Introducing you to a variety of political systems and development across the world, this course includes the opportunity to spend a semester studying abroad.
You will benefit from our strengths in comparative politics, in particular Asian and Chinese politics, and will develop the skills required to better understand the varieties of contemporary governance.
This course links into a number of leading research centres:
- Asia Research Institute
- Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research
- Methods and Data Institute
It is offered over one year full-time, based entirely at Nottingham, or two years full-time, with a semester of your second year in Europe, China or Malaysia. This allows you to directly experience the comparative method of studying at different institutions and living in different countries.
In China or Malaysia, you will study at the University's campuses. In Europe, our current partner institutions are the universities of Aarhus, Cologne, Vienna, Gothenburg, Konstanz, and the Central European University in Budapest.
This course:
- introduces you to a variety of theoretical perspectives on democratic and authoritarian regimes and their empirical manifestation
- invites you to consider the merits of different methodological tools (qualitative and quantitative) for studying different facets of democratic development
- allows you to specialise in the comparative method
- introduces you to debates surrounding the economic and cultural pre-requisites of democracy
- encourages you to think broadly and critically about the possibility of democracy in different parts of the world, and the challenges in crafting democratic regimes
Academic English preparation and support
If you require additional support to take your language skills to the required level, you may be able to attend a presessional course at the Centre for English Language Education, which is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.
Students who successfully complete the presessional course to the required level can progress to postgraduate study without retaking IELTS or equivalent. You could be eligible for a joint offer, which means you will only need to apply for your visa once.
