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Politics and International Relations

View the employability skills

Depending upon the balance of particular topics studied, a graduate in politics and international relations typically will have the ability to:

  • understand the nature and significance of politics as a global and human activity
  • apply concepts, theories and methods to analysing political ideas, institutions, practices and issues in the local, international and global arena
  • demonstrate knowledge and understanding of different political systems, their nature and the distribution of power in them; the social, economic, historical and cultural contexts within which they operate, and the relationships between these, including ongoing contemporary changes
  • evaluate different interpretations of political issues and events, locally and globally
  • demonstrate an understanding of the origins and evolution of international politics
  • gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information from secondary and primary sources
  • identify, investigate, analyse, formulate and advocate solutions to problems
  • construct reasoned arguments, synthesise information and exercise critical judgement
  • recognise the importance of ethical approaches to work
  • reflect on own learning and seek and make use of constructive feedback
  • manage own learning self-critically
  • communicate effectively and fluently in speech and writing
  • use communication and information technology in a reflective and critical way to retrieve and present information, including statistical and numerical information
  • work independently, demonstrating initiative, self-organisation and time-management
  • collaborate with others to achieve common goals.

Studying politics develops knowledge and understanding of government and society. The interaction of people, ideas and institutions provides the focus to understand how values are allocated and resources distributed at many levels, from the local through to the sectoral, national, regional and global. Analyses of who gets what, when, how, why and where are central and pertain to questions of power, justice, order, conflict, legitimacy, accountability, obligation, sovereignty and decision-making.

International relations' focus is the regional and global arenas and addressing environmental security, resource wars and so on. Traditionally preoccupied with anarchy, conflicts and cooperation between states, International relations is also concerned with the broader definitional base of security engagement between states, intergovernmental organisations and non-state actors such as transnational corporations and transnational civil society groups. As with politics, the study of International Relations encompasses philosophical, theoretical, institutional and issue-based concerns relating to governance, but at the regional and global levels.

The scope of politics and international relations is broad, the boundaries often being contested and the subject matter in a constant state of contention and flux. Much emphasis is placed on debate, free enquiry and curiosity. Departments may be called Departments of Government, politics, political science, international politics, international relations, international studies, peace studies or war studies or some combination of these. Different names may reflect different nuances adopted in degree programmes or the extent to which both aspects of the discipline are taught in conjunction with one another. Politics and international relations reach out to other disciplines such as anthropology, cultural studies, economics, sociology, geography, history, law or literature. international relations focuses on the regional and global arenas with strong emphasis on the international, political economy. Graduates in politics and international relations are found in a wide range of jobs, with the public sector being popular. Some options include careers in the Civil Service including the Diplomatic Service, charity officer, education administrator, environmental education officer, event organiser, government research officer, lecturer, journalist, lobbyist, market researcher, media analyst, party political agent or research officer and voluntary work organiser. They also work in banking, European Commission administration, international organisations administration, public relations, sales promotion and social research.

Did you know graduates of this subject develop skills in interpersonal sensitivity, teamwork and judgement?


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