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