The Department of Politics is one of the UK's leading research and teaching institutions for political studies.

We have a long and distinguished history of teaching Politics, which dates back to the 1760s, when Adam Smith gave a series of lectures on justice, police, revenue and arms. Today, the department is a thriving, international community where people from all over the world come to research, teach and study.

Our research is consistently rated for its excellence.  In particular, the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise found that no other department in Scotland has a greater proportion of its research work rated as being world class (4*), and only eleven other UK institutions have a higher proportion in this category.

Our staff are experts in all main areas of political studies but we have long-established strengths in the fields of Political Theory, Comparative and International Politics, and European Politics.  Our teaching is research-led but student centred, and from the first year students can expect to be lectured to by leading scholars in the field and to enjoy small class sizes.

Today, there are over 800 undergraduate students studying, in both single and joint degrees, as well students on our successful postgraduate degrees and a well established doctoral programme.