This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study politics without using the scientific method.

See also Political Science.

Notable political scientists

A

• David Abernethy - Comparative Politics, Africa Specialist at Stanford University; author of "The Dynamics of Global Dominance".
• Alan I. Abramowitz - American politics and election forecasting at Emory University; co-author of Senate Elections.
• Christopher H. Achen - Political methodologist at Princeton University, first president of the Society for Political Methodology.
• Prajesh Adhikari - Comparative politics; Eastern Europe specialist at Arizona State University; author of "The Hope Gene".
• John Aldrich - Political parties expert at Duke University, author of Why Parties?
• Graham Allison - Early proponent of the bureaucratic politics model, author of Essence of Decision, national security specialist, former Dean of Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
• Gabriel A. Almond - Originator of the culturist movement in Comparative Politics.
• R. Douglas Arnold - Congress scholar, author of The Logic of Congressional Action.
• Robert Axelrod - Expert on game theory and complexity theory, wrote extensively on the Prisoner's Dilemma, former president of American Political Science Association.

B

• Stephen Barber - Noted for his work on political strategy and political economy, author of Political Strategy, member of G3 (tour).
• Benjamin Barber - proponent of participatory democracy and local governance teaching at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Park.
• Simion Bărnuţiu - Noted for his work on political strategy in Austria and Romania.
• Larry Bartels - Democracy and voting expert at Princeton University.
• Gad Barzilai - Law and Politics, Human Rights and Politics, Communities and Law at University of Washington .
• Nathaniel Beck - Political methodologist, international relations scholar.
• Jeffrey Berry - American Politics & Political Behavior expert, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University.
• Duncan Black - Responsible for unearthing the work of many early political scientists, including Charles Dodgson.
• Hans T. Blokland - Author of Freedom and Culture in Western Society and Modernization and its political consequences.
• Jean Blondel - Comparative politics at University of Siena, emeritus at European University Institute.
• Catherine Boone - Comparative politics, Africa (University of Texas at Austin).
• Jean-Charles de Borda - 18th century mathematician who devised the Borda count.
• Steven Brams - Expert on voting systems.
• Ahron Bregman - Expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
• John Brehm - Public opinion and political psychology expert.
• Ian Bremmer - Political risk specialist.
• Benichou Rachid - Political philosopher, he was number one of world 1969 to date.
• Stephen Brooks - International relations scholar.
• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita - Pioneering game theorist with applications to international relations, author of selectorate theory, seminal book "The War Trap".
• Walter Dean Burnham - Expert in the field of realigning elections, emeritus at University of Texas at Austin.
• Ken Butterworth - Comparative politics, South American (University of South Florida).

C

• James E. Campbell - American politics, election forecasting, theory of "surge and decline," SUNY-Buffalo, Author of "The American Campaign"
• George Catlin - (1896-1979) was an English political scientist and philosopher. A strong proponent of Anglo-America cooperation, he worked for many years as a professor at Cornell University.
• Edward Hallett Carr - Noted international relations theorist.
• Alfredo Castillero Hoyos - Democracy and Human Rights. Former member of the United Nations's Human Rights Committee.
• James Ceaser - Major scholar of American politics (University of Virginia)
• Partha Chatterjee - Indian postcolonial critic, political and social scientist
• John Coakley - specialist in ethnic conflict and Irish politics
• Benjamin Cohen - leader in the field of International Political Economy
• David Collier (political scientist), - comparativist, Latin Americanist, Methodologist
• Ruth Berins Collier, - comparativist, Latin Americanist, specialist on labor politics and democratization
• Josep Colomer - Institutionalist, comparativist, and game theorist scholar.
• Marquis de Condorcet - 18th century mathematician and philosopher who contributed the often used Condorcet criterion and devised the concept of a Condorcet method.
• John Coneybeare - International organizations theorist.
• Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri - International Relations, Indology at Institute of Commonwealth Studies
• Philip Converse - Public opinion scholar, author of "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics."
• Clyde Coombs - Voting systems expert, designed "Coombs' method"
• Colm Costigan - Renowned Irish Politician of the 1970s, professor at University of Dublin
• Gary Cox - Noted scholar of comparative and American politics.
• Philip Cowley - Author of "Revolts and Rebellions".
• Ralph W. Conant - Author of "The Prospects for Revolution" and "Toward a More Perfect Union: The Governance of Metropolitan America".

D

• Robert A. Dahl - American politics specialist, author of On Democracy (Yale University Press)
• Daniel Deudney - Writer and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University; author of Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village
• Karl Deutsch - Political scientist, focused on political communication.
• Robert Devigne - Political Theory Expert, professor at Tufts University.
• Larry Diamond - Comparative democratization specialist. Professor at Stanford University.
• Jouke de Vries - Frisian politician and professor at the university of Leiden.
• Thomas Diez - Chair in International Relations at the University of Birmingham
• John DiIulio - American politics expert at the University of Pennsylvania; first director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Groups
• Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (also known as Lewis Carroll) - Author of Alice in Wonderland and professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford; devised Dodgson's method of voting.
• Robert Donaldson - Professor at University of Tulsa and specialist in US/Russian foreign policy.
• Michael Scott Doran - Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
• Anthony Downs - has contributed to democratic theory, elections studies.
• Donald Downs - Professor at University of Wisconsin; researcher for Independent Institute
• Maurice Duverger - French lawyer and sociologist responsible for Duverger's law.
• Michael W. Doyle - International Relations theorist, author of "Empires".
• Murray Dry - Professor at Middlebury College, specializing in constitutional law
• John Dunn - Political theorist at the University of Cambridge.
• Rand Dyck - Canadian politics expert and professor at Carleton University.
• Thomas R. Dye - Elite theory vs. Pluralism; author of The Irony of Democracy and Who's Running America?

E

• David Easton - Originator of systemic theory
• Harry Eckstein - Noted comparative politics expert in culture and democracy.
• Jon Elster - Norwegian social and political theorist authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory and a notable proponent of Analytical Marxism.
• Robert S. Erikson - noted for work on the link between public opinion and public policy.

F

• Peter D. Feaver - International security expert.
• David Fellman - Constitutional scholar
• Richard Fenno - Congress scholar, author of Home Style: House Members in their Districts
• Thomas Ferguson - Politics and economics
• Samuel Finer - Academic and author on political science and history of government.
• Martha Finnemore - International organizations and ethics scholar.
• Peter Fishburn - Operations analysis and probability theory expert.
• Keith Fitzgerald - Immigration politics expert.
• James H. Fowler - Expert on political participation, the evolution of cooperation, and social network theory (UCSD)
• Ernst Fraenkel
• Francis Fukuyama - International political theory and biopolitics.

G

• Gerald Gamm - Political Science Department Chair at the University of Rochester.
• Anthony Giddens - Noted political sociologist originator of the Third Way.
• Anthony Gill - Comparativist, religion and politics specialist. Author of Rendering Unto Caesar (University of Chicago Press)
• Robert Gilpin - International political economy specialist.
• James M. Glaser - American Politics & Political Behavior Expert. Professor and Dean of Undergraduate Education at Tufts University. Author of The Hand of the Past in Contemporary Southern Politics & Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South.
• Sheldon Goldman - Expert on American federal courts, Professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• Joanne Gowa - International political economy expert (democratic peace theory).
• Joseph Grieco - International relations theorist; Duke University professor.
• Amy Gutmann - political theory expert; (2004-present) President of the University of Pennsylvania

H

• Harry Harding - China specialist.
• Thomas Hare - Devised Single Transferable Vote (also known as Hare's method).
• Jeremy Harris - American Politics Specialist
• Michael Hart - British twentieth century politics specialist.
• Louis Hartz - American author of The Liberal Tradition in America (1955).
• Colin Hay - influential British political scientist
• Marc Hetherington - Author of "Why Trust Matters" and offered new participation paradigm.
• Christopher J. Hill - International Relations scholar, Professor and Director of the Cambridge Centre of International Studies.
• Roger Hilsman - JFK Aid, Columbia University Professor, and prolific author.
• Thomas Holbrook - Public Opinion and Elections Research, author Do Campaigns Matter?
• Donald Horowitz - Pioneered political science models for assessing ethnic conflict.
• Michael P. Howlett - Canadian political economy.
• Christina N. Hughes - Education policy expert at the University of Houston.
• Samuel P. Huntington - Author of "Clash of Civilizations" and a noted comparativist.

I

• Kancha Ilaiah - Dalit scholar and social scientist

J

• Larry Jacobs - Presidential and legislative politics
• Gary Jacobsohn - Comparative constitutional theory
• Gary C. Jacobson - Congressional politics expert
• M. Kent Jennings - Grandfather of political socialization.
• Robert Jervis - International security specialist.
• Chalmers Johnson - Comparative theorist.
• Loch K. Johnson - United States intelligence expert.
• Bertrand de Jouvenel - French political scientist. Co-founder of Mont Pelerin Society
• Robert M. Jackson - Professor emeritus at CSU, Chico and author.

K

• Peter Katzenstein
• Dennis Kavanagh
• Michael Keating - Specialist in nationalism, European integration and regionalism
• Robert O. Keohane - Interdependence theory author.
• V.O. Key, Jr. - Elections, parties and public opinion scholar.
• Kan Kimura - Professor at Kobe University, Specialist in nationalism, East Asian Politics.
• Gary King - Professor at Harvard, political methodologist.
• Henry Kissinger - Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to President Richard M. Nixon.
• Herbert Kitschelt - author on new radical right parties
• Ruud Koole - Professor at Leiden University, Netherlands and former labour party president.
• Stephen D. Krasner - International regimes author, Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and professor at Stanford University.
• Michael Krassa - Elections, social context, architecture and society. Lobbyist, consultant, political sociologist and Chair of Human Dimensions of Environmental Systems department at University of Illinois at Urbana.
• Keith Krehbiel - Congress scholar and formal theorist.
• Oskar Krejčí - Theory of international relations, elections and political psychology, former advisor to two Czechoslovak premieres.
• James Kurth
• Will Kymlicka - Originated the theoretical foundations of multiculturalism.

L

• Guy Laforest -Liberalism (John Locke) scholar and Quebec and Canadian politics specialist
• David A. Lake - International Relations Theorist
• Richard Ned Lebow - Noted constructivist, Cold War expert, author of "Tragic Vision of Politics".
• Michael Leifer - International Relations, South Asian Studies, London School of Economics
• Michael S. Lewis-Beck - Comparative and American political behavior and election forecasting, University of Iowa, author of Economics and Elections.
• Arend Lijphart - Originator of consociationalism.
• Dan Lipinski - US House of Representatives (IL-D, 3rd)
• Juan Linz - Democracy specialist
• Seymour Martin Lipset - Renowned political theorist on democracy and development and parties. Taught at Stanford University.
• Ramon Llull - Discoverer of Condorcet Criterion and Borda Count
• Theodore Lowi - Major scholar of American politics at Cornell
• Ian Lustick - State territioriality ethnic conflict and computer modelling in political science; University of Pennsylvania
• Rodrigo Losada Lora - political behavior from a sociopsychological framework. Works on Colombia's political participation. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana,Bogotá, Colombia

M

• Niccolò Machiavelli - considered to be the originator of historically based political science. Author of The Prince
• Harvey C. Mansfield - Political philosophy (Harvard University)
• Donald Manzullo - Congressional Representative of Illinois' 16th District.
• Zeev Maoz - Arab-Israeli Conflict and international relations expert
• Jose M. Maravall - Political economist.
• David Marsh - influential British political scientist
• Pierre Martin - French parties and elections scholar.
• Juraj Marusiak - Slovak expert for Central and Eastern Europe
• David R. Mayhew - US legislative behavior and political parties expert.
• Mathew McCubbins - Formal theorist. U.S. Congress and bureaucracy specialist.
• Michael McFaul - Russia specialist, professor and director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University
• John McGarry - Ethnic conflict specialist
• John Mearsheimer - Noted international relations theorist and national security expert.
• Uday Mehta - Political theorist and author of Liberalism and Empire
• Thierry Meyssan - Political theorist of anti-imperialism
• Samuel Merrill III - Voting behavior and party competition.
• George Michael - specialist in right-wing extremism.
• Peter Middlebrook - political economist specialising in transition economies.
• David Miller - Political Philosopher specialized in theories of social justice
• Terry Moe - American politics specialist and game theorist, teaches at Stanford University.
• Hans Morgenthau - Noted realist, international relations specialist.
• James Morrow - International relations expert and game theorist.
• Michael Munger - trained as an economist, chair of political science at Duke University, running for governor of North Carolina as a Libertarian

N

• Douglass North - Nobel laureate
• Philip Norton - British politics expert
• Pippa Norris - Harvard comparative political scientist
• Joseph Nye - "Soft power" international security specialist; Kennedy School Dean.

O

• Brendan O'Leary - Ethnic conflict specialist
• Cornelius O'Leary - Irish historian and political scientist
• Mancur Olson - International political economy specialist. Expert on collective action problems. Taught at the University of Maryland, College Park.
• A.F.K. Organski - Developed power transition theory in his 1958 book "World Politics".

P

• Thomas Pangle - Political theorist at University of Texas at Austin
• Michael Parenti - Political Scientist and Author
• Gianfranco Pasquino Italian political scientist. Electoral systems, comparative politics.
• Gleb Pavlovsky - Russian political scientist.
• Miroslav Pekník - Director of the Institute of Political Science of SAS.
• Nelson W. Polsby - American politics scholar.
• Karl Popper - Theorist who invented the Open Society
• Samuel L. Popkin - Early expert on rational choice theory.
• G. Bingham Powell - Leader in the field of comparative politics, professor at the University of Rochester.
• Sergei M. Plekhanov - Russia relations expert
• Adam Przeworski - Democratic transitions theorist, author of Democracy and Development. Member of the September Group.
• Robert D. Putnam - Social capital theorist, author of Bowling Alone.

R

• Condoleezza Rice - Former National Security Advisor now Secretary of State. Professor at Stanford University.
• Floyd M. Riddick - Parliamentarian of the United States Senate from 1964 to 1974, and developer of Riddick's Senate procedure.
• William H. Riker - 20th century political scientist who applied game theory to political science.
• Douglas Rivers - Political econometrician, quantitative methods expert at Stanford University.
• David Rohde - Congress scholar
• Stein Rokkan - Expert on political parties and movements, founder of the Institute for Comparative Politics.
• Richard Rose - American political scientist, Professor of Politics at the University of Aberdeen
• Richard Rosecrance - International relations and political economy expert.
• Clinton Rossiter - American government and constitutional history theorist.
• John Ruggie - International relations theorist, social constructivist.
• John Rawls - Political philosopher.
• William D. Richardson - Political philosopher.
• Malaya C. Ronas - Filipino political scientist, professor at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
• Jordan Renaud - Canadian Political Scientist, writer and Socialist.

S

• Scott Sagan - Stanford professor and notable critic of deterrence theory.
• Slobodan Samardžić - Research includes political ideas and institutions, federalism, constitutionalism, and European Union.
• David Samuels - Comparativist scholar of Brazilian politics and political institutions.
• Giovanni Sartori - Comparativist, expert on constitutional theory and party systems; author of Parties and Party Systems.
• E.E. Schattschneider - Early political parties expert, author of Party Government and The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America
• Sanford Schram - Research includes welfare reform, race, poverty, and research methodology.
• Gesine Schwan – Political scientist, president of the Viadrina European University, and nominated twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections of Germany.
• James C. Scott - political economist, Southeast Asia area specialist
• Hossein Seifzadeh - Iranian Professor of Political Science at University of Tehran and expert on strategic and security issues in the Middle East
• Mitchell A. Seligson - Centennial Professor of Political Science Vanderbilt University and founder of Latin American Public Opinion Project and AmericasBarometer
• Randolph M. Siverson - Research includes studies of international conflict, comparative political leadership, and foreign policy decision-making. See: selectorate theory.
• Theda Skocpol - Comparative sociologist, former president of American Political Science Association, (Harvard University)
• Stephen Skowronek - Presidency and American political development scholar (Yale University)
• Matthew Soberg Shugart - Scholar of constitutional design and electoral systems.
• Daniel Šmihula - Specialist for international and European law and security studies.
• Jean Edward Smith - political economist, biographer, international relations, constitutional law.
• Rogers Smith - Pulitzer Prize finalist, American politics expert at the University of Pennsylvania
• Steven S. Smith - American politics, congressional politics, Russian politics; Director, Weidenbaum Center
• Herbert Simon - Nobel Prize winning professor at Carnegie Mellon. A founder of artificial intelligence research, he received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago
• Peverill Squire - Americanist
• Wayne Steger - Americanist, presidential politics specialist, DePaul University
• Alfred Stepan - Comaparativist, Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government at Columbia University
• Zeev Sternhell - Theorist, political historian of political ideology.
• James A. Stimson - Americanist, former editor of Political Analysis.
• John G. Stoessinger - International relations theorist, author of "The Might of Nations: World Politics in our Time".
• Donald Stokes -- Former Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, expert on elections.
• Herbert Storing - American politics expert.
• Surain Subramaniam - professor and prolific author, realist school of international relations
• Prithi Pal Singh Sohi - Professor and Ph.d on International Politics, Political Analyst and Free lance writer on National and International issues. Book: Foreign Policy of Communists. Hosting political shows and debates on Indian Television.

T

• Rein Taagepera - Comparativist, expert on electoral systems and history of government.
• Dennis Thompson - Political theorist at Harvard University
• Charles Tilly - Professor at Columbia University, his work includes contentious politics and evolution of modern states
• Herbert Tingsten - Professor of political science at Stockholm University
• James Tong - Comparativist, with interests in Chinese Politics and political violence.
• David B. Truman
• Jeffrey K. Tulis - Author of The Rhetorical Presidency
• J. Ann Tickner - Feminist international relations theorist and current president of the International Studies Association(ISA).
• George Tsebelis - Game theorist notable for his general theory of Veto players and for describing the Robinson Crusoe fallacy.

U

V

• Stephen Van Evera - MIT international relations expert, known for proposing Offense-Defense theory
• Sidney Verba
• Eric Voegelin - Major work, "Order and History" in five volumes, he rejected the notion that political science should become a positivistic social science.

W

• Helen Wallace - International relations specialist.
• Stephen Walt - International relations specialist.
• Kenneth N. Waltz - Founder of the neorealist international relations school
• Michael Walzer - International relations, just war theory
• Ken Ward - Constitutional Law, Texas State University
• Alexander Wendt - Social constructivism proponent
• Darrell M. West - Specialist in electronic government, Brookings Institution director of Governance Studies
• John Henry Whyte - Specialist in Northern Irish politics
• Alan Whaites - States/State-building theorist, DFID[1]
• Aaron Wildavsky - Author of "Risk and Culture"
• James Q. Wilson - Former President of the American Political Science Association
• Woodrow Wilson - Former Professor of Politics at Princeton University and former U.S. President
• William Wohlforth - International relations scholar
• Susan L. Woodward - Balkans specialist

Y

• Atilla Yayla – Professor of Politics, Political Economy and Political Philosophy at Gazi University in Turkey, and president of the Association for Liberal Thinking.
• Crawford Young - Noted comparativist, Africa scholar.

Z

• Fareed Zakaria - International Relations Expert
• John Zaller - Author of "The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion," at UCLA.

See also

• Political Science
• Political Theorists
• List of people