About Us

Greetings, and welcome to the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University! From the founding of the department more than half a century ago, we have been committed to working together with our students for engaged learning and opportunities to help prepare them to be the leaders of the future. We devote our department’s teaching, research, and public service to student-centered and intellectually diverse programs characterized by academic rigor, student opportunity and experience, and applied learning in classroom, co-curricular, and community engagement components.  

To achieve these goals, Politics and Government provides high quality education at the graduate and undergraduate levels. We offer two majors at the undergraduate level – Political Science and Legal Studies. Our graduate program provides multiple sequences including Public Service, Global Politics, and Applied Community and Economic Development. Both undergraduate and graduate levels offer various co-curricular and extra-curricular programs to our students, including those that have a civic engagement component. Our faculty combine dedication and commitment to excellence in teaching with engagement & cutting-edge research on questions that are of vital importance to the society and the world. The faculty is also extensively involved in community engagement at local, state, national, and international levels and service to the campus and professional organizations.

We are very proud of the success of our students. Our work together has resulted in a long line of outstanding alumni who have distinguished themselves in local, state, and federal governments, in the legal system, in public policy and non-profit organizations, in academic circles, in private industries, and in other avenues. I invite you to browse the website and learn more about what the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University can offer. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Dr. James M. Scott
University Professor and Chair, Department of Politics and Government