MA in Politics (2 years)
Vienna, Austria
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 12,000 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* payable in one or two installments, non-refundable initial tuition fee installment (€500 EUR) is paid to confirm your acceptance of our offer of admission and is credited towards the 1st tuition fee installment in year 1
Key Summary
Introduction
The two-year MA Program in Political Science specifically addresses the needs of students who have a three-year study background in political science (or a related discipline) and would like to gain a more structured and comprehensive knowledge about contemporary political theory, European politics, and different research methodologies and empirical skills necessary for the practice of political science.
At the same time, the high number and great variety of elective courses give students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in their chosen field of specialization such as comparative politics, political economy, political communication, or political theory. The MA program targets both future academics and students who wish to pursue careers in non-academic jobs requiring considerable skills in social and political analysis, typically in the civil service, the news media, NGOs, political and cultural organizations, and private businesses.
Specializations
It is mandatory for students to specialize in a field of their choice from among the following:
- Comparative Politics
- Political Economy
- Research Methods and Techniques
- Social and Political Theory
- Political Behavior
- Democracy and Social Change
Program Accreditation/Registration
- The program was approved and registered by the New York State Education Department
- Program accredited by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ-Austria)
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
To master’s candidates, we award financial aid based on academic merit. You can apply for financial support for master’s studies in the Funding section of the Online Application Form.
Curriculum
Courses generally earn 4 or 8 ECTS, students are required to earn 100 ECTS from courses over the two years. Students are required to take the Academic Writing course, as well as the Thesis Writing courses.
Students must complete all mandatory courses within the program, no exemption is possible from these classes.
Those students who lack a political science background will be required to take remedial classes in their first year to gain a basic understanding of the discipline.
Students should also register for elective courses that can come from the MA or PhD courses offered by the Political Science Department. Besides the MA courses offered by the department, students can choose among MA courses offered by other CEU departments and programs, provided those courses are cross-listed with the Political Science Department.
Students must specialize in a field of their choice. The choice of Specialization is mandatory for all students. Students earn 28 ECTS in courses related to the specific field in question, and students must write their MA thesis on a topic related to this field of specialization.
Students have to submit and defend an approx. 15,000 words MA thesis and complete the Thesis Writing module, altogether worth 20 ECTS. The program concludes with an oral thesis defense.
MA2 Program structure and curriculum
Mandatory Preparatory Module
- Remedial Class – What is Political Science
- Academic Writing for Political Science
- Introduction to Social Science Statistics - Math Refresher
Mandatory Foundational Module
- Scope and Methods: Research Design, Methods and Techniques
- Introduction to Political Theory
- Comparative European Politics
- Introduction to Political Economy
- Introduction to Statistics I
- Introduction to Statistics and Programming with R II
- Comparative Case Study Research
- Field Research and Qualitative Data Analysis
- Critical Qualitative Research Methods
- Analyzing Political Discourse
- Process Tracing
- Introduction to Statistical Modelling
Specialization
- Any Political Science MA course listed under the specialization
Electives Module
- Any Political Science MA course
- Any Cross-listed MA course
- Any University-wide course
- PhD Political Science Course, on permission
Thesis Module
- Thesis Writing – First Year
Thesis Writing – Second Year
- Defended MA Thesis (min. 15,000 words)
Total: 120 ECTS
4 ECTS Academic Writing + 40 ECTS Foundational + 28 ECTS Specialization + 28 ECTS Electives + 20 ECTS thesis.