Departments
The School of Government is one of the leading UK and international centres for politics, international relations, international development, sociology, and European studies. The School brings together academic staff, research staff and doctoral students across a number of discrete disciplinary fields within the Social Sciences.
The School is part of the College of Social Sciences.
Head of the School of Government: Professor René Lindstädt
The work of the International Development Department (IDD) is focused on poverty reduction through the development of effective governance systems. Governance is the foundation upon which a country's political stability, economic success, conflict resolution, efficient service delivery and basic human rights rest. IDD staff are experts in governance issues for development.
The Department of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) is one of the largest of its kind in the UK. The Department inspires and enhances intellectual development and enthusiasm for learning in staff and students alike. It has enjoyed a consistently high place in the Guardian league tables, since these were first published in 2000. The Department also plays host to the Institute of German and European Studies and the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies (CREES).
The Department of Public Administration and Policy (DPAP) is home to the Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) which has been undertaking ground-breaking research, teaching, and policy advice on local democracy, public services and co-production for over 60 years, and the Birmingham Leadership Institute (BLI), which was established in 2021 to research and develop the leadership required to make progress on the most pressing contemporary challenges.
Centres in the School: