School of Social Sciences

Governance, Politics, and Policy MA

Year of entry: 2026

Course Length: 12 months Full-Time | 24 months Part-Time

About the course

Shape the future of politics with our dynamic MA in Governance, Politics, and Policy, offering diverse pathways tailored to your interests and career ambitions.

Taught by world-leading academics at one of the UK’s top departments for politics and international relations, our MA in Governance, Politics, and Policy offers the flexibility to specialise across two streams, our Policy Stream or our Elections Stream.

You’ll gain advanced analytical skills, benefit from our close links with policymakers and NGOs, and join a vibrant, international community of students shaping the political challenges of tomorrow.

Our research routes are particularly suitable if you’re thinking of progressing to PhD study. Explore our courses:

Each pathway has been designed to combine strong transferable skills with focused expertise in your chosen specialism.

Join one of the UK's Top 10 universities for Politics and International Studies

(Times Higher Education World Rankings 2025)

Study at one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious politics departments, situated in a uniquely political city

Graduate from one of the UK’s most targeted universities by top employers with a the skills needed for a meaningful career

(High Fliers, The Graduate Market Report 2025)

Compulsory Units

Governance and the State;
Comparative Political Analysis;
Research Design Skills;
Understanding Political Change.

Optional Units

Governance and the State;
Comparative Political Analysis;
Tools and Techniques of Applied Quantitative Methods;
Research Design Skills;
Understanding Political Change;
Qualitative Research Methods.

Compulsory and optional units vary by pathway. These are examples of units offered in 2024/25 and are subject to change.

Where will your course take you?

Today's turbulent world is in increasing need of graduates with unparalleled expertise on issues of political science.

Our courses allow you to develop a variety of both subject-specific and transferable skills suited to a wide variety of roles, such as critical thinking, legal analysis, research, problem-solving and communication.

Most of our recent graduates have gone on to work with leading organisations such as local and central government agencies, international and supranational institutions such as the UN and the EU, think-tanks or research institutes, NGOs, consultancy firms, and more.

Many graduates also continue their research by studying a PhD, either at Manchester or at another leading university, where they expand the boundaries of our knowledge and pursue careers in research or academia.

George Bolton

Political Science MA - Democracy and Elections Pathway Graduate

“I have been interested in all things political for years! I did philosophy, history and politics at A-Level and have done plenty of political writing, campaigning, protesting and volunteering since I was young. I thoroughly enjoyed my undergrad at Manchester and was always keen to carry on to a MA. The lecturers in this area are top of the game."