Politics and Sociology

Politics and sociology are disciplines that share a fundamental concern with how power operates in society, who holds it, how it is contested, and what its consequences are for different groups of people. Politics focuses on the formal and informal structures through which collective decisions are made, including parties, governments, institutions, elections, and social movements. Sociology examines the broader social structures, cultural forces, and patterns of inequality within which those political processes take place.

Together they provide a comprehensive analytical toolkit for understanding the social and political world.

At Portsmouth you will study this three-year full-time programme, with a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement providing substantial professional and international experience alongside your academic study. You will engage with political theory and empirical political science alongside sociological theory and research methods, developing both the conceptual depth and the analytical skills to engage with complex questions about power, inequality, and social change. The combination produces graduates who can think critically about political and social phenomena from multiple perspectives, and who have the practical research skills to investigate them.

Graduates of politics and sociology enter careers across a wide range of sectors. The civil service, local government, policy research, journalism, charities, political organisations, community development, social research, education, and human resources are all common destinations. The analytical and research skills the combination develops are valued wherever organisations need to understand social and political contexts, engage with diverse communities, or evaluate the impact of their work.

Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in sociology, politics, public policy, social research, or criminology, building on the interdisciplinary foundation the degree provides.