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About politics

Politics is the study of power relations in society. It helps you understand essential issues about how societies are organised and their key institutions, including government, parliament and political parties.

Why study politics?

Politics offers you a way of engaging in vital questions about power and authority, how people govern communities and the relationship between ideas and practice. You’ll learn how contemporary political systems emerged and the fundamental ideas that propelled their development. You’ll learn to evaluate and compare different political systems and their key institutions.

What will you study?

Where does power come from, who has it, and how does it affect who gets what? Politics is concerned with ideas of freedom, democracy, equality and security. What do such ideas really mean, and how can we achieve them in practice?

Politics is an excellent discipline for learning about the interrelationships in the human world, and for acquiring a diverse range of interpretive, analytic and synthetic (especially conceptual) skills. You will engage in critical debates about things like:

• Resource allocation
• Social behaviour and political action
• The management or resolution of conflict
• Power struggles
• Ideologies and political movements
• The nature of the government and the state

In your third year, as part of your Politics major, you’ll have the opportunity to apply for a prestigious internship at the Parliament of Victoria. This immersive, hands-on experience allows you to work alongside influential politicians and top academics, gaining practical insights into politics. As part of the internship, you’ll also craft a 6,000-word public policy research report, which will be housed in the Parliamentary Library after assessment—an impressive and valuable addition to your academic portfolio!

What careers will you be ready for?

Studying politics will allow for employment opportunities in areas such as:

• Politics
• Government administration
• NGOs
• Journalism
• Industrial relations
• Lobbying and advocacy
• Business and much more

Who will be teaching you?

Monash University politics staff includes some of the leading scholars and commentators on Australian politics who have published widely in the field, and can be heard or read across Australia’s media whenever a major event occurs in national or state politics: elections and public opinion; terrorism and the responses to it; foreign policy; globalisation; the role of the media; and Canberra’s place in managing the Australian economy.

Global study

With Monash’s impressive international links, you’ll have the opportunity to venture into new and challenging contexts to enhance your learning.

Short term programs:

• The European Union: Challenges, crises and opportunities

Exchange programs include:

• Monash Malaysia – Malaysia
• National University of Singapore
• University of Tokyo – Japan
• Sciences Po – France
• Free University of Berlin – Germany
• Queen Mary University of London – England
• Leiden University – The Netherlands.