MSc Global Development (Politics, Governance and Development Policy) / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course description

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From International to Global Development - Global Development Institute

MSc Global Development with Politics, Governance and Development Policy examines the obstacles to, and pathways towards, more legitimate, democratic and pro-poor forms of governance at global, national and local levels - a topic that is currently centre-stage on the international development agenda.

The course interrogates the discursive paradigms and material interventions in the area of politics and governance, which has moved to the centre of the international development agenda since the late 1980s.

It is therefore ideal if you're interested in the many ways that politics is critical to the success of development and would like to examine the 'lived' or 'real' politics in the global South and the dynamics underpinning change.

 

Aims

  • Provide critical insights into different theoretical and disciplinary perspectives on the politics and governance of development. 
  • Develop your analytical skills in critically evaluating and employing different theories of politics, governance and policy analysis. 
  • Provide you with an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the how politics, governance and the formulation and implementation development policy interact in the global South. 
  • Provide critical insights into the key strategies, policies and practices currently employed to promote `good governance' and improved policy processes in the global South. 
  • Develop professionally oriented skills related to formulating, investigating and implementing different approaches to promoting good governance. 
  • Provide a wide range of options for advanced training in areas of specialist expertise relevant to politics, governance and development policy. 
  • Develop advanced competencies in transferable areas, including developing reasoned arguments, gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources, undertaking both team-based and independent work to deadlines, and both written and verbal forms of communication. 
  • Assist you in developing your specialist area of expertise within the field of politics, governance and development policy, and applying their understanding and skills through supervised individual research culminating in a dissertation.

Special features

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Uganda field trip by GDI students (The University of Manchester)
  • We're Europe's largest dedicated development research and teaching institute and have been at the  forefront of development studies for over 60 years .  
  • We are ranked second in the UK and seventh in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022).   
  • We bring cutting-edge insights from our research into all our postgraduate teaching. Our courses bring different development perspectives and voices to Manchester, from  activists from the Global South  to the leaders of multinational companies.  
  • We are home to the internationally recognised   African Cities Research ConsortiumEffective States and Inclusive Development    and  FutureDAMS  research centres. 
  • Students are part of our vibrant research community, including our  public lecture series  which brings world experts, former heads of state, and leading development thinkers, to discuss current issues in development. 

Teaching and learning

Important notice 

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) recognises the value of fieldwork. However, the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our priority. The School will assess on a regular basis the viability of any travel and fieldwork and communicate any significant changes to our students at the earliest possible opportunity. 

The ability of fieldwork and travel to proceed, and whether any changes to proposed fieldwork and travel might be necessary, will remain subject to factors such as the: 

  • rules and guidance on travel and activities implemented and published by the UK and overseas governments; 
  • outcome of any risk assessments conducted by the University; 
  • educational value and student experience of the fieldwork, if significant changes to the proposed fieldwork would be necessary; 
  • availability of appropriate insurance cover; 
  • availability of appropriate travel and accommodation and any significant changes to their financial costs.

All fieldwork and travel will be subject to a rigorous risk assessment process and the implementation of any protective measures identified by the risk assessment to ensure the health and safety of all our students and staff. 

In some circumstances, it may become necessary to make changes to fieldwork or programme related travel. The University will notify you of those changes at the earliest opportunity. If any fieldwork does not go ahead as planned, then the School's focus will be on seeking to offer a suitable alternative and ensure that the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of the programme are met.

Please note that countries may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice. The School cannot guarantee that where visas are required for fieldwork, they will be granted but we will take steps so that if a visa is refused, affected students are not academically disadvantaged.

Coursework and assessment

The taught elements of the course, carrying 120 credits overall, is continuously assessed by a variety of methods (eg project-based reports, essays), involving largely individual submissions, but also elements of group work.

You must also complete a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice approved by the Programme Directors.

You are encouraged to base your dissertation on topics of direct professional concern.

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
The Politics and Governance of Development MGDI60391 15 Mandatory
Development Fundamentals MGDI60411 15 Mandatory
Development Fieldwork MGDI60502 15 Mandatory
Political Analysis of Development Policy MGDI60522 15 Mandatory
Global Development Challenges MGDI60601 15 Mandatory
Development Research MGDI70982 15 Mandatory
Global Political Economy MGDI60072 15 Optional
Public Sector Reform and Management MGDI60081 15 Optional
Poverty and Development MGDI60141 15 Optional
Gender Inequality: Theory and Evidence MGDI60202 15 Optional
Digital Governance MGDI60311 15 Optional
Conflict Analysis MGDI60451 15 Optional
Critical Issues in Urban Inequality MGDI60531 15 Optional
Global Health Inequalities MGDI60542 15 Optional
Climate, Environment and Development MGDI60552 15 Optional
Citizen-Led Development MGDI60561 15 Optional
Migration, Mobility and Displacement in the Contemporary World MGDI60731 15 Optional
Migration and Development MGDI60742 15 Optional
Key Issues in Environment and Development MGDI60801 15 Optional
Economic Analysis of the Public Sector MGDI61091 15 Optional
Global Inequalities and Social Development MGDI61462 15 Optional
Planning and Managing Development MGDI70992 15 Optional
Economics of Governance and Development MGDI72152 15 Optional
Global Governance POLI70422 15 Optional
Critical Environmental Politics POLI70921 15 Optional
The Politics of Global Climate Change POLI71141 15 Optional
Displaying 10 of 26 course units

Scholarships and bursaries

There are many internal and external funding opportunities for postgraduate study.

We offer several postgraduate taught scholarships to outstanding applicants. We also regularly welcome students on the University's  Equity and Merit scholarship  scheme.

The Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class Bachelor's degree and are progressing to a postgraduate taught master's course.

Many of our students have gained British Chevening, British Council or Commonwealth scholarships, as well as country-specific awards.

For more information, see  fees and funding  or  search the University's postgraduate funding database .

What our students say

Find out how our students feel about studying at The University of Manchester by visiting  Student Spotlights .

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk