The International School for Government is designed to equip policymakers and civil servants from across the globe to meet the challenges of the future, creating leaders capable of delivering the services that citizens expect today. The School focuses on the most pressing policy problems, ensuring that policy professionals are prepared with both the hard and soft skills necessary to understand how power, influence and change move through political circles.
Technology is rapidly transforming the relationship between governments and their citizens. The International School for Government offers policy professionals the opportunity to use this change to improve outcomes for citizens as well as to learn thought leadership from world-class King’s academics, practical skills from senior practitioners and best practice from governments around the world.
The International School for Government is one of five schools, along with the Policy Institute, which are part of the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King’s. The Faculty is a dynamic, diverse and interdisciplinary hub of scholarship, home to one of the largest university communities for social research and education in the UK.
Our range of stand-alone five credit master's level modules are ideal for mid-career professionals looking to enhance their policymaking skills and CV.
Course detail
ISfG Application Information
| Module title |
Start Date |
End date |
Application Deadline |
| Approaches to Policymaking |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Robust Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Empathy and Emotion in Policymaking |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Learning What Works |
08.09.20 |
02.10.20 |
25.08.20 |
| Communications, Media and Public Policy |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| User-Centred Digital Government |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Key Models in Public Management: A Comparative Analysis |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Understanding Political Leadership |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Advanced Parliamentary Theory and Practice |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| The Economic Analysis of Public Policy |
03.11.20 |
27.11.20 |
20.10.20 |
| Ethics, Leadership and Governance |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Participatory and Deliberative Governance |
03.11.20 |
27.11.20 |
20.10.20 |
| International Conflict Analysis and Resolution |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Foresight and Horizon-Scanning in Policymaking |
08.09.20 |
02.10.20 |
25.08.20 |
| Behavioural Insights and Government Policy |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| iData: The Markets and Politics of Personalisation |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
| Working Internationally |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
2021 - TBC |
Each four week module is worth five master's level academic credits and includes three webinars with a King's lecturer and peer group of global professionals.
Our modules teach both hard skills such as policy evaluation and softer skills such as political negotiation and the ability to listen to the citizen better. We believe the contemporary leader needs a high level of both hard and soft skills – expertise in policy analysis and digital technology, in addition to the ability to communicate, listen and disagree well, all combined with a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of power. For this reason all of our online modules cover the full range of skills, from design and delivery to listening and disagreeing well.
Our innovative modules are developed by leading King’s academics in partnership with digital entrepreneurs, politicians, policymakers, design experts and other practitioners, offering new perspectives and skills on how to govern. The modules uniquely blend academic rigour and practical application so best to equip public servants across the world.
Our Modules
Learning What Works
Evaluation is critical. Understanding ‘what works’ is essential if we are to establish whether a policy is bringing about the outcomes we want.
There are a host of potential pitfalls, methodological mistakes and design issues that need to be recognised and mitigated if we are really to know whether our solutions to problems are really solving those problems.
In this module, we explore the role of evaluation of in policy making and provide an overview of the tools of evaluation.
Students will have the opportunity to critique existing evaluations and design an evaluation of their own.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
User-Centred Digital Government
In recent years governments around the world have been adopting a new way of building and improving public services, one that is built on practices common to the internet, rather than practices common to traditional public administration.
This new approach has been driven, across a range of nations, by a group of public servants and civil society actors who share enough similarities that we can meaningfully call it a movement.
This module seeks to explain what the User-Centred Digital Government movement is and why it matters to public servants and policy makers.
The module expands on the movement’s real highs and lows, of massive failures motivating positive changes, and fascinating new services being built using innovative approaches.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Robust Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty
The purpose of this module is to help you better understand the nature of the problems that could benefit from Robust Decision Making (RDM) and then gain a familiarity of the mechanics of using RDM to support a decision analysis or planning process.
Our aim is that by the end of the course, you will know a deeply uncertain problem when you see one and be able to work with your colleagues to design a study to use RDM to solve such problems.
The module explains the suite of ‘Decision making in deep uncertainty’ (DMDU) methods as well as appraises their strengths and weaknesses. Students also learn to interpret scenario discovery and produce an XLRM framework, utilising a variety of robustness criteria and multi objective trade off curves.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Approaches to Policymaking
In this module, students will be introduced to the policy process: how public policies are decided upon and implemented. Making policy requires the agreement and participation of many actors, such as politicians, bureaucrats, agency heads and staff, interest groups representatives, journalists, judges, local government heads, and citizen groups as well as international actors.
In this module, students are introduced to the process of making policy in this complex world. This requires an understanding of the stages of the policy process, the difference between policy outputs and policy outcomes, and how agenda- setting takes place. The module also covers the interface between politics and policy, especially the relationship between politicians and civil servants, and the role of ideas in public policy.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Empathy and Emotion in Policymaking
Policy making is about devising solutions to help society and make people’s lives better. Yet often it can be disconnected from the lives of people it is meant to serve, overlooking valuable insights, perspectives, and world-views that might yield more responsive, inclusive and comprehensive approaches.
Recent political developments have shown the effects of this disconnect. With the rise of technology, automation, and communications means the imperatives to engage with people will continue to increase.
This module sets out ways in which policy-makers can engage more with a diverse range of voices and connect with citizens through a greater appreciation of empathy, emotions, and the very human dynamics of policy-making.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Communications, Media and Public Policy
This module offers practical tools and approaches that can be employed in order to become a more effective policy communicator, and a theoretical and empirical exploration of the changing power dynamics of the media and communications industry in the context of the so-called post truth era.
It examines how policymakers successfully navigate the twenty-first century influence industry and explains how the influence industry works, how it affects and can also distort policy. It examines the issue of ‘post truth’ politics and its impact on policymaking, adopting both a philosophical lens and a more practical one on how policymakers can operate in this new dynamic environment.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Key Models in Public Management: A Comparative Analysis
This module critiques public management models and considers their application to different public policy problems in the UK and internationally. You will benefit from involvement in academic discussion and learn from relevant case studies. You will share your work-place experiences with peers to gain an understanding of how the models play out in real world situations.
You will consider the distinctive and broader set of actors apparent in public management reform processes, going beyond the traditional core of the civil service.
This module will provide you with a comparativist perspective; exposing a variety of public management trajectories across the world. You will critically discuss the key features of each model with your peers on the course; assessing the assumptions made, the differences between them and their strengths and weaknesses.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Understanding Political Leadership
This module explores leadership in the political context. You will analyse select situations to understand how the leadership process shapes the outcomes for a society. This module will further develop your ability to thrive in any socio-cultural context.
Interactive lessons will interrogate key leadership concepts and address the issues that arise both in popular literature and within the practice of leadership, including the interchangeable use of ‘leaders’ and ‘leadership’. You will learn and apply rigorous tools and frameworks, looking beyond popular perspectives of leadership to reflect on your personal workplace and analyse leadership experiences across the globe.
This module draws theoretical and practical lessons from political leaders, including interviews with former world leaders, and asks: How do leaders influence the larger goal of change within the society? How do they remain influential in driving change within and outside political institutions?
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Advanced Parliamentary Theory and Practice
Parliaments and legislatures are central institutions to a democracy. They are subject to numerous demands and whilst public reverence has long since declined, the expectations placed upon them has increased. While scrutiny principally targets the politicians, legislatures can only be as effective as the officials who work for them.
You will be introduced to the different functions that these officials are required to perform and the wider concerns involved before analysing the theoretical issues which commonly arise. Discussion forums and live webinars provide an opportunity to identify real life challenges facing yourself and your peers and evaluate appropriate responses in each context. You will also consider, from the perspective of parliamentary officials, how the institution of Parliament can support members in performing their representative roles.
This module is aimed at officials in legislatures, in particular those working in Westminster-model systems, whether in the single House of a unicameral legislature or either House of a bicameral equivalent.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
The Economic Analysis of Public Policy
This module will provide you with a critical overview of the key economic concepts that policymakers need to understand during the policy process, including devising policy, critiquing policy proposals or evaluating policy, focusing on practical application in a real-world context throughout.
You will focus on themes such as markets and market failure, opportunity cost and natural monopoly. You will learn to apply the key tools and methodologies derived from these concepts to policy analysis in practice. You will also be provided with practical illustrations, including some of the common difficulties and pitfalls that arise in a policy-making context.
After successfully completing this module you have acquired acquire the skills to evaluate, interpret and critique, detailed policy-relevant analyses, produced by professional economists.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Ethics, Leadership and Governance
Experimental philosophy suggests that environment has an enormous effect on ethical awareness and motivation to act. Therefore, normalising routine engagement with ethical issues in appropriate contexts is hugely important in shaping behaviour. This is sometimes referred to as “ethical muscle memory”, representing the idea that it is easier to do the right thing if you have engaged with a situation in advance and are already familiar with the ethical landscape of the problem.
This module looks at how, even when equipped with appropriate ethical decision-making tools, both individuals and organisations can act in unethical ways.
You will develop knowledge of different ethical decision-making tools and their relative strengths and weaknesses. You will explore ways in which the factors that can erode or hide ethical decision-making can be minimised by promoting the right kinds of behaviours at the individual, leadership and institutional levels. This module will enable you to recognise and implement the practical solutions needed to prevent ethical failures at every level of an organisation.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Participatory and Deliberative Governance
This module introduces recent developments in participatory and deliberative governance. Through applied learning, you will study the theory behind democratic innovations. You will discover how implementing participatory and deliberative governance differs around the world and explore the underlying rationale.
The module will develop your skills in critical analysis and further your understanding of the role played by participatory and deliberative governance in contemporary public administration. You will be able to explain and evaluate the benefits and functionality of a variety of democratic innovations.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
International Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Conflict is a key feature of international politics and all social relations. On this module you will focus on building the conceptual tools necessary for conflict analysis as well as providing insights into conflict resolution and mediation.
You will examine the causes, dynamics and options for resolution, in addition to gaining a comprehensive knowledge of conflict analysis applicable in different contexts; including political, corporate and public domains.
This module will equip you with the conceptual and empirical tools required to analyse international conflict. You will further develop your critical assessment and analytical skills which can be directly applied to progress your career, be it in business, government or the third sector.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Foresight and Horizon-Scanning in Policymaking
Future planning has long been indispensable in policy fields where long-term spending decisions need to be future proof. Defence procurement, pension systems, energy generation, and environmental protection are all such areas and they require policy officials who can effectively plan-ahead and forecast future developments to enable better decision making.
This module will develop your skills in policy planning, strategy, forward-studies and horizon-scanning and will focus on socio-political and foreign policy issues. You will learn how to improve the accuracy of probabilistic forecasts, whether they are done by individuals, groups or organisations. You will also develop an understanding of the major challenges related to foresight; an area where expert knowledge is faced with the challenges of uncertainty, complexity and political utility, but where more accurate forecasts can improve prevention, preparedness, resilience and performance.
The module harnesses insights from the growing institutionalisation and professionalisation of work within government, business and NGOs. You will also gain key insights from leading academic research in this area.
Interested in this module? Find out more.
Behavioural Insights and Government Policy
Almost all policy affects the behavior of citizens. As policy makers, we make assumptions about how policies will be received and acted upon by individuals and so design policy accordingly. But the models we use to drive these assumptions are fundamentally flawed. We implicitly assume, for example, that information provided to citizens will be read, digested, and then used to change behavior. But very often it goes unnoticed. We assume that new tax incentives will encourage people to save for their retirement. But they fail to do so in ways that we hoped.
Behavioural science examines how people behave in practice, providing a set of tools to change the way that policy is delivered or implemented.
This module provides you with a critical understanding of the core concepts in behavioural science, and how they are applied to public policy. You will learn how new interventions can improve the outcomes of policy quickly and cheaply. You will also be able to explain and critique the way that behavioural science has been applied across the world to improve policy.
Interested in this module? Find out more.