Professional Internship Opportunities

The Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies at the University of Central Arkansas encourages all students majoring or minoring in political science, public administration, and international studies to apply for one or more professional internships during their undergraduate careers.  Internships provide students with valuable experience working full-time or part-time for one or more semesters in a governmental agency, a non-governmental organization, or an inter-governmental organization in Little Rock, Washington DC, New York City, and other locations throughout the United States and the world.

Several possible internship programs and opportunities are listed below in three different broad categories: (1) United States Government and Politics; (2) Arkansas Government and Politics; and (3) International Studies (International Relations and Comparative Politics).  Depending on a student’s particular interests and goals, there are several different internship programs located in Arkansas, New York City, Washington DC, and elsewhere.  Students are responsible for doing their own research on the various internship programs and choosing an internship that best fits their own requirements.

Students may receive three or more political science credit hours for an internship, depending on the particular internship.  The Department of Political Science has been very successful in assisting students applying for and receiving political science internships in recent years, including political campaigns, congressional offices, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies.  For more information regarding the department’s internship program, please contact Dr. Kim Hoffman, Department of Political Science Internship Coordinator, at khoffman@uca.edu.  For more information about the guidelines regarding political science/international studies internships, please see the following link:

Political Science/International Studies Programs – Internship Guidelines

1.  UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS

 

U.S. Federal Government Agencies (mostly in the Washington DC area, unless otherwise indicated):

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Library of Congress

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Global Affairs (OGA)

Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA)

Office of Inspector General (OIG)

Office on Women’s Health (OWH)

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. Supreme Court

White House

William J. Clinton Foundation (including the Clinton Presidential Center)Little Rock, AR

 

Advocacy Groups, Non-Governmental Organizations, Professional Associations, and Think Tanks:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Washington DC

American Conservative Union (ACU) – Washington DC

American Enterprise Institute (AEI) – Washington DC

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – Washington DC

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) – Washington DC

Brookings Institution – Washington DC

Cato Institute – Washington DC

Center for American Progress (CAP) – Washington DC

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) – Washington DC

Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) – Washington DC

Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) – Washington DC

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)Washington DC

Common CauseWashington DC

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) – Washington DC

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) – Washington DC

Emily’s ListWashington DC

Family Research Council (FRC) – Washington DC

Freedom WorksWashington DC

Greenpeace USAWashington DC

Heritage FoundationWashington DC

Hudson InstituteWashington DC

Judicial WatchWashington DC

Leadership InstituteWashington DC

Log Cabin RepublicansWashington DC

Media Research Center (MRC)Alexandria, VA

NAACPWashington DC

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) – Washington DC

National Governors Association (NGA) – Washington DC

National Organization for Women (NOW) – Washington DC

National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) – Washington DC

Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) – Washington DC

Project on Government Oversight (POGO) – Washington DC

Public CitizenWashington DC

RAND Corporation – Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Washington DC

Sierra Club – Washington DC

The Century FoundationNew York, NY and Washington DC

United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) – Washington DC

Urban Institute – Washington DC

Vote Smart (PVS) Internship Program – Des Moines, Iowa

William J. Clinton Foundation – Little Rock, AR and New York, NY

 

General:

DC Internships: Capital Semester Program – Washington DC

The Washington Center (TWC) for Internships and Academic Seminars – Washington DC

Washington Internship Institute (WII) – Washington DC

 

National Political Party Organizations:

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) – Washington DC

Democratic Governors Association (DGA) – Washington DC

Democratic National Committee (DNC) – Washington DC

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) – Washington DC

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) – Washington DC

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) – Washington DC

Republican Governors Association (RGA) – Washington DC

Republican National Committee (RNC) – Washington DC

 

2.  ARKANSAS GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS

 

Congressman Rick Crawford (1st District of Arkansas) Internship Program – Jonesboro, AR and Washington DC

Congressman French Hill (2nd District of Arkansas) Internship Program – Conway and Little Rock, AR and Washington DC

Congressman Steve Womack (3rd District of Arkansas) Internship Program – Rogers, Fort Smith, Harrison, AR, and Washington DC.

Congressman Bruce Westerman (4th District of Arkansas) Internship Program – Hot Springs, AR, and Washington DC

Democratic Party of Arkansas – Little Rock, AR

Office of the Governor of Arkansas – Little Rock, AR

Office of the Lt. Governor of Arkansas – Little Rock, AR

Office of the Attorney-General of Arkansas – Little Rock, AR

Republican Party of Arkansas – Little Rock, AR

Senator John Boozman Internship Program – Little Rock, Fort Smith, Lowell, Jonesboro, Stuttgart, Mountain Home, El Dorado, AR and Washington DC

Senator Tom Cotton Internship Program – Springdale, AR and Washington DC

 

3.  INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (COMPARATIVE POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS) INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS
U.S. Federal Government Agencies:

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – Washington DC

National Security Agency (NSA)Washington DC

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)Washington DC

U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Washington DC

U.S. Department of StateWashington DC

Voice of America (VOA)Washington DC

 

Advocacy Groups, Non-Governmental Organizations, Professional Associations, and Think Tanks:

Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) – Washington DC

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) – Washington DC

American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) – Washington DC

American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – Washington DC

Amnesty International USAWashington DC and New York, NY

Arms Control Association (ACA) – Washington DC

Atlantic Council of the United States – Washington DC

Carter Center – Atlanta, GA

Center for Arms Control and Non-ProliferationWashington DC

Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) – Washington DC

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) – New York, NY and Washington DC

Middle East Institute (MEI) – Washington DC

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) – Washington DC

National Democratic Institute (NDI)Washington DC

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)Washington DC

Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)Washington DC

RAND Corporation – Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Santa Monica, CA

Refugees International – Washington DC and New York, NY

Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) – Washington DC and Little Rock, AR

The Century Foundation InstituteNew York, NY and Washington DC

The Truman Center – Washington DC

United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) – New York, NY

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)Washington DC

William J. Clinton Foundation – Little Rock, AR and New York, NY

Winrock InternationalArlington, VA and Little Rock, AR

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWC) – Washington DC

 

Inter-Governmental Organizations:

European Union (EU)Washington DC Office

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – Brussels, Belgium

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic

Organization of American States (OAS) – Washington DC

United Nations (UN) – New York, NY

United Nations (UN) – Vienna, Austria

United Nations (UN) – Nairobi, Kenya

United Nations (UN) – Geneva, Switzerland

World Bank – Washington DC