Democracy and Representation (MSc)

Admission requirements

Entry requirements

General diploma requirements

• a bachelor’s degree in Political Science (from a recognised university), or
• a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline, provided you can demonstrate 80 ECTS in Political Science relevant courses. Disciplines considered as ‘related’ include the following:
  • Public Administration
  • Sociology
  • Economics
  • Law (in particular Public, International, Constitutional Law, etc.)
  • Geography (in particular Human Geography)
  • Anthropology (in particular Political Anthropology)
  • Psychology (in particular Social & Political Psychology)
  • History
  • Philosophy (in particular Political Theory, Social theory)
  • Communication, Media, Journalism
  • Comparative Literature (in particular with a focus on social and political issues and theory for eg. Postcolonial Studies, Gender Stydies, Critical Theory, etc.)
  • Thematic degrees that include a strong political analysis component (eg. Gender Studies, Development Studies, Migration Studies, Security Studies, Human Rights Studies, Urban Studies, etc.)
  • Area studies degrees that include a strong politics component (European Studies, Middle East Studies, Asian Studies, etc.)
• A bachelor’s degree in an unrelated discipline (eg. degrees in unrelated disciplines such as Computer Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Business and Administration) is also admissible, provided you can demonstrate 80 ECTS in Political Science relevant courses. The Msc Admissions committee will carry out an additional assessement of your file wether you possess sufficient knowledge, understanding, and skills required for the Msc Degree.

80 ECTS in relevant courses

If your bachelor's degree is not in Political Science,

• You need to demonstrate that you have completed least 80 ECTS of courses relevant to Political Science. There are courses that are generally taught in Political Science degrees (for eg. Introduction to Political Science, Security Studies, Macro-Economics, Global History, Statistics for Social Science). As an indication, see our bachelor’s programmes for courses taught in Leiden.
• There is no exhaustive list of the courses, and we cannot answer in advance questions about which courses will be considered as relevant. It is left to the appreciation of the Msc Admissions Committee to determine whether the applicant’s courses are admissible after the application has been submitted.

Competency in Social Science research design (not mandatory)

• You should demonstrate competency in Social Science Research Methodology, evidenced by coursework.
  • If you cannot demonstrate competency in Social Science Research Methodology, this will not influence the outcome of your application,
  • however, you will be required to take the online course Introduction to Research Design in Political Science before the beginning of the academic year. All information about this course will be provided upon admission.
  • If you hold a degree from discplines that do not generally teach Social Science methodology (e.g. Law, Geography, History, Philosophy, Communication, Comparative Literature, etc.), you should expect to be asked to follow the course Introduction to Research Design in Political Science upon admission.

English language proficiency

• sufficient proficiency in the English language, as described below.

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