Research Groups

The UC Davis Department of Political Science hosts or is affiliated with several research groups through which faculty and student researchers collaborate in advancing insights and knowledge.

  • Political Science Research Workshop
  • The Political Science Research Workshop is a forum for graduate students and faculty to present research in progress, including working papers, pre-analysis plans, and other research designs. The goal is to facilitate collaboration, promote cutting edge research, and support graduate students in their research projects.  
  • Davis Political Theory Forum
  • The Davis Political Theory Forum hosts numerous activities relating to political science, including a reading group, a lecture-seminar series, and a workshop series in which faculty and students present research in progress. Participants in these activities include faculty and graduate students within the Department of Political Science, and faculty from other departments at UC Davis and from other universities in the area, as well as invited speakers and participants. 
  • Running Dog Methodology Reading Group
  • In the Running Dog Methodology Reading Group, all participants, including faculty members and graduate students, regard themselves as pupils in pursuit of knowledge — metaphorically, dogs running together in a pack, with no designated teacher as leader. This reading collective focuses on applied statistical methodology and computational and formal modeling, under the sponsorship of Department of Political Science faculty.
  • Social and Political Interacting Networks
  • The Social and Political Interacting Networks (SPINS) group is an interdisciplinary working group devoted to the study of network science, social network analysis, and the study of international processes. The group includes faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from political science, communications, computer science, applied math and physics. The goal of SPIN is to explore the effect of shocks on networks, the causes and consequences of network spillover, and methods for analyzing social and political networks. The group operates with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Minerva Initiative of the Department of Defense. 
  • Correlates of War
  • Correlates of War is a scholarly project that throughout the past five decades has systematically gathered and assimilated data regarding the causes of warfare, the historical patterns leading to international and civil war, and the capabilities of nations to wage war. Scholars participating in the project collect, analyze and disseminate data about factors contributing to military strength and conflict escalation. The project, which was established at the University of Michigan in 1963, is under the direction of Zeev Maoz, UC Davis distinguished professor of Political Science.
  • Omnibus Program of Experimental Research
  • The Omnibus Program of Experimental Research is an experimental research program, run by the Department of Political Science, that coordinates the use of undergraduate participant pools for political science experiments either in our experimental labs or using online tools. Our goal is to advance empirical research in political behavior while also enriching the learning environment for the faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students.