Thematic packages
In the second year of your studies, you will take a thematic package of your choice. The programme offers four thematic packages. The thematic packages each consist of four related courses in which you will study a particular topic in depth. Read more about the thematic packages you can choose from below.
| Thematic packages (30 EC) |
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The thematic packages do not offer a specialisation in one discipline. Every package offers a mix of the four PPE disciplines. The aim is to enhance your interdisciplinary skills. Whichever package you choose, you will acquire the same skills.
Challenges to the welfare state
The thematic package Challenges to the welfare state prepares you to analyze the challenges welfare states have to face, now and in the future. Are migrants entitled to welfare state benefits? Is a universal basic income provided by the state a good idea? Or should people pay less taxes and be given more freedom and responsibility?
Markets and regulators
This package explores the relationship between three key institutions: markets, governments and businesses. In sports terms, one can think of businesses as players, markets as the playing field, and governments as referees, setting the rules of the game. Who regulates who?
Pathways to a sustainable future
In this thematic package you analyze how policies and governance structures can lead us towards a sustainable future. The sustainable use and conservation of the environment is a key challenge for all political and economic actors. Are we running out of natural resources, and how does this affect our future well-being? We will focus on important topics within sustainability, including biodiversity, energy use, water and scarcity.
Democracy and its discontents
This thematic track center-stages two developments that put national democracies under pressure. First: the shift of political decision-making from the national political domain to international, technocratic and seemingly apolitical actors. Second: the rise of movements that challenge the legitimacy of the democratic system, growing popular indifference towards politics.