The University of Essex is one of the UK's leading academic institutions, ranked ninth nationally for research excellence following the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

How do political scientists explain political outcomes? How does normative theory inform empirical research? How do political science approaches differ from historical accounts of political phenomenon? How can political science be used to analyse the real world? Our MSc Politics gives a general overview of such topics but you have a wide choice of modules than our other Masters courses.

MSc Politics is designed for those who already have a solid background in approaches and methods employed in the different areas of political science and who want to broaden and deepen their skills and knowledge in positive political methodology, such as quantitative data analysis and econometrics.

The stronger emphasis on political methodology will enable you to understand political science research published in highly prestigious journals of the profession and to undertake your own projects that involve the testing of the empirical implications of theoretical arguments as well as positive political analysis. In addition, the focus on methodology provides a better preparation for those who want to enrol in PhDs at leading political science departments in the US and throughout Europe which focus on model building and empirical testing or behavioural political science.