History and Politics at University of Oxford

A good project for this course should make you practise evidence and argument together. Choose a question where a historian and a political scientist would not answer in exactly the same way.

How to present a project:

1. Why you did it.
2. What the project is.
3. How you did it.
4. What went wrong.
5. What you did about it.
6. What you learned.

• Historical roots of a current political crisis: Choose one contemporary political issue, such as constitutional reform, migration, populism or state capacity, and trace how a historian and a political scientist would frame the same problem differently. Produce a short annotated bibliography and a 1500-word argument comparing the two approaches.
• Comparative revolution or regime-change study: Compare two moments of political upheaval from different regions or periods. Focus on evidence, causation and institutions rather than narrative alone: what explains why similar pressures produced different political outcomes?
• Parliament, empire and citizenship: Investigate how ideas of representation, sovereignty or citizenship changed across an imperial or post-imperial context. Use primary sources where possible, then connect the historical evidence to a political-theory concept.

Oxford’s for this page emphasises activities that build reading, argument, evidence and quantitative awareness.

• Primary-source analysis: Practise reading speeches, laws, manifestos, memoirs or parliamentary debates as evidence. Ask who produced the source, for what audience, under what constraints and what alternative evidence might challenge it.
• Academic reading logs: Keep concise notes on each book or article: thesis, evidence base, strongest objection and one follow-up question. This supports interview discussion more effectively than listing many books superficially.
• Essay competitions: Use competitions to practise independent argument, source selection, structure and revision. The outcome matters less than being able to explain how your argument changed during research.
• Lectures and public seminars: Attend or watch university-level talks in history, political thought, international relations or economics. After each talk, summarise the speaker's claim and your strongest challenge to it.
• Debate and model institutions: Debating, Model UN or youth parliament can be useful if you connect them to substantive reading rather than treating them as generic leadership evidence.
• Quantitative political awareness: Because the course includes quantitative methods preparation, develop comfort with interpreting graphs, election data, polling claims and basic causal arguments.

These are support, not substitute. One focused reading project discussed well is stronger than six activities listed without reflection.

Competitions are not required, but they can stretch your argument, structure and independent research. Use them to practise thinking under a question, not to collect badges.

1. John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize — Independent argument, critical reasoning, knowledge beyond the school curriculum and persuasive essay writing across categories including History, Politics, International Relations, Public Policy and Economics. Choose a question that genuinely interests you, define your terms precisely, read at least two serious academic sources on opposing sides, and build a clear answer rather than a survey.
2. Trinity College Cambridge Robson History Prize — Historical essay writing, interpretation, evidence selection and sustained argument for Year 12 or Lower Sixth students. Pick a question where you can use precise examples. Avoid narrative-only answers and make the introduction state a contestable thesis.
3. Trinity College Cambridge R.A. Butler Politics Prize — Political analysis, international-studies reasoning, use of examples and argumentative essay structure. Use both contemporary and historical examples, define key political concepts, and address the strongest counterargument before concluding.
4. St Hugh's College Julia Wood History Essay Competition — Original historical research, topic selection, independent reading, referencing and extended essay writing. Choose a focused topic rather than an over-large survey. Use a clear research question, primary material if available, and careful citation.
5. Royal Economic Society Young Economist of the Year — Application of economic reasoning to public questions, policy analysis and clear explanation of trade-offs. Select a question with political or historical dimensions, use data carefully, and explain the assumptions behind any policy judgement.

None are required; one or two done well beats five half-attempted.