Top Universities for Politics & International Studies in 2015

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

Meanwhile Canada has 11 representatives in the ranking, including three among the world’s top 50: the University of Toronto (20^th in the world rankings), McGill University (21^st in the world rankings) and the University of British Colombia (43^rd 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 (331^st in the world rankings), King’s College London (16^th in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17^th in the world rankings), UCL (University College London, 5^th in the world rankings) and the University of Warwick (61^st 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 (150^th in the world rankings) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (134^th 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 (75^th in the world rankings) and the University of Amsterdam (50^th 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 (45^th 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 (96^th in the world rankings), Sweden’s Lund University (60^th in the world rankings) and Stockholm University (182^nd in the world rankings), and Norway’s University of Oslo (101^st in the world rankings).

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

Next up is Ireland with two top political science schools: Trinity College Dublin (71^st in the world rankings) in the top 50 and University College Dublin (139^th 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 29^th 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 7^th place, is joined in the top 50 by the University of Sydney (37^th in the world rankings) and the University of Melbourne (33^rd in the world rankings). Also in the top 100 are Griffith University (324^th in the world rankings), Monash University (70^th in the world rankings), the University of New South Wales (UNSW, 48^th in the world rankings) and the University of Queensland (43^rd in the world rankings).

Of the three universities in New Zealand featured in this ranking, the University of Auckland (92^nd in the world rankings) is the highest ranked at 51-100, followed by the University of Otago (159^th in the world rankings) and the Victoria University of Wellington (275^th 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, 31^st in the world rankings) and Yonsei University (106^th in the world rankings) both appear in the top 50, followed by Korea University (116^th 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 (31^st in the world rankings), Kyoto University (36^th in the world rankings) and Keio University (197^th in the world rankings). Likewise, of the four universities in China featured in this ranking, three are within the top 50: Peking University (57^th in the world rankings), Fudan University (71^st in the world rankings) and Tsinghua University (47^th in the world rankings).

Of the three universities in Hong Kong featured, two are within the top 50: the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 28^th in the world rankings) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46^th 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, 22^nd in the world rankings), at 14^th 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 (367^th 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, 132^nd in the world rankings) is the highest ranked at 51-100, while the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp, 206^th 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, 175^th in the world rankings) at 101-150 and the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM, 253^rd 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, 198^th in the world rankings) at 101-150, the Chilean Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (167^th in the world rankings) at 51-100 and the Colombian Universidad de Los Andes Colombia (262^nd 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 (399^th in the world rankings) at 101-150. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (138^th 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 (141^st in the world rankings) at 51-100 and the University of Witwatersrand (318^th 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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