Politics and Philosophy

Politics and philosophy are natural partners. Politics asks how power is organised, how decisions are made collectively, and how societies manage conflict and cooperation. Philosophy asks the deeper questions that politics cannot avoid: what is justice, what grounds the authority of the state, how should we reason about rights and obligations, and what counts as a good argument?

Studying them together gives you both the empirical tools to understand the world as it is and the philosophical frameworks to evaluate whether it is as it should be.

At Manchester Metropolitan, this part-time BA provides specialist training in both disciplines while encouraging you to approach them from an interdisciplinary perspective. The politics strand helps you make sense of current events, the mechanisms through which political change occurs, and the kinds of civic participation that shape outcomes. You will explore a wide range of social and public policy areas, engaging with issues that affect communities in the UK and internationally, including environmentalism, climate change, threats to democracy, and the emerging field of digital politics.

The philosophy strand develops your capacity for rigorous analytical thinking, introducing you to ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, and the history of ideas. Together they equip you with skills in constructing and evaluating arguments, conducting social research, and thinking clearly about complex problems. The course includes a placement year, offering direct professional experience that complements the academic content and helps you build a practical understanding of how politics and governance actually work.

Graduates move into careers in public affairs, policy analysis, journalism, advocacy, law, education, and the third sector, as well as roles in local and national government. The combination of analytical rigour and policy awareness is valued by employers across many fields. Postgraduate study in politics, philosophy, law, or public policy is also a common and rewarding path for those who wish to develop their expertise further.