POLITICS

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr P Bernhagen

Pre-requisites

Co-requisites

Overview

This course will identify the core issues and debates at the heart of political discourse and furnish students with the basic tools for analyzing political questions and communicating their answers to a variety of audiences. To that aim, a mixture of substantive political science topics and subject-specific training in analytical and presentational skills will be provided. Every week, there will be a one-hour lecture on an important political science topic. In addition, there will be fortnightly one-hour lectures on the 'nuts and bolts' of reading, understanding and producing political science material. The course will tackle a number of specific questions: What is politics? What is science? How shall political decisions be made, and by whom and at what level (locally, at the national or international level)? How is policy made by governments, and how do lobbyists and parties influence the process?

Structure

1 lecture per week, with a second every alternate week and 1 one-hour tutorial.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%); continuous assessment (40%). Breakdown of continuous assessment: bibliography (5%), online quiz (10%), essay (25%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (60%); continuous assessment (40%), to be carried over from 1st attempt).

Formative Assessment

All continuous summative assessment will also serve formative functions. In addition, students will give brief oral class presentations on course topics.

Feedback

Feedback will be provided on all continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor G Jordan

Pre-requisites

Co-requisites

Notes

Overview

The European Union's influence and reach is central to an understanding of British politics. But what exactly is the European Union and what is the effect of Europeanisation on British politics? This course examines the main features of the UK (including its institutional arrangements, political parties and government) and EU systems (Commission, Council, Parliament) and explains the effect of the EU on the British policy process. It situates this study within a growing interest in multi-level governance, which describes a diffusion of power from central governments to other levels of government and to quasi and non-governmental actors.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%); continuous assessment (40%). Continuous assessment is one 1500 word essay (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Formative Assessment

One online quiz approximately every 4 weeks (i.e. 3 in total), covering (1) the UK, (2) the EU and (3) the effect of the EU and other developments on the UK political system.

Feedback

Summative assessment feedback (within 2 weeks of submission) based on the School of Social Science's form which combines written comments with set criteria for achievement.

Formative assessment will be 0% of the grade, so students can get their mark instantly and then review their incorrect answers immediately (feedback on the responses will be provided via webct).  Although it is formative, each student will have to demonstrate that they have completed the exercise. 

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Bennie

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above who have passed either PI 1011 or PI 1512.

Overview

This course provides an overview of the major political ideologies that have shaped and continue to shape, politics past and present. Ideologies have histories, and this course discusses how ideologies originated and how and why they have changed over time.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: Examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr H Brandenburg

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above who have passed either PI 1011 or PI 1512.

Overview

The course is an empirical study of the relationship between politics and society, involving a study of political socialisation, political participation, the media, political parties, interest groups and new social movements.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: Examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor G Jordan

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course provides an introduction competing interpretations to the concept of democracy.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A Widfeldt

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is compulsory for all students studying for the MA Politics and IR, and also for those studying Joint Honours Politics and another subject, and Joint Honours IR and another subject.

Overview

The course introduces, with examples drawn from both Politics and IR, quantitative and qualitative research methods that are fundamental to modern social science and are a necessary skill for the 4th year dissertation. Key approaches common in both Politics and IR, which as the basic currency of contemporary political science are introduced. Whether or not these elements are pursued in detail in later study, some familiarity is an essential part of social science 'literacy'. The course is deliberately wide ranging, obliging students to encounter a broad range of concepts and approaches to allow an informed choice about what to pursue in further study. It provides tools that facilitate a more sophisticated discussion and analysis in other honours options.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week and 1 tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour written examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr P Cairney

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The course examines Scottish politics since devolution. Topics covered include the rise and effect of nationalism, 'new politics' and forms of democracy, political parties, multi-level governance, and the effect of devolution on public policy. It includes a trip to the Scottish Parliament.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Bennie

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The course aims to develop an understanding of Britain’s political party system with a focus on the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties. The course covers four broad areas. First, party ideology and its relationship with party policy. Second, the nature of party support. Third, membership, activism and leadership, involving an analysis of party organisation. Finally, the course assesses parties in government by considering their impact on public policy in Britain. Students are asked to consider the following questions. Do Britain’s parties offer radically different policy alternatives? What do the voters want from the parties? How different are party structures? Is party rhetoric reflected in accomplishment? In essence, do parties matter?

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor D Arter

Pre-requisites

Notes

This course is available to students in Programme Year 4 and is a Politics or International Relations option.

Overview

The course is designed to provide a basic introduction to the political systems of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The treatment will be comparative and theoretic and designed to strengthen students’ understanding of a relatively neglected region of the New Europe. Following a brief historical introduction, the focus of the course will be on the comparative analysis of the ‘political inputs’: political culture, elections, electoral systems, referenda, social cleavages and voting, parties, party system and interest groups. Drawing on the basic comparative politics literature, the course will also consider issues such as party system change and neo-corporatism in the Nordic context.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor G Jordan

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

The course looks at different theories of how interest groups impact on public policy. It argues that there are important distinctions to be made within a broadly pluralist position and distinguishes between traditional competitive or laissez faire pluralism and a sectorized version that has been variously labelled corporate pluralism, group sub government, policy community approach, etc.

It also looks centrally at theories of group mobilisation and maintenance - principally the debate generated by the work of Mancur Olson.

Structure

Two seminars of two hours per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr H Brandenburg

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course will run in the second half-session of 2010/11 as PI 4557.

Overview

Irrespective to whether democracy is understood as an inclusive, participatory form of government or instead as a competitive and manipulative game between elites, the role of communication and political mediation is paramount.

This course approaches the subject of political communication from normative/theoretical as well as empirical viewpoints. Historically, we cover the evolution of political manipulation from propaganda to modern public relations techniques and political marketing strategies, and the changing face of policy-making in the age of almost permanent campaigning and opinion polling. Empirical emphasis is given to the increasing importance of mass media in the democratic process and to the study of measurable effects of political communication (agenda setting, framing, etc), covering a range of actors, from governments and political parties to social and non-governmental campaigners.

Given the increasing importance and repeatedly proclaimed potential of modern web technology for more political inclusion and broader participation, the course departs from classical political communication textbook material to discuss also the scope and effectiveness of an emerging "virtual public sphere" in which political discourse shall no longer be elite-driven and fed by the mass media to passive consumers, but generated from below as a citizen dialogue.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%) and in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr C Haerpfer

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course is open to both Politics and International Relations students. This course will run in the first half-session of 2010/11 as PI 4058.

Overview

This option is dealing with the 'Third wave of democratization' between 1968 and 2005 in Southern Europe, South and post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. It deals with the emergence of democracy and market economy at the level of the general public and electorate as well as the level of elites and institutions subsequent to the political events in summer 1968 in Europe and the USA. The course introduces discussion about the character of these processes of democratization as 'transitions', 'transformation' or 'revolution' between authoritarian and democratic regimes. The course is situated within mainstream debates about democratization and marketisation as processes within post-authoritarian societies.

Structure

1 lecture and 1 tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A Widfeldt

Pre-requisites

Available only to Level 4 students.

Overview

Students will prepare and present, under the supervision of a member of staff, a dissertation on a topic approved by Politics and International Relations.

Assessment

Dissertation, 10,000 - 12,000 words in length (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr P Cairney

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will run in the second half semester of 2010/11 as PI 4561.

Overview

A key concern of public policy analysis is to explain continuity and change. However, there is no common method to study it. This problem becomes particularly acute when we compare processes of policy change in a range of countries. For example, there is often debate on the extent to which models developed in the US (such as the advocacy coalition framework) are compatible with studies of EU countries. Yet, there is enough of a common thread throughout the literature to identify the main ways to study stability and change: theories of policy cycles, policy transfer, rational choice and socio-economic explanations can be found in most country-based literatures, while theories such as multi-level governance developed within studies of the EU share many elements with US-based discussions of policy networks (such as advocacy coalitions and punctuated equilibrium) and may have interesting parallels with the US literature on intergovernmental relations. The aim of the course is to provide an overview of these models. It explores the extent to which these theories are common to political systems (with a particular focus on modern industrialised countries) and their value to policy analysis. The course combines theoretical discussions with the chance for students to develop case studies that interest them.

Structure

1 two-hour seminar per week (or 2 two-hour seminars if the numbers are high).

Assessment

1st attempt: 1 three-hour written exam (60%); continuous assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor M Keating

Pre-requisites

Notes

This course is available to both Politics and International Relations students.

Overview

Nationalism is one of the most powerful forces in modern politics. Its death has been pronounced many times but it always seems to return, in the United Kingdom, across Europe and in the world at large. Theories of nationalism range from the primordialists, who see it as a product of deep forces in the human psyche and history, to modernists who insist that it is the fruit of modernization and subject to construction and change. Evaluations range from the condemnation of those who see in it nothing but manipulation and aggression to those who argue for it as an essential underpinning to the liberal democratic polity and social solidarity. We will explore these issues in a comparative perspective, considering the principal theories and examining instances of nationalism in practice.

Structure

2 hour lecture, 1 hour seminar

Assessment

1st attempt: 3 hour examination (60%); in-course assessment (40%)

Resit: In course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit coursework

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor N Mitchell

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course is open to both Politics and International Relations students.

Overview

This course examines the origins, development, observation, and enforcement of international human rights. The principal concern is first generation or physical integrity rights (to life, freedom from torture, arbitrary imprisonment). The course focuses on what social scientists have to contribute to our theoretical and empirical understanding of why governments sometimes imprison, toture and kill their citizens. It includes both in-depth case studies of particular events and more systematic comparisons of large numbers of cases, evaluating the trade-offs in these different methodological approaches. The final section examines the aftermath of violations and the work of courts and peace commissions.

Structure

1 lecture and 1 tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).

Resit: In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work.