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Comparative Government Sciences course (SGC)

This program is the heir to the former DEA in political science that existed for several decades at Sciences Po Grenoble.

At a glance

Admission

Competition

Language

French

Terms and conditions

Face-to-face

Description

This has been the crucible for many academic and private careers. According to several recent surveys, Grenoble has ranked 3rd in France over the past twenty years in terms of the number of political science professionals it produces. While the Master's program prepares students primarily for careers in research and teaching, it also offers opportunities for consultancy work with political and administrative bodies, local authorities, the publishing world and international organizations. With the possibility of laboratory internships and international exposure (1 or 2 semesters), this specialization offers a diversified range of content and methods, with one objective: to provide a high-level career path in the social sciences of politics.

From a thematic point of view, the specialization is based on several subsets that correspond to current research orientations in the field of government sciences (sensitive issues, sociology of the media, comparative politics, forms of public expertise, analysis of science/society controversies, judicialization of politics...). With a research and professional component, the socio-historical analysis of public action mechanisms is particularly attentive to the evolution of knowledge and categories of knowledge attached to the State and other authorities invested with governmental power. But by drawing on the tools and concepts of history, sociology, public law and anthropology, this specialization also aims to study changes in government action in contemporary societies, particularly in relation to European construction, transformations in collective action, the dynamics of globalization and the territorialization of public action. Thanks to its links with the Pacte laboratory, one of France's largest joint research units in social sciences and humanities, and to a pedagogical approach based on training in and through research, the program has become one of the most successful in political science. Hence the high number of thesis registrations and the rapid professionalization of the program.

Program

Find out more about the MCC A4 and A5 SGC programs

Skills

The Comparative Government Sciences program aims to enable students to develop key professional activities over the course of their training. A set of skills is associated with each activity. The competency framework specifies the steps required to successfully complete the activity. Activities and skills referenced in the training program.

● Identify the problems and resources of a public action scheme;
● Collect, prioritize and process quantitative and qualitative information on the players involved;
● Draft an analysis putting the action of decision-makers into perspective;
● Give a comparative account of the results obtained, both orally and in writing.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC02 - Express your thoughts clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize your work according to context and demand.

● Carry out a documentary watch on targeted calls for tender;
● Formalize a project with a view to applying for the call for tender;
● Finalize a response corresponding to the sponsor's expectations and budget it;
● Monitor and communicate on a project's progress;
● Manage a contract research schedule.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request.

● Become part of an institution and take ownership of its objectives and methods of action;
● Identify, analyze and compare the strengths and weaknesses of a sectoral policy;
● Identify, analyze and compare the potential and resources of an institution;
● Construct with partners an inventory of public and private regulations;
● Formulate clear, shareable recommendations.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely in writing and orally, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request; RNCP34024BC04 - Manage a project.

● Building a thesis project in political science;
● Seeking and obtaining research funding (ADR, CIFRE, etc.);
● Presenting a scientific paper in dedicated forums;
● Participating in the activities of a research laboratory.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely in writing and orally, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request.

● Practice one or more foreign languages, including English;
● Mobilize the great traditions of public policy studies;
● Participate in a public action implementation experience;
● Adapt evaluation standards to a public intervention and to the way organizations operate.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely, in writing and orally, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request; RNCP34024BC05 - Work in a collaborative environment.

● Identify media outlets and adapt scientific writing to the language of the media;
● Popularize knowledge relating to public action for the general public;
● Transpose academic knowledge into the engineering of decision-makers;
● Communicate existing expertise in public intervention within the associative framework;
● Produce and disseminate arguments serving or participating in a counter-expertise.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC02 - Expressing one's thoughts clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organizing one's work according to context and demand; RNCP34024BC05 - Working in a collaborative environment.

● Mobilize literature and issues on the conduct of public action;
● Use case studies in the context of a comparative analysis;
● Construct a survey plan;
● Mobilize the panoply of social science survey techniques.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely in writing and orally, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request.

● Define evaluative questions;
● Formalize a context, measurement tools and scope;
● Define transformation scenarios;
● Document public policy impacts;
● Present public debate models.


Skills blocks associated with the activity: RNCP34024BC01 - Conduct a reflective and distanced analysis, taking into account the complexity of a request or situation; RNCP34024BC02 - Express one's thoughts clearly and concisely in writing and orally, in French and English; RNCP34024BC03 - Organize one's work according to the context and the request.  

Job opportunities

The main outlets targeted by the course are as follows:

● Research and teaching professions
● Managers and technicians in consultancy firms, research consultancies and consultancy firms specializing in decision-making, public management and evaluation techniques
● Experts and consultants in local, national and European administration, professional non-governmental organizations, major corporations, the media
● Coordination and mediation specialists from international intergovernmental organizations under the aegis of the UN, such as WHO, UNHCR and the Commission on Human Rights, ILO and ILO, the Economic Commission for Western Europe and UNCTAD ; or independent, such as the WTO, Interpol, etc. or non-governmental, such as the ICRC attached to the Commission of the European Communities...

Contact

Olivier Ihl 

Professor of Political Science 

olivier.ihl@sciencespo-grenoble.fr

Teddy Merle 

Tel. 04 76 82 83 78 

For the 4th year: contact-diplome-igap@sciencespo-grenoble.fr

For the 5th year: contact-parcours-sgc@iepg.fr

To find out more...

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