The MSc in Government and Politics is a revamped and exciting interdisciplinary taught master's programme that provides graduates with the expertise and work experience required for successful careers in public policy environments.
The course is offered by UCC's Departments of Government and Politics, History, and Philosophy, and will give you access to expertise across a diverse range of subjects. The MSc Government and Politics is also oriented towards vocational skills training, through coursework, and the opportunity to undertake a work placement.
The MSc will enable you to develop your research and analytical skills in the areas of government, political science and public policy. It will also give you a number of other skills, including: data analysis; research, communication and writing skills; policy analysis, critical, systematic and independent thinking; and presentation skills. The work placement will give you a unique opportunity to develop important professional skills and to immediately apply your learning to the professional world.
The programme will prepare you for positions in government, international organisations, the private, community and voluntary sectors and PhD research. Our graduates have found employment as parliamentary researchers, journalists, analysts in the banking and IT industries, press officers, teachers and some have gone on to PhD research.
The focus of the MSc Government and Politics is on governance. Government affects our day-to-day lives. It affects the food we eat, the healthcare we receive and the taxes we pay. Modern-day governance occurs at many levels: local, regional, national, European and international.
The MSc in Government and Politics helps you understand contemporary governance. In doing so it examines issues such as developments in democratic theory, regulatory reform, governance and international relations. It also examines contemporary policy debates at the local, national, European and international levels, looking at political reform in the Irish context, the changing dynamics of European governance as well as the challenges faced by democracy and the protection/advancement of human rights in the twenty-first century.
The MSc in Government is suitable for graduates of social science, arts, commerce, law or related disciplines.
Why Choose This Course
A key feature of the MSc in Government and Politics is its focus on governance and public policy issues, and the way in which it gives you the practical skills necessary to work in policy environments. In addition, the work placement and the skills focus of the assessment for the programme are central to its effectiveness.
If you are a graduate in social science, arts, commerce or law, this course will help you to specialise in political science and will provide you with key transferable practical skills (data analysis, presentations, team work).
These features of the MSc Government and Politics give our graduates a competitive edge. Past students repeatedly comment on the value of the skills component of the course and the work placements in exposing them to policy-related environments and in engendering a deep understanding of this exciting and evolving field.
Placement or Study Abroad Information
Uniquely for a taught masters of this type, the MSc Government and Politics offers you the choice of either a traditional minor thesis or the opportunity to undertake a work placement of four months.
Students take work placements in a variety of organisations/institutions working in areas related to national affairs, such as government ministries, the offices of elected representatives, think-tanks and non-governmental organisations. We have relationships with a variety of organisations who take students from the course and students are provided with expert support in sourcing and applying for work placements.