Political Science

How do political scientists explain political outcomes? How can political science be used to analyse the real world? The Political Science program at the University of Essex gives you additional rigorous training in research design and methods compared to an MSc or MA, preparing you for PhD research in any sub-field of political science.

Within the Political Science program at the University of Essex , you learn how to ask questions across political science, developing theories, conducting research, analysing data and exploring the empirical implications of theoretical models empirical methods. You learn to draw your own conclusions as to which approaches are appropriate for the questions they want to ask and answer, and gain a thorough and rigorous understanding of such research tools.

You study modules on theories of political explanation, research design, and empirical and mixed research methods across your two years, whilst developing a 35,000-word dissertation.

Your future

An MRes puts you in a particularly strong position to succeed in a research degree. We offer supervision for PhD and MPhil in the following fields:

• government and politics

• ideology and discourse analysis

• international relations

• political behaviour

• political economy

Our academic reputation is illustrated by the fact that many of our graduates now teach or research at universities, colleges of higher education and schools. For example, recent graduates are now research fellows and academic staff at: Mannheim, Germany; ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Duke University, USA; NATO/SHAPE, Belgium; and University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Courses include:

• Gender and Armed Conflict

• Israeli Politics

• From Cradle to Grave: Social Justice in Childhood, Adulthood, and Death

• Comparative Environmental Politics

• International Environmental Politics