Public Policy MSc

Study public policy in a capital that is a working policy laboratory. Edinburgh is the home of the Scottish Parliament and where you will find many of the nation’s most policy-relevant NGOs and other non-state actors working to shape Scottish public policy. 

Moreover, Edinburgh is a place where we always need to reflect on the multilevel nature of policy, and with authority distributed across the Scottish and Westminster parliaments, we are constantly exploring the interplay of policy actors working across the Scottish and UK contexts to design and deliver policies. 

At Edinburgh, you will explore how policymakers interpret, experience and respond to socio-economic and political problems at local, national and international levels. You will consider what organisational resources, both governmental and non-governmental, might be mobilised to address them. In doing so, you will draw on insights from social policy, politics, sociology and economics. 

Some of the questions we might discuss:

* What role does evidence play in government decision making, and what kind of evidence counts?

* When making new policy, when are governments limited by their past decisions and when is it possible to pursue fundamental policy change?

* Can the public still hold elected politicians accountable for their decisions, and to what extent have the means to do so changed over time?

Study options

The MSc in Public Policy is offered as a one-year full-time programme.

Programme benefits

* This programme sits within the Social Policy subject area at the School of Social and Political Science. Our staff include early career and more experienced staff with a wide range of social and public policy research interests and teaching experience in both academic and professional settings.