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First Year
Second and Third Year
Fourth Year Honours
Political Science is the study of how individuals and groups exercise power and influence, or resist power and influence being exercised over them. It deals with an enormous range of phenomena, from how individuals formulate their own self-identity and political allegiance to how nations become involved in war.
The study of politics is a crucial part of any liberal education, linking readily with history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology, psychology, criminology, social theory and literary studies. The Department of Political Science subjects focus not merely on current Australian issues but also on areas such as Europe, post-communist societies, the United States, the Middle East and China. There are also subjects dealing with broad issues of social and economic change, as well as subjects dealing with political and philosophical ideas, debates and assumptions. Other subjects concentrate on providing practical experience and a variety of skills used in political analysis.
The study of Political Science helps in gaining an understanding of the major social and political issues which dominate the local and international agenda. Heightened personal awareness, self-confidence and a firm grasp of specific knowledge are other key benefits you will derive from a study of politics.
Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts who have majored in Political Science are highly sought after by employers and find that they are on the threshold of many interesting career paths. For example, you may go on to choose a career as a journalist, a diplomat, a policy analyst, a public servant, a management consultant, research consultant, psychologist, or any job which involves critical analysis and writing skills such as an academic, film-maker, educational researcher, politician, media worker, research assistant to parliamentarians and trade unions, school teacher, in banking, business or management (especially in the export industries). Those considering working in government, the law, for welfare agencies or lobby groups, in the creative arts, in public relations and the public service will find the study of politics especially valuable. You will find that international opportunities are opened up by the study of politics, such as posts in the United Nations or its specialised agencies, GATT, overseas aid agencies, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and many more.
There are no prerequisite for study in Political Science in first-year beyond the normal requirements for university entrance. First-year Political Science subjects make no assumption of previous study of VCE politics.
The general prerequisite for all second and third-year politics subjects is normally 25 points of first-year Politics; students with only 12.5 points in Politics may apply to the 2nd/3rd-year coordinator.
A major in Political Science requires the completion of five subjects at second and third-year level (a total of 83.3 points). Students may enrol in an individual second or third-year subject provided that they have met the normal prerequisites noted above.
The prerequisite for entry to honours in Political Science is the completion of all requirements for the BA with a major in Politics with an overall average grade of H2A or better. Students who wish to enrol in Combined Politics Honours must also satisfy the honours prerequisite in the combining department. Students wishing to undertake their thesis in the Political Science Department will need to make written application to the Director of the Politics Honours School by October 31 in the year previous to which admission to honours is sought. Forms will be available from the Departmental Office.
Pure Honours students complete:
Students taking Combined Politics Honours complete:
Graduate Studies in Political Science at Melbourne is already well established with over 150 postgraduate students pursuing PhDs, MAs, Postgraduate Diplomas and Graduate Diplomas. Further enquiries about postgraduate courses should be directed to the Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Political Science.
166-101 Australian Politics: Institutions, Parties and Issues
166-102 Contemporary Issues in Australian Politics: Citizenship and Globalisation
166-103 Australian Society: Class, Gender, Race and Sexuality
166-104 Change and Conflict in Australian Society
166-105 The Politics of Identity
166-106 Introduction To Political Ideas
166-107 Politics of the Media
166-108 Contemporary Political Ideologies and Movements
166-110 The Making of Modern Europe: Managing Identity in Contemporary Europe
131-123 The Making of Modern Europe: Reason and the State
166-123 'The World Is an Amazing Place': the Politics of Other Cultures
166-202 The Politics of Sexual Reform Movements
166-203 Australian Political Economy
166-206 Parliamentary Internship Research Project
166-208 The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific Region
166-209 Transforming Australian Culture: State, Society and the Australian Way of Life
166-211 American Politics and Society
166-212 West European Politics
166-215 Chinese Politics and Society
166-216 Russian Politics and Society
166-219 Modern Political Thought
166-223 International Relations
166-225 Public Policy Making in Australia
166-226 Issues in American Foreign Policy
166-227 International Gender Politics
166-228 Conflict, Control and Corruption in Western Europe
166-229 The Politics of Ecology
166-231 Australia in the International Political Economy
166-232 Political Psychology
166-234 World Politics in Transition
166-235 Dictatorships, Democracies and Transition: Russian and East European Politics
166-236 The Political Economy of Russia
166-239 Sexual Politics
166-240 European Integration: the Politics of the European Union
166-241 Political Theory
166-242 An/Other China: Theorising Everyday Life
166-243 Australian Foreign Relations
166-244 The Development of Social and Political Theory
166-248 Politics 2A/3A
166-249 Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
166-254 International Public Affairs Internship
166-259 Public Affairs Internship
166-260 Contemporary American Society and Culture: Whose Country? Whose Culture?
166-264 Constitutional Design and Change: Australia and America
166-270 Australian Public Policy and Public Sector Change: Current Trends
166-271 Power: Doing Political Analysis
166-351 International Parliamentary Internship
166-353 International Studies: Maps and Narratives
103-101 Computer Applications in Social Sciences and the Humanities
131-222 Indonesian Nationalism: Ethnicity and Religious Change in the 20th Century
131-223 Military and State in 20th Century Indonesia
136-257 Identities in Conflict: Social Theory and the Politics of Identity
136-259 Social Theory and Political Analysis
136-260 Psychoanalysis and Social Theory
150-210 Political and Economic Development in Indonesia
116-278 Foreignness, Integration and Exclusion: Culture and Identity in Contemporary France and Germany
166-400 Politics Honours Thesis
166-410 Engendered Management
166-411 Australian Politics: Approaches and Issues
166-421 Politics 4A
166-422 Politics 4B
166-425 Orientalism: Discourse and Method
166-426 Communicating Politics
166-427 International Political Economy Theory
166-429 Dilemmas of European Unity: Nation, State and Europe
166-433 Survey Research Methods
166-434 The Body and the State: New approaches in political and legal theory.
166-439 Government-Business Relations
166-440 Leadership in Politics, Organisations and Groups
166-442 Law, Ethics and Public Policy
166-444 The Emerging World (Dis)Order
166-445 Postcolonial Concerns, Postmodern Theory
166-446 Theories of the Cold War
166-448 Globalisation and Workplace Change in Australia
166-449 Aspects of Post-Communism
166-450 International Studies: Theories and Futures
166-451 Issues in German Politics
166-481 Configurations of Prosperity: Political Economy and Culture
166-482 Right Turn: Contemporary Conservative Politics in the United States
166-483 The Australian Welfare State in International Perspective
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