History and Politics

History and Politics are disciplines that illuminate each other in important ways. History gives politics the sense of contingency and causation it needs: understanding why institutions and ideologies took the forms they did, how conflicts were resolved or prolonged, and how political ideas have been tested by events. Politics gives history the analytical frameworks it needs to understand power, governance, and the organisation of collective life.

Together they create a degree for students who want to understand not just what happened but why, and what the present-day consequences of past choices have been.

At the University of Leicester, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and a work placement, combining rigorous academic study with substantial professional experience. You will explore global historical developments and contemporary political structures, examining the roots of current political problems in the historical processes that shaped them. This balanced combination develops your ability to analyse both documents and arguments, to understand causation across long time scales, and to bring empirical depth to theoretical questions about how political systems function.

Leicester's programme explicitly seeks to develop advanced understandings of the contemporary world alongside its historical roots, and the placement year and year abroad add the international and professional dimensions that increasingly distinguish strong candidates in competitive graduate labour markets.

Graduates move into careers in the civil service and public sector, journalism, think tanks, political campaigning and advocacy, international organisations, law, teaching, and public affairs. The combination of historical depth and political analytical skill is particularly well regarded in competitive policy and communications roles. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in history, politics, international relations, or law.