About us

Part of the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy, the Department of Politics is a centre of interdisciplinary research with an outstanding reputation for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Our history

The Department was founded in 1972 by Bernard Crick, author of In Defence of Politics, and George Orwell: A Life. The leading British sociology and political theorist, Paul Hirst, is also a key figure in our history. Read more about our history.

Unique location

The Department is situated in an elegant Regency house at 10 Gower Street in Bloomsbury (WC1). The building was once the home of Lady Ottoline Morrell, friend and patron of famous Bloomsbury writers and artists. Read more about our location.

Expert teaching

The Department has a reputation for teaching excellence of which it is justly proud: in 2001 our programmes were given the top rating for our teaching provision by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), this rating was confirmed again in 2005 by a panel of internal and external reviewers.

Research excellence

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 45% of our research output was deemed to be of international significance. Our performance placed us in the top 20 Politics departments in the UK, alongside Durham, Manchester and Cambridge. Read more about our research.

Interdisciplinary study

Our teaching recognises no intellectual boundary between politics, political history, political theory and sociology, and our degrees transcend any artificial divisions. This particular combination of expertise and course has no equivalent in any other Department in the UK.