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 course introduces postgraduate Politics students to philosophical debates about the empirical study of politics.

We will consider the following questions: What counts as good evidence in politics research, and why does it matter? What is the status of values and norms within political research? Can politics research be objective? Is there a mind-independent world or do we as researchers impact what the world is like? What are the differences and similarities (if any) between natural and social sciences? Should feminist, poststructuralist, rationalist, and other philosophies inform the way we examine the political world? Throughout, we will focus on ontology (what exists), epistemology (how we can come to know what exists), and their implications for methodology (the various ways of studying what exists).

This course aims to introduce postgraduate students to philosophical debates about the empirical study of politics.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

·                  understand different philosophies of science;

·                  recognise how these philosophies apply to the study of politics;

·                  critically assess different approaches to the study of politics;

·                  understand key philosophical terms in social science and politics;

·                  reflect on the philosophical bases of their own research

·                  apply philosophical ideas to their own writing.

Teaching will take place through weekly seminars. Students will be assigned preparatory questions to discuss, based on the readings. Students will come to class prepared to discuss them. 

The readings for each week can be found most easily via the Library’s Reading List service.

 

Portfolio 100% (6 x 500 word critical concept reflections)

 

Formative feedback on assessments will be offered on essay drafts 2 weeks or more before the due date.

The following are useful introductory works.

• Baggini, J and Fosl, P. (2010) The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods.