The Department of Politics and Governance (DPP) is a new name for the department, adopted in January 2016. This new name was given following institutional restructuring at Universitas Gadjah Mada, more specifically the re-categorisation of postgraduate programmes based on their academic discipline. All programmes within the same discipline, be they at the undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate level, were grouped within the same department. After this restructuring, DPP became responsible for the masters’ programme and its three concentrations (Local Politics and Regional Autonomy, Indonesian Politics and Human Rights, and Democracy) as well as the Doctorate Programme in Political Sciences.

Before taking this new name, DPP was known as the Politics and Governance Programme (2010–2016), and before that the Government Science Programme (1955–2010), which was only involved in academic activities at the undergraduate level.

Aside from conducting academic activities, DPP also conducts research and social service. These activities are conducted by the PolGov (Politics and Government) Research Centre.

DPP’s vision is to ensure that it develops institutionally into a centre for social and political science that promotes the values of democracy and humanity, what we term “humanising politics”.

This vision has been translated into the following visions:

1. To develop students’ academic capacity in the field of political sciences by teaching them the basics of academic thought, theoretical and analytical mastery, and practical skills regarding democracy and humanity.
2. To develop research in the field of politics and governance that contributes to the development of social knowledge, policy, and empowerment.
3. To develop department staff and students’ social sensitivity towards the dynamics in society and thereby contributing to social empowerment.