Legal and Political Theory

This MA provides students with key analytical skills to study the ethical dimensions of public policy. The programme, drawing on three areas of excellence at UCL, is a unique mix of politics, law and philosophy, centred on the normative evaluation of public policy at both the domestic and international levels.

The programme explores the moral quality of the decisions citizens and professionals take, and the justice of the legal and political structures within which they operate. Students develop the ability to analyse important modern political theories, and justify their position on issues concerning the relationship between politics, law and society.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), optional modules (60 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits).

Core modules

• Meanings of Liberty: Applied Methods in Political Theory (30)
• Seminars in Political Theory, Colloquium in Legal Philosophy and Peer Assisted Learning Sessions (30)

Optional modules

Students choose modules worth a total of 45 credits from the list below (the others remain available as options).

They also choose one further 15-credit module from a list available at: www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/teaching/masters/ma-legal-and-political-theory.

• Contemporary Political Philosophy I: Authority, Obligation & Democracy (15)
• Contemporary Political Philosophy II: Social Justice and Equality (15)
• Equality, Justice and Difference (15)
• Global Ethics (15)
• Jeremy Bentham and the Utilitarian Tradition I and II (30)
• Jeremy Bentham and the Utilitarian Tradition I (15)
• Jurisprudence and Legal Theory I & II (30)
• Jurispudence and Legal Theory I (15)
• The Ethics of Poverty (15)
• Public Ethics (15)
• Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights (15)
• The Ethics of Counterterrorism (15)

Dissertation/report

All MA students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of 10,000 words.

Teaching and learning

Teaching for all modules takes the form of seminars where time is dedicated both to introducing knowledge and materials, and allowing students to test their understanding, knowledge and evaluative skills, through discussion, criticism and debate. Assessment is primarily through long essays, coursework and the dissertation.

As a minimum, an upper second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university; a CGPA of 3.3; or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Relevant practical or work experience in a related field may also be taken into account.