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Graduate Programs

Our Department is the ideal place to do Master's and Doctoral work. We offer a range of specialized seminars needed for strong graduate-level training, but are a small and collegial department so that students and faculty experience the type of intellectual interaction, supervision, and research collaboration that makes graduate work exciting!

Our program offers:

  • a diversity of theoretical perspectives;
  • a research-intensive environment, seen in our excellent record of ongoing active externally-funded research; and
  • a commitment to rigorous training in research methods to provide graduate students with an opportunity to develop outstanding analytical and research skills that are invaluable in scholarly and applied contexts. 
Questions about our program?
Manuela Dozzi, Administrative Assistant, Graduate Program
905-525-9140 ext. 24742
dozzim@mcmaster.ca

Application deadline for September 2023 entrance: January 21, 2023 for PhD applicants and January 28, 2023 for MA applicants.

Master of Arts

At the Master's level we offer two different MA degrees: 

  • Political Science (Canadian Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Theory, Public Policy and Administration)
    An examination of power and politics at the national level including Canadian and comparative politics, political theory, public policy and administration.

  • Global Politics
    A critical analysis of international relations which examines the global politics of states, corporations, social movements, genders and interest groups.

Graduate FAQs

Doctor of Philosophy

At the Doctoral level we offer specialized programs in Comparative Public Policy and International Relations. We are an ideal place for projects at the intersection of these two fields, such as the internationalization of public policy or developments in global governance.

Application to the program is highly competitive, with approximately one in ten applications being successful. The doctoral program is designed to equip graduates to conduct research and teach at the university level. Students will also be trained in another field such as Canadian politics, comparative politics, public policy or international relations. 

Political Science News

Additional training and research opportunities

McMaster or the Department belongs to these additional organizations, which provide additional training and research opportunities for our graduate students:

Our Graduates

Our graduates have secured postdoctoral fellowships (Johnson-Shoyama School, Asia Pacific Foundation) tenure track university positions (Bishops,  Brock, Carleton, Guelph, Mount Allison, Ottawa, l’Université de Montréal, Western, Winnipeg, York,  PUC-RIO Brazil, ) research positions at think tanks (IRPP) and in the federal and provincial civil service (Treasury Board, Higher Education Quality Council, Ontario Ministry of the Environment).

Our Graduates & Recent Theses