Description

Contents

Any mixture of conflict and cooperation; this is a well known definition of politics by Michael Laver. Political conflicts may range from election campaigns between political parties to Huntingtons global clash of civilizations and from disagreement over global warming to interstate or civil war. Conflict is inherent in politics, whether nationally or internationally, but so is cooperation in order to solve conflicts.

In todays globalised world, conflict has far from receded. In western liberal democracies political conflict has expanded from the classical ideological cleavages to clashes over multiculturalism or sustainability and dissatisfaction with the functioning of existing democratic institutions. In the non-Western world, violent (ethnic or religious) conflict often involves the very legitimacy of existing states and borders. Globalisation in some cases increased conflict of values, perceptions of inequality or exclusion of segments of the worlds population. At the same time, globalisation also brings people and cultures together and ushers in old and new forms of international co-operation, from organisations for regional economic integration to the effort to develop new norms in the context of global civil society.

The notion of conflict is also at the heart of modern political philosophy. A major challenge for politics, as cogently formulated by Thomas Hobbes, consists in designing institutions for individuals who, without them, are incapable of living peacefully together. Thinking of solutions that are legitimate and just to prevent abrasive civil conflict has been an important task in political philosophy, as is thinking about war and its justification, which has been revived and redefined during the last decade. Is it at all just to wage war, and if so, under what conditions? Does a warlike condition suspend the normal democratic institutions and procedures?

Curriculum

The curriculum starts with a course devoted to the reading of classical great works in Poltical Science on the central theme in politics, i.e. conflict and cooperation. A combination of seminars and the thesis work will provide students with a strong critical grounding in the core issues of both political science and politics. In this way, they obtain the capacity for actively engaging in explaining and/or evaluating political phenomena.
Courses in the MSc Political Science curriculum aim to provide applied skills through course assignments and eventually, through the masters thesis. The three legs of the programme are breadth, depth and choice. The programme seeks to provide these goals by offering three types of courses:

• the core modules:
  - Conflict and Cooperation: Classics, giving a broad theoretical overview of Political Science approached through the central theme of conflict and co-operation;
  - Advanced Academic and Professional Skills, focusing on attaining the necessary skills for putting the theory into practice in your future career;
• elective seminars giving students the opportunity to specialise;
• a Thesis Seminar (theme to be chosen) where students complete their masters theses.

Most classes are taught in a seminar format, in which participants are required to prepare for and attend all class meetings. Because the masters programme involves classroom work as well as individual research, there is close consultation between students and staff.

Core Modules

The Master Political Science offers two core modules: Conflict and Cooperation: Classics will address the kinds and forms of contemporary political conflict, the philosophical approaches to political conflict and the nature and effectiveness of political institutions in resolving political conflict. Major classic works in political science will be studied, including works by K. Waltz, S. Huntington and A. Lijphart.
The Advanced Academic and Professional Skills seminar aims at advancing the skills for various professions at an academic level, such as policy advisor, civil servant, or political assistant, whether in NGOs, interest groups, political parties or government and international agencies. The Skills seminar will focus on oral skills (effective presentation, argumentation and debating skills) and written skills (writing brief policy memos or advisory reports), which will be applied during the substantive seminars.

Specialization through Choice: Build your own Profile!

The master program in Conflict and Cooperation allows students to specialize through their own choices of seminars. Through their choices student create a profile on political conflict and cooperation in national or international contexts. Through the seminars students will gain advanced knowledge on a variety of empirical or normative approaches in political science. Seminar topics range from civil war, ethics of war, economic conflict and regimes, and international organizations, to political conflict and the media, elections and coalitions in a national context and multiculturalism. Students may opt to complete the program with a thesis or an internship which includes a substantive research report.

Seminars (preliminary list and titles):

-International Security and Peace Building
-International Political Economy (Global Trade and Finance)
-Decision Making in the EU
-Ethics of War
-Distributive Justice: from local to global issues
-Global Civil Society
-Development, Governance and Conflict
-Negotiations: a rational choice approach
-Political Institutions for divided societies
-Dutch Politics: from consensus to confrontation?
-Political parties and political conflict
-Political communication: conflict and consensus

Internship

Instead of the thesis seminar and one of the elective seminars, the structure of the programme allows students to do an internship in the period early January to the end of March and then take part in the Internship Research Project Seminar. In this seminar students will complete their theses based on the research conducted during their internship. The institutes internship coordinator will facilitate placement, but the responsibility to find an organization lies with the student. The organization must allow and facilitate the student to implement a research project relevant to the organization or its activities.

Requirements

Knowledge minimum

Previous education

Knowledge minimum: See website www.mastersinleiden.nl for details.

Previous education: BA/BSc (with major) in Political Sciences or BA/BSc with substantial number of credits in political science or related fields(www.mastersinleiden.nl)

Additional language requirements:

• IELTS overall band: 7
• TOEFL paper based: 600
• TOEFL computer based: 250
• TOEFL internet based: 100

English Language Requirements

IELTS band:	7
TOEFL paper-based test score:	600
TOEFL computer-based test score:	250
TOEFL internet-based test score:	100

Funding

Scholarships / Grants:

Leiden University:
For additional information: Website