Politics

Politics is concerned with central issues that have shaped the modern world, such as war and peace, poverty and inequality, order and justice, governance and power, anarchy and security, and identity and sovereignty. Our pathway is predicated on a long-term commitment to a theoretically, methodologically and empirically pluralistic approach to political science from the domestic to the global.

Across the four participating institutions this commitment is reflected in research route masters programmes in all the main sub-fields of the discipline, including political theory, public policy and governance, democracy and elections, comparative politics, area studies, European politics and policy, international relations, international security, international political economy, human rights and peace studies. While keeping to this ecumenical approach, we aim to further the ESRC’s priorities by capitalising on areas of genuine excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration with cognate disciplines.

Programmes eligible for NWSSDTP funding

The list below includes all Master’s programmes that are eligible for NWSSDTP funding and the typical PhD programmes that are supported under this pathway. Other PhD programmes within these universities may be considered – please reach out to the relevant Pathway Representative (see contact details below) or the NWSSDTP Office if the PhD programme you are interested in is not listed here. Please note that the NWSSDTP does not fund standalone Master’s programmes – these can only be funded as part of a Master’s + PhD Studentship.

Keele University

Lancaster University

University of Liverpool

University of Manchester

For information on how to apply for funding, please visit our How to Apply page.

Pathway Representatives

Contact details for Politics Pathway Representatives can be found here: https://nwssdtp.ac.uk/about/contact-us/pathway-leads/

Current Politics Pathway Students and Alumni

Matthew Wray Perry (2018 Cohort)

What is the point of dignity? A re-characterisation of dignity as the basis of (human) rights status

My research, situated in Political Theory, seeks to explain the possession of rights through interrogating the idea often established at their foundation: dignity. The ambiguity of this notion will be cleared by, among other things, attending to: the status of and human differentiation from non-human animals, the problem of equalising status and what the recognition of dignity amounts to.

Jude Rowley (2020 Cohort)

From Order to Complexity: Exploring the Relationship Between History, Science, and International Relations

This project focusses on International Relations and the discipline’s relationship with historical narratives and ‘scientific’ discourses. It seeks to identify the long shadows of colonial visions of world order in orthodox approaches to modern IR and to explore whether new and radically different approaches coupled with introspection into the discipline’s past can move IR towards a more diverse future.

James Breckwoldt (2021 Cohort)

Three Articles on New Voting Cleavages in the United Kingdom

My research explores the important and new voting cleavages and issues that have risen in prominence in the 21st century using quantitative methods. The three I am studying are: the role of frustrated homeownership ambitions; the importance “culture war” issues when people decide who to vote and; the perceptions of age/generational political divides.

Soham Banerjee (2023 Cohort)

Spatial Politics of International Climate Finance: A Case for India

I am currently investigating the spatial politics of International Climate Finance (ICF). More specifically, I am interested in understanding the extent of partisan alignment in the distribution and allocation of ICF funds in India and its impact on the overall climate policy narrative in the country.