What is the subject Politics and International Relations?
Politics and international relations deal with the conflicts, potential for cooperation, and exercise of power that arise when people have to live together both within and across societies. Politics is inescapable, since we all have to live with other people to some extent, which is why Aristotle claimed over two thousand years ago that politics was the most valuable science and pursued the most important goals. For Ireland in the 21st century – by some measurements the most globalised country on earth – political questions on both national and international levels are more pressing than ever before.
In studying politics and international relations, we try to understand what happens, to figure out what should happen, and to determine how this might be realised. Much of political study involves seeking to understand national and international political institutions, systems and forces – parliaments, presidents and power, votes, vetoes and violence – but it also seeks to explain the changes that occur in these and to articulate what further possibilities for change exist. But politics equally involves what is called political theory, examining what institutions, options and lives we ought to have: what justice demands, what freedom requires, what democracy could be. This is equally true on the international scale – we can explain war, trade and global poverty, discuss the existing mechanisms for coping with these issues and examine what moral demands these facts place on individual nations and individual human beings.
Studying Politics and International Relations at UCD
University College Dublin’s School of Politics and International Relations is the largest and most diverse in the state and combines a variety of approaches to all political matters with special expertise in particular areas. Such areas of particular expertise include: European studies, development studies, comparative politics, Irish politics, political theory, international relations and British-Irish studies.
Our school has a strongly international group of students and staff, and our graduates are found all over the world, in governments, universities and other organizations. In Ireland and the EU, our graduates are found at the highest levels of government and are equally prominent in the media, civil service and business sectors.
The study of politics informs you about the world around you, teaches you to analyse and evaluate that information and trains you to present that information in a compelling and useful way. These skills have meant that our graduates are always in high demand.
Career Opportunities
A wide range of employment opportunities in the public and private sector is open to graduates of the various Politics programmes both in Ireland and abroad. Areas include:
- The Irish Civil Service
- The European Commisson
- The International Agencies such as UN, IMF and World Bank
- NGOs
- Print and Broadcasting Media
- The Diplomatic Service
- Business
- Administration and Research
- Public Representatives
- Academic Life
Graduates are also extremely well qualified to pursue further study at Masters and PhD level.
Contact Details & Further Information
UCD School of Politics & International Relations
University College Dublin, Newman Building, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
tel: +353-1-716 8397 fax: +353-1-716 1171 email: spire@ucd.ie
For information on our undergraduate programmes and admissions please visit the UCD Horizons website.
The UCD Undergraduate Prospectus 2013 is now online.
