Politics and International Relations

While many if not all of the College’s fields of research (such as history, law, economics, philosophy) have a bearing on the study of politics, politics has been pursued as a discipline in its own right at All Souls for nearly a century. All Souls established the first fellowship in the subject at Oxford in 1910. It is home to the University's Gladstone Chair of Government and the Chichele Chair of Social and Political Theory. The Chichele Chair has been held by G.D.H. Cole, Sir Isaiah Berlin, John Plamenatz, Charles Taylor, Jerry Cohen, and Jeremy Waldron. The Gladstone Chair has been held by Sir Kenneth Wheare, Max Beloff, Samuel Finer, Peter Pulzer, Alfred Stepan, and Christopher Hood.

Politics is one of the College’s subjects for Examination Fellowships and Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships; the College has had many Visiting Fellows in politics over the years (including figures such as Joe Nye and the late Samuel Huntingdon); and a number of its Fellows (such as John Redwood, Lord Waldegrave, and Edward Mortimer) have had practical experience in politics and international affairs. It sponsors various lectures and periodic conferences in the subject, including the annual Carlyle Lectures and the Lee Lecture in Political Science and Government. The College’s approach to the study of politics up to now has been wide-ranging, with a strong emphasis on historical and philosophical approaches and considerable interest in comparative government and public policy, but it welcomes applicants from across the discipline for its Examination Fellowship and Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship competitions.