About the Academic Track

The MA of Political Science General Track at Postgraduate Progran in Law and Politics has a unique curriculum. The Student will become an expert in a topic of his choice. After studying the Core courses in the Master of Political Science, The student will either choose to continue in the general track or choose a specific major from the available majors, where he will study two elective courses from the specialized-track courses in addition to preparing a thesis on the subject of the specialized-track.
Specialized tracks available
– Master of Political Science (General track)
– Academic track specializing in International Relations and Diplomacy (Specializing track)
– Academic track specializing in Political History (Specializingtrack)
– Academic track specializing in Strategic Planning (Specializing track)
– Academic track specializing in Political Theory (Specializing track)
– Academic track specializing in Political Sociology (Specializing track)
– Academic track specializing in Political Systems (Specializing track)
– Academic track specializing in Negotiation and International Conflict Resolution (Specializing track)

Whatever subject you choose, you will immerse yourself in methodologies and theories and learn how to apply them. You will follow a course on the philosophy, design, and practice of political research, giving you the theoretical tools and insights to prepare for your thesis. Working in small groups, you will choose and formulate your research question, review the literature, design your research, and collect and analyze the data you need.

The Master Level of Political Science Tracks aims to help the student develop professionally in the field of research and analysis of political processes, with the rigor of tools offered by contemporary political science, and at the same time, improve skills and abilities to analyze global political systems. The Master of Political Science Academic Track will be a program specifically designed for students who are interested in pursuing their higher studies in political science, whether they are studying political science at the undergraduate level or studying in various disciplines and wish to specialize in the field of political science.

Study Duration

● The student studies eight courses, distributed as follows:
√ Six compulsory courses.
√ Two elective courses from among the courses offered by the college for master’s students.
● The study is conducted through research seminars in each course. The research seminar is based on multiple references and is in accordance with the methodology and standards of scientific research.
● The study of each of the eight courses takes four credit hours for a minimum of four weeks and may exceed that according to each student’s abilities. After that, the student’s competency and knowledge test is held in the course he completed, then he begins another course in the same manner, and so on.
● The student is assigned a hypothetical course that the college chooses from among the courses that the student has studied at the undergraduate level, and this is considered a practical training for the student to be evaluated with ten credit hours. The student must divide this course from twelve to fourteen brief lectures. The student presents each lecture in the form of a written summary of its topic in Word or PDF format, accompanied by a video recording of it in the student’s voice using the Power Point program, with a duration of not less than ten minutes and not more than About twenty minutes.
● Study courses in the first year, the student has the right to extend the study for a period not exceeding a second year.

The requirements for obtaining a master’s degree in various disciplines are sixty credit hours according to the study plan approved by the University Council, and these requirements are distributed according to the following programs:
1- Research courses of thirty-two credit hours.
2- A scientific thesis with eighteen credit hours.
3- A practical training of ten credit hours.

Requirements for registering a thesis topic for a master’s degree
● The student must pass the stipulated courses with a score of at least 70%.
● The student obtained a TOEFL certificate of at least 450, or its equivalent, or obtained an equivalent certificate in the French language, with the exception of those who obtained a first university degree in one of the two languages, or in one of the two languages.
● The student submits a request to the university administration to register a master’s thesis with a proposed topic in one of the subspecialty tracks.
● If the initial approval of the subject title is achieved, the college council will designate a supervisor to guide and follow up the student in preparing the plan.
● The research plan includes the importance of the topic and a critical presentation of previous studies in it, specifically the research problem, then defining the study’s curriculum and its main hypotheses or questions that you want to answer, and the division of the study and its sources.
● The student presents his proposed plan in a scientific seminar, discussing the plan as a topic and an approach.
● The student adjusts his plan based on the professors’ observations in the seminar if he is asked to amend.
● After the seminar, the plan is presented to the college council to take its decision regarding the registration of the subject.
● In the event of approval, the College Council’s decision is presented to the University Council to approve the registration, and the registration date is calculated from the date of the University Council’s approval.

Jury discussion and award of degree
● The minimum for preparing a master’s thesis is nine months, starting from the date of approval by the University Council to register the subject, and the maximum is two years, which can be extended for a third exceptional year upon the recommendation of the supervisor and the approval of the College Council, provided that the total period of student enrollment in the degree does not exceed four years.
● The supervisor submits a semi-annual report that includes what has been accomplished and what is required in the remaining period.
● After the student completes the thesis and the supervisor reviews it, the supervisor submits to the university administration a report stating its validity for discussion, including an evaluation of the student’s performance during the preparation period of the thesis of 140 degrees, with a full copy of the thesis signed by him, and a letter with the names of the discussion and judgment committee proposed by the professors of the specialty, for presentation to the college Council.
● At least fifteen days must pass before the student’s discussion from the date of the approval of the discussion committee by the college.
● The validity period of the committee formed to discuss the thesis is six months, which may be renewed for a similar period based on a report from the supervisor and the approval of the College Council.
● Each member of the committee writes a detailed scientific report on the validity of the thesis for discussion, and the thesis is evaluated out of 420 degrees, and the average of the three degrees is taken.
The student may not be discussed unless he/she gets at least 70% of the supervisor’s evaluation of his performance and the committee members’ evaluation of the message in the individual reports.
● A group report is submitted after the discussion, signed by all members of the committee, in which an evaluation of the thesis discussion is given on a scale of 140 degrees.

The thesis is passed after public discussion with one of the ratings shown in the following table:

Percentage of gradespointsappreciation symbolAppreciation
ArabicEinglish
95 to 100%4A+A+Prominent
90 to less than 95%7 , 3aA
85 to less than 90%3 , 3b+BVery well
80 to less than 85%3BB
75 to less than 80%7 , 2c+C+Good
70 to less than 75%3 , 2cC

After the college approves the student’s results, the master’s degree is awarded at a rate calculated from the average total of the courses and thesis grades.
After obtaining the approval of the University Council to grant a master’s degree to the student, he is entitled to obtain insured certificates, authenticated by the university, stating that he obtained that degree, in order to present them to the various authorities.

Study Duration

The duration of study to obtain a master’s degree in Political and economics is two years as a minimum, and six years as a maximum.
In the first year, the student studies at least eight subjects, and the study is through research seminars for each course. The research seminar is based on multiple references and is in accordance with the scientific research methodology and standards.
In the second year, the student attends a general seminar for the topic of the thesis, which he will prepare and submit for discussion
The general seminar is discussed by the scientific committee at the university, and the title of the thesis is approved
The student works to complete his thesis under the supervision of the supervisor decided by the Presidency of the University based on the proposal of the Dean of the Faculty
The student completes his scientific thesis and submits for discussion before the committee formed by the Presidency of the University in a public session and completes the conditions for a master’s degree
Courses of study in the first year The student has the right to extend the study in it for a period not exceeding a second year
The thesis prepared by the student during a period of time not less than 9 months and not exceeding two years

Conditions for success and graduation

1) The student is considered to have passed any of the program’s courses if he achieves a final score of no less than 65%. He is also considered successful in the master’s project if he obtains a mark (granted by the judging committee) not less than 75%.
After the student presents the results of his project before the committee, and discusses its technical content.
2) The student is not entitled to submit to discuss his thesis until a scientific research is published in an approved refereed journal.
3) The student obtains a master’s degree certificate after he has fulfilled all the scientific requirements for this degree.

Academic Track Structure
8 courses = 32 credit hours,
 practical training = 10 credit hours
 Master's thesis = 18 credit hours
Courses
Practical Training
Master's Thesis

I. Core Courses (General Track)

Scientific Research Methodology

Course name: Scientific Research Methodology

Course code: MPOL101

Credit hours: 4.00


The course aims to train students to prepare research in political science, by identifying the most important steps of the research process such as the research problem, scientific hypotheses, concepts and variables, data collection methods, data analysis tools, reaching results and generalizations, in addition to introducing the most important approaches used in field of political science.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

The Origins of Political Analysis

Course name: The Origins of Political Analysis

Course code: MPOL102

Credit hours: 4.00


The course presents the concepts, ideas, and tools necessary to analyze politics and understand its facts, and provides a description and analysis of the issues that occupy the mind of contemporary man: democracy, political behavior, political evaluation, policy making, and deals with the issue of power and influence through specific examples of those who have different degrees of them, in order to help the student to Creative awareness of the realities of the world of politics and its makers.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Political Planning and Organization

Course name: Political planning and organization

Course code: MPOL103

Credit hours: 4.00


The course includes a study of the concepts of planning and political organization and the most important elements on which these concepts depend to achieve the political goals of states, a study of models of international relations and the nature of the interactions that regulate relations and factors affecting aspects of governance and political organization, and a study of the scientific foundations on which the study of politics is based and an explanation of the role of political ideologies and philosophies in Organizing international political work, studying and studying the most important challenges facing work in the field of politics, and ways to deal with those challenges. Studying the most important aspects of research and development for various systems and political interactions, and predicting political trends and the political decision-making system.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Philosophy of Political Science

Course name: Philosophy of Political Science

Course code: MPOL104

Credit hours: 4.00


The course deals with the meaning and function of political philosophy, and then reviews the philosophies of Plato that he presented in his dialogues, as well as Aristotle as the founder of political science, and also the political philosophy of Muslims represented in Al-Farabi and Ibn Khaldun. Then he moves to the modern political philosophy of Hobbes, who worked to reorganize political thought in a rational, materialistic framework, and Hegel’s creations about the state and civil society, leading to the emergence of ideal socialism (utopia) and ending with Marx’s materialistic socialism, which he founded on the basis of Hegelian.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

The Origins of Geopolitical Science

Course name: The Origins of Geopolitical Science

Course code: MPOL105

Credit hours: 4.00


The Origins of Geopolitical Science
The course contains a study of the concept of geopolitics and the origins on which the science of geopolitics depends and its relationship to various variables, a study of the developments that have gone through the origins of geopolitical sciences and the efforts of researchers towards forming a clear understanding of political geography, and a study of the most important components and ways to understand the interactive relationships between the various components of geopolitical sciences at the level of civilizations and cultures and studying many applied fields through which geopolitical sciences can be effectively employed in various fields, and study the most important areas that need further studies in them in relation to geopolitical sciences and ways to develop applied work in them in improving understanding of the nature of events and developing decision-making systems.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Political Parties and Electoral Systems

Course name: Political Parties and Electoral Systems

Course code: MPOL105

Credit hours: 4.00


Political Parties and Electoral Systems
The course includes the various concepts of democracy, its forms and its relationship to political parties, human rights, culture, systems of government and its various models such as presidential, parliamentary, and monarchy. It also deals with electoral systems in the world, such as direct and indirect elections, individual and list elections, proportional representation, majority elections, mixed systems, the system of representation of professions and interests, and quotas, whether in legislative, presidential or local elections. The course focuses on the voting process, electoral propaganda, election monitoring, and vote counting.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

II. Elective Courses (General Track)

Political Sociology

Course name: Political Sociology

Course code: MPOL151

Credit hours: 4.00


The course reviews the most prominent ideas of the pioneers of political sociology, deals with the sociological meaning of political participation, studies the subject and origin of political sociology, and sheds light on research methods and tools in political sociology, as well as the intellectual premises and theoretical trends in political sociology.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Political History

Course name: Political History

Course code: MPOL152

Credit hours: 4.00


The course is divided into three parts: Part One: It reviews the history of political thought from the Athenian democracy to the Christian Middle Ages, and is distinguished by its encyclopedia, and also in careful detail of opinions and philosophers. Part two: extends since the European Renaissance, when Machiavelli; And how the latter laid politics on new rules, causing an intellectual rupture with Plato and the Christian philosophical heritage. Then the impact of the Protestant religious reform on politics, passing through the major revolutions and the emergence of theories of natural right and the social contract that deals with them in detail. And the end of Spinoza, who returned the human mind to the earth and his critical opinions of religion, and advocates freedom of opinion and expression. The third part: reviews the major currents that followed the Enlightenment: nationalism, liberalism, and socialism, and how they developed in each country and among its main thinkers.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Geopolitical Analysis

Course name: Geopolitical Analysis

Course code: MPOL103

Credit hours: 4.00


The course provides a definition of the concept of political geography, analysis of the spatial relationship of the state and its economic and human components and its impact on the current and future regional and international political weight. It also deals with various geopolitical theories such as: the biosphere, the marine, the continental core, the contributions of Mackinder, Hashofer, Mahan, in addition to applied studies of geopolitical theories and their contribution to achieving security and regional blocs.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Foreign Policy

Course name: Foreign Policy

Course code: MPOL104

Credit hours: 4.00


The course includes the study of the foreign policy of the great powers, especially the United States of America, Russia, China and the European Union since the Second World War, and a study of the determinants of the foreign policy of the great powers and their goals, with a focus on the impact of internal factors and contemporary international issues such as conditions of international balance, polarization, conflict between blocs, coexistence, the policy of international accord and the new features of international politics. .
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

International Relations

Course name: International Relations

Course code: MPOL155

Credit hours: 4.00


The course includes an introduction to the student about the development of international relations concepts and theories, and the problems facing the creation of an integrated scientific theory of international relations. The course includes the study of realist theories (power), behavioral theories (systems), and ideal theories (international organizations). It also includes the study of theories of external decision-making, theories of international conflict, its causes, how to manage it, and intervention to solve it.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Diplomacy and Negotiations

Course name: Political Parties and Electoral Systems

Course code: MPOL105

Credit hours: 4.00


The course deals with the nature of negotiations in terms of behavior, art, and science, as well as the definition of negotiations, with an explanation of their elements and importance. It also deals with the characteristics of the negotiating elements and the conditions for the occurrence of the negotiating process. In this regard, he studies crisis management for all its elements. And study the importance of negotiations in human life, and aims to understand the theories and negotiating processes, and focuses on the problems of negotiation and the means for the success of the negotiation process, and the different types of political negotiations. The student is given a case study relevant to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The curriculum’s inputs include: the form and type of knowledge, learners’ characteristics, needs, tendencies and interests, the society’s philosophy, values, hopes and aspirations. The outputs of the curriculum are: knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

B05

Degree: Master's Degree

Track code: MA101PE

Study method: Distance Learning

Credit hour: 60

How long it takes: 
Full time: 2 years
Part time: 4 years
Limit time: 6 years