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Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

 

Guidelines for 2023-24 for students wishing to take a one-year Part II in Politics and International Relations

Students who have not taken Part IIA in HSPS can be considered on a request to the department for a one-year Part II in Politics and International Relations. Generally students will only be considered for a one-year Part II if they have obtained marks in the upper-2.1 range or better in their prior exam results. Students who have not achieved highly in their earlier exams are likely to struggle academically on a one-year Part II, and for that reason the request to transfer is usually declined. 

If you want to apply for a one-year Part II, you should contact the department on ugradadmin@polis.cam.ac.uk, with a specification of the papers you wish to take. Please be aware that your college's endorsement of your request to transfer is insufficient - you also need official permission from the department as well. 

The broad guidelines that you should bear in mind for paper selection are as follows:

1. One-year Part II students take four papers out of those available to HSPS Part II students. 

2. A one-year Part II student can only take POL11 if s/he also takes POL7 or POL8 or has taken comparable papers in either the Philosophy Tripos, the Historical Tripos or the joint History & Politics Tripos.

3. A one-year Part II student wishing to take any of POL12, POL13 and POL15 must also take or have taken POL4.

4. A one-year Part II student wishing to take POL14 or POL18 must also take or have taken POL3.

5. A student who has completed Part IB of the History & Politics Tripos would be expected to take POL9 as one of their four papers. Other students taking the one-year Part II are not expected to take POL9.

6. A one-year Part II student is usually not permitted to substitute one paper for a dissertation, unless they have completed Part IB of the History & Politics Tripos, for whom this restriction may be relaxed.

List of papers 

POL3: International Organisation

POL4: Comparative Politics

  • POL4 Module A: Iraq and Syria
  • POL4 Module B: Burundi and Rwanda 
  • POL4 Module C: Poland and Russia
  • POL4 Module D: France and Germany
  • POL4 Module E: China and Mongolia
  • POL4 Module F: US and UK

POL5: Long Essay Questions: Themes and Issues in Politics and International Relations

POL6: Statistics and Methods in Politics and International Relations

POL7: The History of Political Thought to c.1700

POL8: The History of Political Thought from c.1700 to c.1890

POL9: Conceptual Issues in Politics and International Relations

POL10: The History of Political Thought from c.1700 to c.1890

POL11: Political Philosophy and the History of Political Thought since c.1890 

POL12: The Politics of the Middle East

POL13: British and European Politics

POL14: International Security

POL15: The Politics of Africa 

POL16: The Politics of Global China

POL17: Politics and Gender

POL18: The Politics of the International Economy

POL19: Long Essay Questions: Themes and Issues in Politics and International Relations 

POL20: The Politics of Latin America

POL21: Politics of the Future

POL22: Politics and Public Policy