Politics (with some economics?)

fireitup

Hope this is the right place for this.

I'm currently in my final year of a law degree but would love to work in politics (not as a politician though. Working on campaign staff etc would be great)

I'm looking at postgrads at the moment. Ideally I'd like a masters in politics but which also includes some basic economics. I've always had a huge interest in politics and follow it a lot but lately have been looking into economics and find it interesting as well!

I like the look of the MBS in Government offered by UCC if anyone has any experience in it. But I'd love to know if there are any other similar courses on offer, especially in Britain. Looks like I'll be graduating with a 1;1 if it helps.

Thanks!

pow wow

LSE have a very forward-thinking Government department. The courses (and living expenses!) are mega expensive but would pay off in the long run. Take a look at their MSc Political Science and Political Economy. Electives include Politics of Economic Policy, The Economics of European Social Policy, Micro and Macro Economics for Public Policy, Public Budgeting and Financial Management etc.

It really depends how far you want to go with the economics side of things. The MBS Government doesn't seem to have any overtly economic modules? At QUB the only economics module we could take as part of our MAs was International Political Economy. It was mainly to do with fiscal policies, the distribution of wealth, capitalism, globalisation, resource exploitation, the tangible effects of economic interests on organised politics, development etc.

Because UCC doesn't actually have a Politics Department and some of the course are taught jointly by different schools it feels a bit disjointed and haphazard - at least to me on the open days I went to when I was looking to do an MA and now a PhD. It was the main reason I didn't end up going there for my Masters (that and the funding I got where I ended up!).

Maybe some of the posters on the UCC forum could prove me wrong on that...there is a long thread about the undergrad Government course from recollection.

fireitup

I looked up the LSE. Looks incredible and exactly what I'm looking for.
Fees are way out of my reach though. No way can I afford to pay 16000 euros a year on fees, especially if living somewhere as expensive as London!

Would you have any more suggestions?

Home

The MEconSc European Economic and Public Affairs in UCD: I just finished last year and it's an excellent course that would probably suit your requirements.

The fees are high but Dublin is probably less expensive than London.

Slippers 2

Here's some information on the Master of Economic Science in European Economic and Public Affairs:

www.ucd.ie/spire/prospectivepostgraduatestudents/taughtmastersprogrammes/meconsceuropeaneconomicpublicaffairs/

www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies/prospectivestudents/taughtprogrammes/hstaught/europeanpublicaffairsandlawmeconsc/

Cannibal Ox

fireitup wrote:

I looked up the LSE. Looks incredible and exactly what I'm looking for.
Fees are way out of my reach though. No way can I afford to pay 16000 euros a year on fees, especially if living somewhere as expensive as London!

SOAS are excellent, particularly if you're interested in international politics and/or development. Their campus is nice and it's right beside Senate House (massive library), they've great lecturers, a really well respected name, and they're probably the most progressive/left leaning outside of LSE.

The UCD politics department have some good staff and, if I remember right, the head of the department has a focus on economics and politics and there's at least one other member of staff that focuses on political economy.

You might also think about the Social Justice department. The MA they do in Equality Studies is about politics, and there's an emphasis on economics. The staff are excellent too, they're probably the most radical department in the university, and they're working in area that's becoming more and more important (I think!). It's worth checking out their program (here!).

DCU are good too. Their politics department do a really good MA in International Relations. Limerick might be handy too depending what you're interested in, Irish Aid were sent down there with the decentralisation program.

Do you know what kind of area you'd be interested in? Like, political economy in terms of development, or in terms of Ireland, or EU level, or global level?

fireitup

Just International Relations isn't really what I'm looking for, unless it offered a broad range of courses under the IR banner?
The UCD course looks great but European politics isn't really my thing. Would be looking more for international politics or politics in general!

More specifically I'd love to do a course focusing mainly on general politics with one or a few introductory course(s) on economics (the UCD one had a lovely looking course on introductory economics but was slanted a bit too heavily towards economics in general which I'd find a bit daunting!)

London might be a bit tough for me given both the cost of university fees and the general cost of living in London.

Somewhere like Scotland or Northern Ireland would be ideal for me (Cheaper cost of living)

Sorry for being picky! Really hope I can find something.

Cannibal Ox

fireitup wrote:

More specifically I'd love to do a course focusing mainly on general politics with one or a few introductory course(s) on economics (the UCD one had a lovely looking course on introductory economics but was slanted a bit too heavily towards economics in general which I'd find a bit daunting!)

If you want to do general politics with option modules, I think IR is probably one of your best bets. Or a political economy MA. It really depends on the uni and the breakdown of the MA. In the UCD IR MA you do your core courses, which give you a general overview of international politics, and then get three (? I think it's three) option modules, from stuff like development, human rights, economics, and theory.

fireitup wrote:

Somewhere like Scotland or Northern Ireland would be ideal for me (Cheaper cost of living)

Check out Aberystwyth. Its in Wales and afaik its has the biggest IR department in the world and is one of the best. I knew someone who went there and he loved it.

pow wow

I'd disagree a bit on the IR front - if it's not what you're actually interested in (however wide the selection of modules you can take) I'd be inclined to steer away from it. Keep in mind that whenever you come to job interviews you'll be asked 'so why the MA in IR' or what aspect of IR interests you and then you explain that your modules weren't 'really' IR, but more politics etc.

In NI the only options really would be the MSc Political Lobbying and Public Affairs (minor economics coverage in the globalisation and public policy analysis modules but perhaps more marketable skills at the end of it?) and the MA in Politics/International Politics at QUB (international political economy being the only overtly economic module though within the others you can focus your work to some extent on the economics underlying those topics).

One thing I wished someone had pointed out to me is that a Masters in politics doesn't really qualify you to do anything in particular, beyond qualifying you for jobs that list it as an entry requirement. My point is that you can be a campaign staffer or constituency rep. with an undergraduate degree and if there's something more specific you are planning on (economic adviser, public policy analysis, advocacy etc.) then a postgrad in something more 'technical' (for want of a better word) might be more useful.

Failing that bankrupt yourself and head to LSE. Career-wise it'll pay off in the end :P

Annasopra

NUI Galway has a masters that might interest you

http://www.go4th.ie/filmschool/ma_public.html