Politics and Economics

Politics and economics is a degree that connects two disciplines with deep shared concerns about how societies make collective decisions and how those decisions distribute resources, power, and opportunity. Politics examines the institutions, ideologies, and processes through which power is organised and exercised in democratic and non-democratic systems alike. Economics provides the analytical frameworks and empirical tools to understand how markets, incentives, and policy choices shape the material conditions of life.

Together, they provide a particularly powerful toolkit for understanding the major forces shaping contemporary democratic societies.

At the University of Reading, this three-year, full-time degree combines specialist study of politics with a grounding in economics, exploring the key forces driving contemporary democratic life. You will engage with political theory and empirical political science alongside microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and the quantitative methods economists use to test their models against evidence. The combination develops both the analytical rigour of economics and the institutional and contextual knowledge of politics, and it is particularly well suited to those interested in public policy, where both disciplines are directly relevant.

The programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities, extending your learning and professional experience well beyond the classroom.

Graduates from politics and economics degrees work in government, the civil service, economic consulting, financial services, journalism, think tanks, NGOs, and the private sector. The combination of economic analytical skills with political understanding is particularly valuable in policy roles where both dimensions matter simultaneously. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in economics, political science, public policy, or law, building specialist expertise for research or senior professional careers.