Politics, Governance and Public Policy

Course description

On this course you'll explore the complexity of contemporary governance. You will examine its effects on the policymaking process, the multiplicity of actors involved in it, the powers they have to affect it and the constraints under which they operate.

You'll be guided by expert academic staff who specialise in governance and public policy. Together, you will address the following questions:

• What can different kinds of policymakers, operating in different governing contexts, actually achieve?
• How does global development policy designed at the UN or the World Bank influence on-the-ground practice in recipient countries?
• Why are more and more public governance functions taken on by private actors, and who wins and loses from this process?
• Where should governing authority for particular policies be located between the sub-national, national and international level?
• What theories and concepts can we utilise to help us better understand these processes?

This degree attracts a hugely diverse student body. Some students may have already studied politics and public policy previously and want to further their knowledge. Others have come from other social science backgrounds and wish to specialise, while bringing knowledge and theory from an alternate academic perspective.

We also welcome students with no academic experience in the subject, who might have experience working in a diverse array of sectors such as the military, petrochemicals or financial risk compliance, and wish to further their knowledge of how and why the public policy process functions in the way that it does.

If this sounds like you, and you’re fascinated by the questions of how policy is governed and what policymakers can achieve, then this is the degree for you.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.

Your career

Politics postgraduate students go on to work in a variety of exciting roles across the globe.

The MA Politics, Governance and Public Policy degree will prepare you especially well for working in policy-focused roles in local and national government, third sector organisations, global governance bodies and the private sector. The world of public policy is complex, as are the range of careers that expertise on the subject lends itself to.

You'll develop a host of transferable skills that will appeal to a range of employers. Recent graduates have secured employment with:

• Bank of England
• Home Office
• International Development Research Network
• British Red Cross
• Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
• WPP plc
• Ministry of Justice
• Chulalongkorn University