Politics and Contemporary History

Politics and contemporary history is a combination that reflects how inseparable the political and the historical are in understanding the world as it is today. History provides the depth, context and analytical distance to understand how present circumstances came to be, tracing the economic, social and cultural developments of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries that shaped modern states, ideologies and institutions. Politics brings the frameworks, theoretical tools and empirical focus to examine how power is exercised, contested and legitimised in the contemporary world.

Together, they produce graduates who can situate current events within longer patterns of change and understand why the political present looks the way it does.

At the University of Chichester, this three-year programme develops your analytical skills across both disciplines, drawing on developments from the late nineteenth century to examine contemporary political, economic and cultural trends. You will gain a rich understanding of the workings of modern politics and the historical forces that have shaped them, developing the ability to construct well-evidenced arguments, evaluate competing interpretations and communicate your analysis clearly. The programme is designed to be intellectually engaging and practically useful, building skills that are directly applicable to a wide range of careers.

Graduates from politics and contemporary history programmes enter careers in the civil service, local government, political organisations, journalism, broadcasting, research, education, law, international relations and the voluntary sector. The combination of historical depth and political analysis is particularly valued by organisations that need to understand the context and consequences of policy decisions. Postgraduate study in politics, international relations, history, law or public administration is a common and well-supported next step for graduates with research or policy ambitions.