 | Use this page to view syllabus information, learning objectives, required materials, and technical requirements for the module.
As a result of College adapting your modules to combine face-to-face on campus and online teaching and learning support, the breakdown of notional learning hours set out under the heading “Technical Requirements” below may not necessarily reflect how each module will be delivered this year. Further details relating to this will be made available by your department and will be updated as part of the student timetable. |
| PR 1400 - Introduction To Politics & Government |
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Associated Term:
2021/22 Academic Session
Learning Objectives: This course provides an introduction to contemporary politics and government, and is divided into two halves.
The first half of the course deals with some big issues. The first of these is the nature of politics and its study: how does the study of politics differ from doing politics? From there, we move on to examine the long spread of democracy (and some of its recent reversals) and the nature of representation. We then look at left and right in contemporary politics, and the challenges posed by populist parties.
The second half of the course deals with institutions which are found across different democracies. Some of these institutions are formal institutions with written rules: things like courts, executives, legislatures, and bureaucracies. Others are institutions which, though they might not have written rules, are no less powerful for that: things like the broader economy and the media system.
The course has both conceptual and empirical elements. The empirical elements of the course focus on consolidated democracies (countries which have been democracies for thirty years or more), and more particularly on English speaking democracies. This is because there is more, and more accessible, academic writing about these countries. We welcome students who have experience of other political systems, and encourage students to bring in in examples from other countries.
Learning Outcomes:
1. provide definitions of key terms in the study of politics
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2. distinguish between democratic and non-democratic regimes
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3. identify and explore the effects of key institutional choices made by democratic regimes;
4. understand how the academic study of politics differs from the practice of politics
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5. understand and discuss the political structure of the UK and of other consolidated democracies.
Required Materials: Click here for the reading list system Technical Requirements: The total number of notional learning hours associated with course are 300. These will normally be broken down as follows: 20 hour(s) of Lecture(s) across 20 week(s) 20 hour(s) of Seminar(s) across 20 week(s) 3.5 hour(s) of Moodle across 20 week(s) 256.5 hours of Guided Independent Study Formative Assessment: In-class discussion Summative Assessment: Presentation 20% 4 PowerPoint pages and 5-10 minutes presentation Moodle quiz 15% 2 Hours Essay 25% 1500 Words Take-home exam 40% 2400 Words |
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