodology
61) Accuracy and Reliability of Models Predicting Election Outcomes
62) Applying Game Theory to Understand Political Strategies
63) Development of Survey Methods and Research
64) Ethical Problems Surrounding the Use of Experiments in Political Research
65) Experimental Methods for Promoting Voter Turnout
66) Impact of Survey Design and Sampling Techniques on Validity in Public Opinion Polls
67) Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Political Research
68) Machine Learning Techniques and Political Science
69) Researching Politics Through Big Data
70) Using Ethnography to Study Political Behavior and Institutions
Middle Eastern Politics
71) Comparative Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
72) Democracy, Statehood, and the Israel-Palestine Peace Process
73) Immigrant Labor Politics in Oil-Rich Middle East Countries
74) Mobilization and Oppression Through Media Control in the Arab Spring
75) Oil Wealth, Political Stability, and Economic Development in the Middle East
76) Political Islam, National, and International Politics in the Middle East
77) Postcolonialism and the Political Development of Iran
78) S. Foreign Policy and Its Effects on Stability and Governance in the Middle East
79) Women鈥檚 Political Participation in the Middle East and North Africa
80) Water Politics and Their Impact on Middle Easter International Relations and Security
Political Theory
81) Critical Political Theory and the Frankfurt School
82) Development of Political Thought in Ancient China
83) Effects of New Media (i.e., TVs, CDs, social messaging platforms) in Politics
84) Feminist Interventions in Political Thought
85) Hegelian and Counter-Hegelian Political Thought
86) Intersectionality in Political Theory
87) Nationalist and Cosmopolitan Political Thought
88) Religion in Classical and Contemporary Political Thought
89) Political Representation and Policy Responsiveness to Public Opinion
90) Postcolonial and Decolonial Political Theory
Political Science Topics (91-100)
U.S. Politics
91) Age and Generational Differences in U.S. Politics
92) Asian American Politics and Political Movements
93) Campaign Advertising in U.S. Elections
94) Celebrity Influence on Political Campaigns in the U.S.
95) Interest Groups and Modern U.S. Conservativism
96) Litigation Strategies in Political Contests Over Abortion
97) Politics of Electoral Redistricting in the U.S.
98) Politics of U.S. Healthcare System and Reform
99) S. Politics and Policies of Mass Incarceration
100) Voter Opinion on Women Political Candidates
Final Thoughts on Political Science Research Topics
Political science topics are rarely one-size-fits-all. Like many humanistic and other modes of research, topics typically suit the specific interests and motivations of the researcher. Do you want to improve a method or practical process? Are you interested in the politics of a specific region, or motivated to learn about something especially urgent? Where is the conversation within or across fields, and where might you have the most to contribute? Combining careful self-assessment and knowledge of research fields is the best way to effectively carve out your own chunk of the gigantic discipline that is political science.
Political Science Research Topics – Additional Resources
