MSc Global Development (Politics, Governance and Development 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:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,500
• MSc (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,500

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).

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• 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 course unit offers a solid grounding in the different types of policy analysis, encourages critical reflection on their application to policy processes in the global south through a series of case-study presentations, and enables students to develop their skills in policy analysis through the applied exercises in class and the assignment. The policy process will be subject to analysis from different perspectives, including mainstream and more critical approaches, and exemplified through real-life examples.

The unit aims to provide:

• A critical overview of theoretical approaches to understanding the links between politics, governance and development
• Insights into how politics, governance and development interact in the global South
• A critical overview of the key strategies and practices currently employed to promote policy processes in the global South
• An opportunity for students to develop their range of competencies in transferable areas, including research, analysis, team-work and both written and verbal forms of communication

• A thorough knowledge and critical understanding of different theories of the public policy process
• A thorough knowledge and critical understanding of the key strategies, policies and practices currently employed to promote ‘good governance’
• A specific understanding of some of the key links between politics and the policy cycle, and between different elements of the policy cycle
• The analytical skills required to critically evaluate and employ different theories of policy analysis and to apply these to specific cases of development policy processes
• Professionally-oriented skills related to formulating, investigating and implementing different approaches to promoting better formulation and implementation of policies
• Improved competence 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

Teaching and learning will occur mainly through two- and three-hour composite sessions, which will generally each include an element of lecturing, small group-work, and plenary discussion.

VLE will be used to share key resources and stimulate discussions of critical issues amongst course participants.

• Written assignment (3,000 words)

Summative feedback will be provided in written form via Turnitin/VLE following assessment, and through class interactions during the course. 

Carothers, T. and Diane de Gramont. 2013. Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Ferguson, J. 1990. The Anti-Politics Machine: ‘Development,’ Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Hirschman, A.O. 1967. Development Projects Observed. Brookings Institution Press. 

Khan, M. 2010. Political Settlements and the Governance of Growth-enhancing Institutions. London: SOAS. Availabe at https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/9968/1/Political_Settlements_internet.pdf.

Sabatier, R. 2007. Theories of the Policy Process, 2^nd edition. Westview Press. 

Stone, D. 1997. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. Norton.