Spring 2026, American Congress & Government Internship, Governance Studies (Job ID 2026-3726)

The Brookings Institution • DC

86d • $18

About The Position

Thinking about a career in public policy? Committed to improving the world we live in? Think Brookings - one of the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tanks! Interns spend approximately 12 weeks working alongside leading experts in government and academia from all over the world. Brookings also offers students the opportunity to intern in departments such as communications, human resources and central operations management. The mission of the Internship Program is to provide students with a pre-professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work experience related to their field of study or career interest. Students engage in career exploration and development as well as learn new skills. Interns will have the opportunity to attend meetings, think tank events, professional development workshops, and public Brookings events. In addition, interns will have the opportunity to network with other interns throughout the Institution. This internship is an opportunity for undergraduate students in their junior or senior year and graduate students pursuing a masters degree with an interest in American politics and policy to apply principles and theory learned in the classroom in a professional environment. PhD students are not eligible for internships; please visit our Careers page for current open positions. This internship pays an hourly rate of $18.00, and applicants must be willing to commit to a minimum number of hours per week (no less than 25 hours per week, during regular business hours), with some flexibility around an academic course schedule.

Requirements

• Undergraduate students in their junior or senior year and graduate students pursuing a masters degree in public policy, political science, or related fields.
• Demonstrated interest in American politics and policy, congress and congressional reform, fiscal and monetary politics and policy, and/or electoral politics.
• Strong writing, analytic and internet-based research skills.
• Experience with fact-checking, summarizing new information, creating literature reviews.
• Familiarity with data collection and data management tools including Excel, Stata, R, and/or Python.

Responsibilities

• Learn a variety of research skills such as data collection, editing, and general research support.
• Fact-check and help maintain Vital Statistics on Congress.
• Assist with data coding for a project relating to the presidency and the Federal Reserve.
• Collect data for legislative gridlock series.
• Assist the work of Senior Fellows Molly Reynolds and Sarah Binder.
• Cover research topics including Congress and congressional procedure, political polarization, reforming government, data management and processing techniques, data science and visualization principles.

Benefits

• Hourly pay of $18.00.
• Opportunity to network with other interns.
• Access to professional development workshops and public events.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree