Course summary

The MSc Political Science is a wide-ranging programme combining subject-specific study and rigorous methodological training. The Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics stream focuses on the comparative study of political systems and looks for sophisticated analytical answers to basic political questions across a broad range of issues: Why are some countries democratic while others are not? Do constitutions matter? Why are some countries torn by conflict? How and why do conflicts change over time? What can be done to manage or resolve a conflict? What accounts for differing patterns of income distribution in different capitalist countries? How and why do economic institutions and policymaking differ across countries? The Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics stream is methodologically eclectic yet rigorous, and students are given the tools to select an approach appropriate to their empirical interests, including narrative historical methods as well as quantitative ones. It offers courses in the fields of democracy and democratisation, nationalism and ethnicity, comparative political economy, political institutions, popular politics, and politics of the developing world as well as a wide range of country- and area-specific options. Regional foci include the developed democracies, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, India, China and South-East Asia. This programme will be a good preparation for a career in international organisations, government, public policy, political consultancy, security agencies, finance, the media and NGOs, as well as providing an excellent foundation for further research including PhD programmes.