Economics and Politics

Economics and politics are disciplines that have been in dialogue throughout modern intellectual history, and with good reason. Economic forces shape political outcomes: how resources are distributed, how financial crises unfold, and how trade and labour markets develop all have political consequences that are impossible to understand without economics. Political structures, in turn, shape economic outcomes: the rules governing markets, the power of different interest groups, and the choices governments make all determine how economies function.

Studying them together gives you a genuinely integrated understanding of how political and economic forces interact.

At Exeter this three-year full-time programme develops both disciplines rigorously, giving you the tools to analyse political systems alongside the economic frameworks for understanding how markets and policies operate. You will study microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, political institutions and behaviour, international relations, and the quantitative and qualitative methods used by economists and political scientists to evaluate evidence and test hypotheses. The combination is intellectually demanding and produces graduates with a rare analytical range.

A sandwich year gives you the opportunity to spend a full year working in a professional environment, whether in the public sector, financial services, consulting, or other industries where economics and politics are both relevant. A year abroad and work placements integrated throughout the programme add further professional and international dimensions to your degree.

Graduates are well placed for careers in economic consulting, the civil service, international organisations, financial services, think tanks, journalism, politics, and public policy. Many also continue to postgraduate study in economics, politics, or public policy, building towards research or specialist professional careers.