| Politics is offered by many universities and each has its
own areas of specialism. No two politics degrees are identical,
though the following are some of the main areas of study: • Studying Britain now is probably more exciting that
it’s ever been. Widespread constitutional reforms have
changed the political map. The establishment of the Parliament
in Scotland and the Assemblies in Wales, Northern Ireland
and London mean that power is shifting. Not only that, Britain’s
membership of the EU, and maybe later the Euro, mean that
debates over sovereignty and co-operation rage long and hard.
• As the European Union grows both in size and power, people
need to be able to understand and analyse developments. The
study of European politics also involves other European nations,
comparing them with British and other political systems.
Many universities offer courses focusing on the politics
of countries in various parts of the world, such as the USA,
Latin America, Asia, Africa or Australasia.
• Political theory is vital to the study of politics because
without theory we would not know what to investigate. In
theory courses, students consider key questions like the
nature of freedom and the strengths and limitations of democracy.
Other topics include the relationship between government
and society, the right of dissent and the limits of toleration,
and questions of social justice and equality.
•
Few events symbolise democracy better than elections. Elections
can change the course of a country. Studying elections can
be about predicting results, trying to work out why people
vote as they do, or even why they don’t vote at all.
Party campaigns, what policies are put forward, how parties
select candidates and related questions are all important
and fascinating areas of study.
• International relations covers topics such as the role of
international organisations (like the UN), the strategies
of various actors on the international political stage, the
role of international non-governmental actors (for example
large corporations) and vital international policy areas
like the environment. It addresses questions such as why
wars occur, how peace is negotiated and maintained and what
is international justice?
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