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Political Scientists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Study the origin, development, and operation of political systems. May study topics, such as public opinion, political decisionmaking, and ideology. May analyze the structure and operation of governments, as well as various political entities. May conduct public opinion surveys, analyze election results, or analyze public documents.

Related: Economists Law Teachers, Postsecondary Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary Sociologists Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary

Industries: Government Professional, Science, & Technical

Summary
Details

Serve on committees.
Advise political science students.
Forecast political, economic, and social trends.
Evaluate programs and policies, and make related recommendations to institutions and organizations.
Evaluate programs and policies, and make related recommendations to institutions and organizations.
Develop and test theories, using information from interviews, newspapers, periodicals, case law, historical papers, polls, or statistical sources.
Interpret and analyze policies, public issues, legislation, or the operations of governments, businesses, and organizations.
Identify issues for research and analysis.
Consult with and advise government officials, civic bodies, research agencies, the media, political parties, and others concerned with political issues.
Write drafts of legislative proposals, and prepare speeches, correspondence, and policy papers for governmental use.
Teach political science.
Maintain current knowledge of government policy decisions.
Disseminate research results through academic publications, written reports, or public presentations.
Collect, analyze, and interpret data, such as election results and public opinion surveys, reporting on findings, recommendations, and conclusions.
Provide media commentary or criticism related to public policy and political issues and events.
Advise political science students.

Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.

Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

Education

Master's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

140970/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

67.78/hr

Currently Employed

290

Yearly Projected Openings

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Analytical Thinking
Achievement/Effort
Initiative
Persistence
Attention to Detail
Integrity

Audioconferencing systems
Desktop computers
Digital video disk players or recorders
Digital voice recorders
Notebook computers
Overhead projectors
Pocket calculator

Analytical or scientific software
Business intelligence and data analysis software
Data base management system software
Data base user interface and query software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Information retrieval or search software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Spreadsheet software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

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