Programme introduction

Global Governance and Ethics have great relevance for policy makers. For example, the economic, social and political benefits of good governance, and the need for codes of ethics for politicians and business, have been high on the agenda of organisations such as the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and the UN as well as many multinational corporations. This MSc programme combines normative and empirical approaches to international justice, organisations and processes, and applies them to the analysis of global political institutions and policies.

Objectives

By the end of the programme students will:

• Be aware of the variety of ethical issues raised by the structures of global rule, and the effects of globalisation, and normative questions of accountability and responsibility in international affairs.

• Be equipped with the theoretical tools and empirical evidence necessary for an in-depth understanding of normative theories of international justice, democracy and public ethics, on the one hand, and of empirical theories and studies of globalisation, governance and international policy-making, on the other.

• Possess the skills essential for the analytical study of politics and for the development of a normative assessment of the main issues currently facing the design of global institutions and policy making at the international level.

The programme is made up of the following elements, to total 180 credits:

1.   You are required to take the following four compulsory modules:

• Globalisation and Global Governance (30 credits)
• Introduction to Qualitative Methods (15)
• Introduction to Quantitative Methods (15) OR Advanced Quantitative Methods (15)
• Dissertation - 10,000 words (60)

2.   Choose two of the following 15 credit modules (the others remain options to choose in step 3):

• Global Ethics (15)
• Global Public Policy (15)
• Global Justice, Citizenship and Democracy (15)
• International Political Economy (15)
• Theories of International Relations (15)

3.   Choose any two further modules worth 30 credits in total (the following is a list of all courses available within the department):

Students may take graduate modules from cognate subjects available elsewhere in UCL but must seek approval from the Programme Director in the first instance.