Politics

Politics is the study of what it means to live in a particular kind of society. As a subject, you will explore and understand the forces that influence and rule the world. It is a broad subject that covers the study of how governments, policies and the relations between them work.

Understanding politics better could make the difference between a relatively comfortable life and disaster, for individuals and for a population as a whole. Understanding politics better could mean improving our empirical understanding of how politics works or has worked here or there, now or then. Or it could mean sharpening our self-understanding as enquirers, reflecting critically on the conceptual tools we use when thinking and talking about politics.

To study Politics at the University of Cambridge, you can study it through our Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) course.

The analytical and critical skills, as well as the ability to communicate clearly, are skills that are highly valued by employers and are needed for a variety of careers. You could go into policy research, the Civil Service, journalism, management consultancy, working for charities or NGOs, law, teaching, publishing and marketing and PR.

There are no specific subject requirements to study Politics. Studying essay based subjects such as History or English can be good preparation.