M.A. Governance and Public Policy
Degree awarded | Master of Arts (M.A.) |
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Duration and credits | 4 semesters; 120 ECTS credits |
Starts in | April (summer semester) and October (winter semester) |
Language of instruction | German |
About the programme
Globalisation holds both great risks and immense opportunities; it also creates excellent career prospects and development opportunities. One of the cornerstones of this programme is its interdisciplinary curriculum, which prepares students for work at the intersection of various academic disciplines. In the core modules and your chosen focus modules, you will study political theory, governance research and, building on this, comparative theories of government, European integration research, the transformation of traditional institutions before the background of complex multi-level governance structures as well as policy design and implementation. A choice of skills modules, including foreign languages, empirical social research, Digital Humanities, scientific principles and research design round off the qualification profile of those graduating from this degree programme.
This is an accredited programme which has received the Seal of Quality of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany.
For details, please consult the Academic Advice Service's infosheet [German content].
Features
- The only Governance and Public Policy course in Germany to include public law modules
- Unique range of courses and excellent staff-student ratio in small masterclasses
- Numerous partnerships with universities abroad, which are particularly useful for students on this degree programme (e.g. France, Hungary, Pakistan, Romania, the UK and the USA)
- One of only eight degree courses in Germany to have been accepted into the Helmut-Schmidt Programme (Public Policy and Good Governance) of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
- Double-degreeoptions with Andrássy University Budapest (Hungary) and University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
DAAD scholarships in the field of Public Policy and Good Governance (PPGG)
For highly qualified graduates from certain developing or emerging countries, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Bonn, Germany, grants up to ten full scholarships per year to cover the expenses for the whole two-year programme at the University of Passau.
Career prospects
Do you have your sights on a career in the upper echelons of public administration in Germany or abroad, or in a multinational corporation? The Master of Arts in Governance and Public Policy gives you the ideal starting conditions for a career in a corporate or administrative environment, as it imparts in-depth theoretical knowledge, skills and methods in such a way as to prepare you for challenging occupations which involve elements of social science, business and law. This opens up career paths in administrative structures in both the private and public sector, or as an independent political consultant, e.g. for advocacy groups or political parties. Alternatively, you could pursue an academic career, e.g. at a think tank, research institute or university, as this course provides you with a solid grounding in scientific working methods.
The degree programme consists of three module groups and includes a master's thesis:
A: Core modules
The two core modules "Theory of State" and "Multilevel Governance" constitute the political-science foundations for your intermediate and advanced interdisciplinary study later on in the degree programme.
B: Focus modules
In the focus modules, the knowledge gained in the previously completed core modules is treated in greater detail and with the involvement of other disciplines. At this stage of the programme, you will deal with problems from the areas of comparative politics/public policy, global governance, European integration, recent European history, European and international law as well as political institutions and social transformation.
C: Competency modules
The competency modules are intended to give students the opportunity to develop practical skills and competencies, foreign language skills, scientific principles, research design, presentation skills, empirical social research and computer-aided research methods in the social sciences and humanities (Digital Humanities).
As part of this master's programme, you will write a thesis on a topic of your choice. You will accumulate 120 ECTS points throughout the programme.
Module catalogue [German content] and structural diagram [German content] for the programme.