Course details

Summary

Be informed about the big issues

Studying a BA (Politics) at Massey equips you with the concepts, theories and facts you need to make sense of the world around you.

Understand the world around you

Politics is about contestations for power and how we make decisions in society - who gets what, when and how - from the local community to the nation and internationally.

Politics is concerned with the conflict of ideas and values. It has to do with who governs, and how and why decisions that affect all of us (such as how much students should pay to study at university or whether the UN should sanction military interventions) are made.

A wide range of topics

With Massey's BA (Politics), you may study topics such as how laws are made in New Zealand, what the rise of China means for the future of global politics, how Select Committees work, what is happening in the Palestine/Israel conflict, or what concepts such as "freedom" or "justice" mean to different people. You might also learn about the main dimensions of key contemporary international conflicts.

Small class sizes and enthusiastic lecturers

At Massey, politics is taught in a small interdisciplinary programme where you have regular and close contact with academic staff. Your lecturers are active researchers in their respective fields. They are passionate about the subject matter they teach and bring that enthusiasm to the classroom.

Careers

Politics has two big things going for it: it is exciting, and it is relevant. Politics is a degree that can lead to a range of careers, including:

• Business
• Diplomacy
• Finance
• Journalism
• Policy analysis
• Public service

Our graduates are working as researchers, policy advisers, analysts and managers, and in the commercial, industrial, business, media, financial and public sectors. They also work in academia, the NZ Defense Forces, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, the Treasury, Air New Zealand, the Reserve Bank, the United Nations, TV3News and Amnesty International.

Requirements

You start your study of politics with the Introduction to Politics which you can align with some other associated topics. The study of Politics rests on four pillars: political theory, public policy, comparative politics and international relations. Each of these topics is covered in the more advanced courses which you will be required to study.

Major

A major consists of 135 credits (nine courses) in Politics.

Entry criteria

Students must have successful completion of a qualification equivalent to the New Zealand Year 13 - NCEA Level 3 University Entrance.

English Language Requirements:

• IELTS score of 6.0 (no band less than 5.5)
• TOEFL iBT score of 80 overall (min 19 in Writing)
• PTE Academic score of 50 Overall (min 42 in communicative skills)
• Cambridge English score of 170