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Why should we obey the law? Why don't democratic countries go to war with each other? Why don't young people vote? Why do oil-rich countries have worse human rights records? These are the kinds of questions addressed in our BA Politics course, which provides a thorough training in all major areas of political science, and is based in the top politics department in the country.

The challenges facing today's world are profoundly international. From the migrant crisis to global warming, contemporary challenges require graduates who bring a global perspective and broad skills to the workplace.

In a liberal society, can limitations on freedom of speech ever be justified? Do people pull together because they want to, or because they have to? Political, economic and social issues dominate domestic and international news, impacting on our day-to-day lives as well as shaping the future.

Why do international conflicts arise? Why are other parts of the world largely peaceful? What is the role of the United Nations and other international organisations? What is globalisation and how does it impact our daily lives? What are the prospects for international cooperation in addressing problems like global warming and environmental degradation? This course should interest you if you want to understand how the international system works, how decisions are made and how lines are drawn.

On our four-year BA Politics (including foundation year), we work with you to develop your subject-specific knowledge, and to improve your academic skills. You receive a thorough grounding in these areas during your foundation year (known as Year Zero) to prepare you for a further three years of undergraduate study at Essex.

This course gives you a thorough training in the complementary disciplines of law and politics. You develop critical, reflective and analytical skills that are common to both disciplines.

Can artists be activists? Can an exhibition spark social change? Who decides which stories our museums and galleries tell? How should museums deal with traumatic political events? Do governments and business determine what a country's culture looks like? How do curators take these questions into account when they make displays and exhibitions? This degree will develop the skills you need to make exciting new connections between the forms of visual culture you study, political developments, and broader social and political forces.

Some of the most fundamental questions about political life, its principles and ideals, are philosophical in character. Our course brings these disciplines of philosophy and politics together, and provides a sound academic grounding in both.

From the latest updates at Number 10 to political unrest overseas, you can be at the forefront of political change. Our BA Journalism and Politics expands your knowledge of global politics and develops your analytical ability.

BA Politics with Business will allow you to study a wide variety of topics, from questions of power, representation, and distributional justice in democracies, the political underpinnings of economic development in countries of the Global South, to international phenomena such as migration, trade, conflict. At the same time, you'll acquire the skills to manage organizations and gain an understanding in how business works in an increasingly complex world.