Politics and International Relations and Social Policy

Politics, international relations, and social policy together form one of the most practically relevant combinations available at undergraduate level, connecting the study of power and governance to the examination of how states attempt to address the needs of their populations. Politics asks how authority is organised and exercised, how ideologies compete, and how governments are formed and held to account. International relations extends those questions to the global stage, examining how states and other actors interact across borders, how conflicts arise and are resolved, and how international institutions attempt to manage collective problems.

Social policy grounds both in the concrete: how welfare states are designed, how social programmes function, and how policy choices shape the lives of citizens.

At Strathclyde this four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, adding an international dimension to your understanding of all three disciplines. You will examine the work of governments and their policies alongside the behaviour of those who govern and those being governed, both domestically and internationally. The programme covers diverse and relevant issues including international security, questions of national identity, comparative welfare systems, and the relationship between political choices and social outcomes.

The Scottish context provides a particularly rich environment for studying devolved politics and the relationship between sub-state, national, and international governance. You will develop research skills, the ability to construct evidence-based arguments, and the capacity to analyse complex policy questions from multiple perspectives.

Graduates of this combination are well prepared for careers in government, the civil service, public policy analysis, international organisations, the charitable and voluntary sector, social research, journalism, and political campaigning. The year abroad strengthens the international dimension of your profile and is particularly valued by organisations working across borders. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in politics, international relations, social policy, public administration, or law, or move into professional roles in the public and third sectors where the combination of political understanding and social policy knowledge is directly applicable.