Course summary

This MSc Government, Policy and Politics gives you the chance to examine the day-to-day practice and reality of government by analysing contemporary politics and public policy in the UK and around the world. Why choose this course?

• It helps you develop a wealth of analytical skills and encourages the kind of rigorous, critical thought that can be easily transferred to other settings after your degree.

• It combines theoretical approaches with empirical knowledge and real-world case studies, exploring topics in political theory, political science and sociology.

• Taught by academics with expertise in researching, writing about and participating in politics, it gives you the opportunity to debate and engage with the everyday practicalities of the field.

• It is ideal if you wish to make progress in a career in politics, policy, research, lobbying or journalism.

• the UK’s political and constitutional order

• central ideas in political science around the nature of social cleavages and the role of party politics

• the organisation of the political executive and the role of the civil service and the judiciary

• how and why policy is made

• developments in a wide range of policy areas, including health care, social policy, migration, the environment, education and macroeconomics.

• You will have the opportunity to engage with the lively programme of seminars and conferences run by our research centres, such as the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life.

• You will be taught by academic staff who are international authorities in their respective fields, publishing and delivering stimulating teaching in a wide range of political topics including public policy, foreign policy, international security and terrorism, gender and the welfare state, British politics, and the politics of Asia and the Middle East.

• Our location in central London puts you at the heart of the UK’s political life and at the centre of academic London. Parliament and Whitehall are a short distance away, while Bloomsbury contains some of the world’s most famous libraries and centres of research. One of our campus buildings was once a key location for members of the Bloomsbury Group, so you could be studying in rooms that have hosted distinguished visitors, including T.S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw and Maynard Keynes.

• advanced knowledge of British political institutions and of the relationship between state and society

• detailed knowledge of the different actors, processes and stages involved in formulating public policies in liberal democracies

• critical understanding of key contemporary theories, debates and issues relating to politics and policy

• ability to critically analyse and apply theories and models to contemporary political and policy issues.

• Civil Service fast-streamer

• government social research officer

• politician’s assistant

• public affairs consultant

• diplomatic services operational officer

• public relations officer

• journalist.