Politics

Politics is the study of power: how it is organised, exercised, contested, and sometimes abused. It asks who makes decisions and why, how governments are structured and held accountable, what drives political behaviour, and how international relations shape the lives of people within and across states. It is a discipline with both normative and empirical dimensions, concerned not just with how political systems work but with what they should look like and what justice, democracy, and rights mean in practice.

This three-year full-time programme at Goldsmiths, University of London develops a rigorous and critical understanding of politics at local, national, and global levels. Goldsmiths has a distinctive character among London universities: it is known for intellectual independence, critical social theory, and engagement with questions of culture, power, and inequality that go beyond conventional political science. You will study political thought and theory alongside comparative politics and international relations, developing the analytical vocabulary to engage with political phenomena across different contexts.

With a typical tariff of 104 points, the programme is accessible to students who demonstrate genuine engagement with the subject rather than requiring the highest prior attainment.

The skills you develop, constructing arguments from evidence, reading analytically, writing persuasively about complex questions, and thinking critically about power and institutions, are directly applicable in a wide range of professional contexts. London's position as a political, media, and cultural hub provides a rich environment for studying politics, with parliaments, think tanks, civil society organisations, and international bodies all within easy reach.

Graduates from politics programmes work in the civil service, political organisations, journalism, think tanks, non-governmental organisations, international bodies, law, local government, public affairs, and commercial roles where an understanding of political and regulatory environments is valued. Many continue to postgraduate study in politics, international relations, public policy, or related fields.