Politics and Economics

Politics and economics is one of the most powerful and enduring academic combinations available at degree level. Politics examines how power is acquired, exercised, and constrained, addressing questions of governance, democracy, international relations, ideology, and the role of institutions in shaping collective decisions. Economics provides the formal tools to understand how resources are allocated, how markets behave, and how policy interventions produce their effects.

Together, they equip you to analyse the world's most consequential problems, from inequality and climate change to global trade disputes and democratic backsliding, with both theoretical depth and empirical rigour.

At the University of Nottingham, you will engage with both disciplines in a research-active environment with strong traditions in both fields. You will study political theory, comparative politics, and international relations alongside microeconomics, macroeconomics, and quantitative methods. The combination encourages you to bring economic reasoning to political questions and political insight to economic analysis, developing the kind of interdisciplinary thinking that is genuinely rare and genuinely useful.

The programme runs over three years and includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement. This combination of structured professional and international experience gives you the opportunity to apply your analytical skills in real political, economic, policy, or commercial environments, and to develop a broader international perspective on the systems you are studying.

Graduates from politics and economics degrees are among the most sought-after by a diverse range of employers. Common career paths include the civil service, government and policy analysis, economic consultancy, financial services, international organisations, journalism, think tanks, and NGOs. Many graduates also go into law, business, and the private sector, where the combination of analytical rigour and understanding of political economy is highly valued.

Postgraduate study in economics, political science, public policy, or international relations is a natural route for those who wish to continue in an academic or research direction.