Top Universities for Politics & International Studies in 2015

Top Universities for Politics & International Studies in 2015

Laura Tucker

Updated January 16, 2020 Updated January 16

Click here to view the latest version of this article, based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017.

Planning a career in the political arena? Want to help shape the future of national or international policy? Start out by studying at one of the world’s top universities for politics and international studies, as highlighted in the QS University Rankings by Subject 2015.

Click here to find out how the ranking is compiled, and see the full interactive ranking table here.

Top 10 Universities for Politics & International Studies
Based on the QS World University Rankings 2015

Rank

Name of Institution

Location

1

Harvard University

United States

2

Princeton University

United States

3

University of Oxford

United Kingdom

4

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

United Kingdom

5

Sciences Po Paris

France

6

University of Cambridge

United Kingdom

7

Australian National University (ANU)

Australia

8

Stanford University

United States

9

Yale University

United States

10=

Columbia University

United States

10=

Johns Hopkins University

United States

See the full political science school ranking >

 

Top universities for politics & international studies in the US & Canada

The US is a popular destination for politics students, particularly Washington DC. Almost a quarter of the world’s top 200 political science schools are based here, with 49 US universities in the table. Some 27 of these are ranked within the top 100, and 17 within the top 50.

Outside of the top 10 (listed above), the leading US representatives are Georgetown University (200th in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15), the University of California, Berkeley (27th in the world rankings), New York University (NYU, 41st in the world rankings), Cornell University (19th in the world rankings), the University of Chicago (11th in the world rankings), Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT, 1st in the world rankings), University of California, San Diego (UCSD, 59th in the world rankings), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 37th in the world rankings), George Washington University (300th in the world rankings), the University of Michigan (23rd in the world rankings) and Duke University (25th in the world rankings).

Meanwhile Canada has 11 representatives in the ranking, including three among the world’s top 50: the University of Toronto (20th in the world rankings), McGill University (21st in the world rankings) and the University of British Colombia (43rd in the world rankings).

Learn more about studying in the US and Canada with our country guides.

Top universities for politics & international studies in Europe

Another hub of top political science schools is the UK, with 30 featured institutions. Outside of the top 10 (see above), these include SOAS – School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (331st in the world rankings), King’s College London (16th in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17th in the world rankings), UCL (University College London, 5th in the world rankings) and the University of Warwick (61st in the world rankings) – all ranked within the world’s top 50 for politics and international relations.

Across the rest of Europe you’ll find eight top universities for politics in Germany and a further six in Italy. Of these, Germany’s Freie Universität Berlin (150th in the world rankings) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (134th in the world rankings) are both featured within the world’s top 50 for politics and international relations.

Each with five leading political science schools are Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. While Belgium and Switzerland each offer one representative within the world’s top 100, the Netherlands has two within the top 50: Leiden University (75th in the world rankings) and the University of Amsterdam (50th in the world rankings).

Nordic Europe meanwhile lays claim to 12 top political science schools, with four each in Sweden and Denmark and two each in Finland and Norway. While the University of Copenhagen (45th in the world rankings) is the only Nordic school within the top 50 for this subject, it’s joined among the top 100 by fellow Danish institution Aarhus University (96th in the world rankings), Sweden’s Lund University (60th in the world rankings) and Stockholm University (182nd in the world rankings), and Norway’s University of Oslo (101st in the world rankings).

Also with four offerings is Spain, including the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM, 212th in the world rankings) in the 51-100 range. In France, aside from Sciences Po Paris in 5th place (222nd in the world rankings), the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (228th in the world rankings) is also ranked 51-100.

Next up is Ireland with two top political science schools: Trinity College Dublin (71st in the world rankings) in the top 50 and University College Dublin (139th in the world rankings) in the top 100. Each with one representative in the ranking are Austria, Hungary, Poland and Russia. Among these, Hungary’s Central European University is the highest ranked, placed 29th in the world for politics and international relations.

To prepare for studying abroad in Europe, see our range of European country guides.

Top universities for politics & international studies in Australia & New Zealand

The ranking features 11 top political science schools in Australia, including seven within the top 100 worldwide.  Australian National University, in 7th place, is joined in the top 50 by the University of Sydney (37th in the world rankings) and the University of Melbourne (33rd in the world rankings). Also in the top 100 are Griffith University (324th in the world rankings), Monash University (70th in the world rankings), the University of New South Wales (UNSW, 48th in the world rankings) and the University of Queensland (43rd in the world rankings).

Of the three universities in New Zealand featured in this ranking, the University of Auckland (92nd in the world rankings) is the highest ranked at 51-100, followed by the University of Otago (159th in the world rankings) and the Victoria University of Wellington (275th in the world rankings) at 101-150.

Learn more about studying in Australia and New Zealand with our country guides.

Top universities for politics & international studies in Asia

The leading country in Asia for politics and international relations is South Korea, with seven institutions in this ranking. Seoul National University (SNU, 31st in the world rankings) and Yonsei University (106th in the world rankings) both appear in the top 50, followed by Korea University (116th in the world rankings) in the 51-100 range.

Of Japan’s six entrants, three are within the world’s top 50: the University of Tokyo (31st in the world rankings), Kyoto University (36th in the world rankings) and Keio University (197th in the world rankings). Likewise, of the four universities in China featured in this ranking, three are within the top 50: Peking University (57th in the world rankings), Fudan University (71st in the world rankings) and Tsinghua University (47th in the world rankings).

Of the three universities in Hong Kong featured, two are within the top 50: the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 28th in the world rankings) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46th in the world rankings). Singapore and Taiwan each have two top political science schools within the world’s top 100, led by the National University of Singapore (NUS, 22nd in the world rankings), at 14th in the world.

Lastly, with one representative each are India and the Philippines. India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University appears in the 101-150 range, while the University of the Philippines (367th in the world rankings) ranks 151-200.

For more information on studying in Asia, see our range of Asian country guides. Or, to discover more top universities in the region, check out the latest QS University Rankings: Asia.

Top universities for politics & international studies in Latin America

Of the 10 leading political science schools in Latin America, half belong to Brazil. Of these five, the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, 132nd in the world rankings) is the highest ranked at 51-100, while the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp, 206th in the world rankings) is placed 101-150.

As for the remaining five, Mexico takes two spots, with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175th in the world rankings) at 101-150 and the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM, 253rd in the world rankings) at 151-200.

Argentina, Chile and Colombia each have one school featured in the ranking. These are the Argentinian Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA, 198th in the world rankings) at 101-150, the Chilean Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (167th in the world rankings) at 51-100 and the Colombian Universidad de Los Andes Colombia (262nd in the world rankings) also at 101-150.

Read more about studying in Latin America with our range of country guides, or find more top universities in this region with the latest QS University Rankings: Latin America.

Top universities for politics & international studies in Africa & the Middle East

Three top universities for politics and international studies are claimed by Turkey, including Bilkent University (399th in the world rankings) at 101-150. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (138th in the world rankings) is Israel’s only offering, at 151-200.

South Africa is the only African country featured in this ranking, with the University of Cape Town (141st in the world rankings) at 51-100 and the University of Witwatersrand (318th in the world rankings) at 101-150.

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To learn more about the above world regions, see our where to study homepage. To explore the world’s leading universities in 35 more subjects, see the QS World University Rankings by Subject homepage.

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This article was originally published in May 2015 . It was last updated in January 2020

Written by

Laura is a former staff writer for TopUniversities.com, providing advice and guidance for students on a range of topics helping them to choose where to study, get admitted and find funding and scholarships. A graduate of Queen Mary University of London, Laura also blogs about student life.

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