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We live in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world where events that unfold on other continents can affect our lives very quickly. Sometimes politicians are able to work together in a search for solutions but disagreement, and even the possibility of conflict, never seems far away.

Please be aware that this course is temporarily suspended for the 2024-25 academic year only. The MSc Quantitative Political Science provides advanced training in how to formulate and test theories about politics using data.

Based in the Department of Government, The MSc Social Data Science supports the development of the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be an effective social data scientist. With modules taught in both the Department of Government and School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, it equips future social scientists with a range of skills in advanced data science and artificial intelligence that will enable them to undertake social sciences research, making use of increasingly large and complex data sets.

Please be aware that this course is temporarily suspended for the 2024-25 academic year only. The United States is the most politically and economically influential country in the world and understanding its politics is more important than ever.

Why does the behaviour of political actors – leaders, parties, pressure groups, voters, protestors, and so on – vary across countries and over time? And what are the consequences of political institutions for regime stability, economic development, political representation, and the dynamics of electoral politics? This course allows you to focus on these and other questions of interest and apply them to politics in the developed and developing worlds.

How do ideologies form and sustain political identities and interests? What are the main ideologies and political discourses that frame and organise our lives today? How do theories of ideology and discourse inform contemporary political analysis? How can these theories help us to explain and evaluate key political processes? Questions concerning the impact of ideological and symbolic processes on the formation of political discourses, identities and communities are of crucial importance.

Why does the behaviour of political actors – leaders, parties, pressure groups, voters, protestors, and so on – vary across countries and over time? And what are the consequences of political institutions for regime stability, economic development, political representation, and the dynamics of electoral politics? This course allows you to focus on these and other questions of interest and apply them to politics in the developed and developing worlds.

The Essex Master in Public Policy is designed to give you, our future leaders, extensive knowledge of how actors in the public and private sectors formulate, decide and implement public policy. It introduces key concepts and theories for understanding the foundation of public policies, incentives and constraints governing the process of policy making, as well as the political realities faced by private and public sector institutions.

Please be aware that this course is temporarily suspended for the 2024-25 academic year only.When angry at a particular government policy, some people sit in their armchair and complain, others write letters and organise committees, some participate in social media campaigns, while others still protest or even riot in the street. Politicians care about public opinion, so how do we explain these choices? How are reactions shaped by people's social background, their economic circumstances, their personality, or even their genetic inheritance? Can politicians and the media influence public opinion and if so, how? MA Public Opinion and Political Behaviour explores the interaction between the mass public and political elites in advanced industrial democracies.

Please be aware that this course is temporarily suspended for the 2024-25 academic year only.When angry at a particular government policy, some people sit in their armchair and complain, others write letters and organise committees, some participate in social media campaigns, while others still protest or even riot in the street. Politicians care about public opinion, so how do we explain these choices? How are reactions shaped by people's social background, their economic circumstances, their personality, or even their genetic inheritance? Can politicians and the media influence public opinion and if so, how? MA Public Opinion and Political Behaviour explores the interaction between the mass public and political elites in advanced industrial democracies.