APSA Fellowship with the Congressional Research Service

“Serving as an APSA Congressional Fellow had been a goal of mine since I started graduate school. The fellowship provided an opportunity to examine the congressional policy-making process first hand. And while I had worked on congressional campaigns, in state legislative offices, and supervised student internships, I had no direct experience working on Capitol Hill for Congress. In addition, the program was highly recommended by senior colleagues who had served as fellows themselves. Nearly all of them had worked on the staffs of individual congressional members and found the experience served to better inform both their research and teaching. When I found out I would be serving as a fellow for the 2012–13 academic year, my plan was to spend that year in a congressional member office as well.

In addition to House or Senate member offices, the two-month fellowship orientation exposed me to other types of assignments fellows could receive. This included working for committees in either chamber, as well as legislative and executive branch agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, Congressional Budget Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Congressional Research Service, among others. Settling on a type of assignment was difficult, as each one had its own advantages. To make an informed decision on this question, I did what I do best: relentlessly hassled more knowledgeable people for advice. This included former fellows, undergraduate students, other political scientists, and friends from college and graduate school working on the Hill…” Read More.


PS: Political Science & Politics / Volume 46 / Issue 03 / July 2013, pp 700-701