Course structure
The University of Brighton MPA provides students with the opportunity to explore social, political and managerial issues that shape public administration practice around the globe. At Brighton we take public administration to mean all forms of governmental and non-governmental work that aims to bring greater social justice to our increasingly inter-connected and globalised world. We take UK and international examples of how governments seek to achieve 'public value' and through a thorough examination of contemporary public management tools we encourage students to form their own ideas of the success and limitations of those efforts.
Our MPA programme takes a human rights view of public administration. This provides a basis for a critical social science appraisal of international politics, privatisation, marketisation, and technology-led innovation in the public sector. Our aim is to understand how individual nations and global alliances account for human rights in their public administration practice and to understand the consequent contradictions that occur when the goals of economic and environmental sustainability, prosperity and competitiveness are simultaneously pursued.
Our courses include a mixture of intensive and extensive modules. Students take five core modules that are fundamental to understanding public administration in a global context. In addition, students taken 2 optional modules that allow them to focus their studies in the direction that most matches their interests and preferences (N.B. one of the two options taken must be a research methods module). Core taught elements are as follows:
Core modules
- Public administration and policy analysis
- Participation and democracy
- Managing public and voluntary organisations
- Organisations, partnerships and networks
- Strategy and planning in public services
Optional modules
- Global Political Architectures
- Community Psychology
- Global Social Policy
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Quantitative Research Methods
- Social Research Practice
See the full Masters in Public Administration course description on our Course Finder.
Students have the opportunity to specialise by taking optional modules that examine specific aspects of policy from both global and community perspectives. Possibilities also exist for students to carry out voluntary internships with organisations in the UK and abroad.
