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Political Science

Political Science Major and course information

Essay Writing Guide

Undergraduate courses with their own webpage

Australian Politics Links

Why study political science in Australia's capital?

There are two important reasons why the ANU is the best choice for studying politics in Australia: the ANU's own facilities and the fact that the University is located in the centre of Australia's capital city.

The ANU is one of Australia's most prestigious Universities. Teaching staff in political science are excellent and offer a wide range of courses in Australian politics, international relations, the politics of other countries and political ideas. The University has both a top class Library, with a research and undergraduate collection built up over many decades, and the Noel Butlin Archive of Business and Labour. Computer facilities and on-line resources are available to students through the Information Literacy program. In addition to the impressive research activities of the ANU's faculties, which also undertake undergraduate teaching, the University also hosts the largest concentration of research only academics, in its Research Schools. Because the ANU is a medium sized university, with about 10 000 students, there is much greater scope for contact between staff and students and a more intimate atmosphere on the campus. The University is well provided for in terms of other facilities: accommodation, services and student support. It is right on the edge of Canberra's commercial centre.

What better place to study politics than a city whose reason for existing is politics. Canberra does not only house Australia's national government, it also has a wide range of unique advantages for the study of international relations, political ideas and the politics of other countries. A beautiful, planned city of 300 000, Canberra is the home of the magnificent resources of the National Library of Australia, a short bus ride from the ANU campus. Other important institutions for the study of politics located in Canberra are the Australian Archives, all Federal Government Departments, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Commonwealth Parliament, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Studies, the National Museum of Australia, the Australian War Memorial (with an extensive research collection), the High Court of Australia, the Australian Institute of Criminology, the National Gallery of Australia and the headquarters of many national interest groups. A large number of embassies, as well as the delegation of the European Union, are in Canberra, which provide information about their countries. Government departments are a major source of information from and about international organisations. Because it is Australia's capital , Canberra has the cultural diversity (classical music, bands, theatres, restaurants, bars, nightlife and art galleries) of a city many times its size. It is also located in a wonderful natural setting of bush, mountain ranges and agricultural land.