MA Governance, Politics and Policy

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £16,300
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,400
• MA (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £8,150
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,700

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

This module is designed to provide an advanced introduction to questions of the theory and practice of human rights in world politics. The teaching programme revolves around two key areas: (1) the foundations of human rights and (2) the tensions that shape current implementation and enforcement of the human rights regime in world politics.

The course introduces students to the theory and practice of human rights in world politics. It focuses on a key issue: how are we to implement and to achieve human rights in world politics? Thus, a central aim is to assess the suitability of the current and potential agents, mechanisms, and institutions of human rights. To achieve this aim, the course first considers the current mechanisms and agents of implementing human rights, including the right to protect and economic sanctions. Second, the course considers questions and challenges to the notions of human rights, including their purported universality. More generally, the course aims include the development of oral skills through general discussion, team-work skills through group presentation, written skills through the assessed essay, and research skills from the use and assessment of large amounts of complex material. In doing so, it also aims to improve students’ critical and analytic skills.

By the end of the course, students should be able to identify, to outline, to analyse, and to critically assess specific theories of human rights and how they inform specific practices. They should also have a sound grasp of the complex dynamics in world politics that can frustrate the protection of human rights around the globe, as well as the adequacy of the international community’s mechanisms for the enforcement of human rights. They should be able to express their own views with recourse to (and sometimes rejection of) the literature covered in the module. They should also be able to provide a well-structured and coherent presentation with the use of visual aids and answer questions about the presentation confidently.

The course consists of ten weekly two-hour seminars. The course makes extensive use of enquiry-based learning and students will be expected to have both read extensively in advance of the seminars and participate fully in the learning experience.

Essay of 1500 words (60%); 
15 min Presentation (1500 words)(40%)
 

• Brown, Chris (2002). Sovereignty, Rights and Justice: International Political Theory Today (Cambridge: Polity Press).
• Donnelly, Jack (2003). Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, Second Edition (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press).
• Dunne, Timothy and Nicholas Wheeler (eds) (1999). Human Rights in Global Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Forsythe, David (2006). Human Rights in International Relations, Second Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Goodhart, Michael (ed.) (2009). Human Rights: Politics and Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
• Haas, Michael (2008). International Human Rights: A Comprehensive Introduction (New York: Routledge).
• Mertus, Julie A. (2005). The United Nations and Human Rights: A Guide for a New Era, First Edition (London: Routledge).
• Nickel, James W. (1987). Making Sense of Human Rights: Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Berkeley & London: University of California Press).
• Steiner, Henry J., Philip Alston, and Ryan Goodman (eds) (2008). International Human Rights in Context, Third Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Smith, Rhoda (2010). Textbook on International Human Rights, Fourth Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Weiss, Thomas (2012). What’s Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it, Second Edition (Cambridge: Polity).