Political Science – Public Policy

The PhD program in Political Science – Public Policy at Central European University (CEU) is designed for scholars interested in conducting research on the cause, function, nature and outcome of public policy.

Key facts

• The PhD program in Political Science – Public Policy at Central European University (CEU) taught by faculty that specialize in different levels of policy making, including the sub-national, national, European Union and global levels, and PhD students work on or have graduated with theses that focus on each of these different levels.

• Research and study in the Public Policy track draws on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Most projects emphasize empirically driven analysis.
• The track is primarily designed to train academic researchers in the field of comparative public policy, but scholars also learn to apply analytical tools to ‘real world’ policy problems and to produce high-quality policy advice.

• Faculty

• The faculty involved in the PhD program come from a range of public-policy related disciplinary backgrounds, including international relations, politics, law and economics. In addition to being authoritative voices in their respective fields of research, they also have first-hand policy experience, working for think-tanks (e.g. the RAND Corporation) or businesses (e.g. Vodafone), consulting with NGOs (e.g. Open Society Institute, Transparency International) or advising national or local governments, as well as international organizations (e.g. World Bank Institute).

Research areas:

• European Union politics and policy, regional integration
• Governance (local, national, European Union, global)
• Public management and administration
• Policy reform analysis
• Development and trade
• Role of civil society in public policy
• Minorities
• Public services and utilities (particularly media and communications, energy and higher education)
• Economic and labor market policy
• Political parties and public policies