Overview

Studying Political Science in Trinity does not entail four years of studying nothing but politics. Indeed, the great majority of our students combine Political Science with another subject, such as Business Studies, Economics, History, Philosophy or Sociology.

If you’d like to study Political Science at Trinity there are six different degree programmes (all of which run for four years) to be considered. In chronological order of their introduction, these are:

1. BESS
   This permits students to study either for a single honors degree in Political Science, or a joint honors degree in which Political Science is combined with Economics, Sociology or Business Studies. All BESS students have a common first year and students begin to focus their studies more in later years.
2. History and Political Science
   This involves the joint study of History and Political Science for all four years, with students taking courses in both departments. A choice may be made to confine one's studies to either History or Political Science in the final year, or to continue with both equally.
   
3. Philosophy and Political Science
   This involves the joint study of Philosophy and Political Science for all four years, with students taking courses in both departments. A choice may be made to confine one's studies to either Philosophy or Political Science in the final year, or to continue with both equally. This programme admitted its final cohort in September 2011; those wishing to study the two subjects jointly can now do this through the PPES programme.
4. PPES
   This permits students to study either for a single honors degree in Political Science, or a joint honors degree in which Political Science is combined with Philosophy, Economics, and Sociology. All PPES students have a common first year and students begin to focus their studies more in later years.
   
5. Law and Political Science
   Students take courses in both Political Science and Law: on an equal basis for the first three years, with the opportunity in the final year of continuing this pattern, or concentrating entirely on one or other subject.
6. Political Science and Geography
   Students take courses in both Political Science and Geography: on an equal basis for the first three years, with the opportunity in the final year of either continuing this pattern, or concentrating entirely on one or other subject.

Further details on the admissions process are available from the Admissions Office.

Whichever programme you choose, you will attend Political Science lectures and tutorials with students from the other programmes. Moreover, students from the European Studies, Sociology and Social Policy, TSM Economics and TSM Sociology degree courses also take some Political Science courses, so there is plenty of opportunity for interaction.

Undergraduate teaching is a core activity of the Political Science department and one that receives top priority.  Students are given lectures by world-renowned authorities in their field, and these are supplemented by small-group tutorials given by teaching assistants, which enables them to discuss, with the teaching assistants and with each other, the ideas outlined in the lectures. Continuous assessment is built into all courses.  In the final year of the Political Science programme courses are characteristically taught through seminars, enabling students to learn the vital skills of small-group discussion and presentation.

With a politics degree from Trinity, you can go far. A degree from Trinity College Dublin is recognised nationally and internationally as a mark of quality. The skills taught are highly transferable and our graduates go on to a wide range of careers. Of course, there are some careers for which a demonstrated interest in Politics is a definite plus and gives you a real head start. Journalism, other kinds of media work, the civil service, public relations, anything in business that requires knowing how government works, work in international organisations such as the EU or a not-for-profit organisation, all come into this category. A demonstrated knowledge of how the world works is obviously an asset for many types of career. An increasing number of undergraduates go on to do further study by means of postgraduate work, benefiting from the department's wide range of international contacts. For an elaboration of this, see our Prospective Undergraduates document (follow the link below).

More information on our undergraduate programme can be found through the navigation bar to the left of this screen or by downloading the prospective undergraduate document (pdf).

---