Module description
The aim of this module is to provide first-year students with a grasp of the main conceptual approaches, schools, methods, and sub-disciplines in Politics. All the course contents are framed and taught with reference to contemporary European politics and political systems. The module gives students the toolkit and ability to problematise and reflect critically on common-sense assumptions and understandings of political institutions and processes, and provides a foundation for the analytical skills they will require in subsequent years of the European Studies/Politics degrees or the Liberal Arts programme.
The first semester will cover the nature of politics and power; some of the key concepts, categories and debates in political science, the key approaches to the study of politics and the key perspectives in international relations/international political economy. The second part of this module will introduce students to the key issues in comparative politics.
The module focuses on institutions, processes and political actors in modern Europe. While most of the course will be devoted to discussing political developments in Western Europe, both Eastern Europe and the EU political system will also be considered.
*Please note that module information is indicative and may change from year to year.
Assessment details
Two 3,000 word essays (each worth 50%). A practice essay could be submitted to the tutors by the reading week in semester 1
Teaching pattern
1-hour lecture and 1-hour seminar, weekly
Indicative Teaching Schedule
Semester 1 - Politics: Concepts, Approaches and Methods
Week 1: Introduction – Politics: A Contested Terrain
Week 2: Power: a Key Concept
Week 3: The State as a Political and Constitutional Form
Week 4: Democracy and its Critics
Week 5: Political Ideologies
Week 6: Feminism and the State
Week 7: The International System of States
Week 8: Critical Approaches to Global Politics
Week 9: Globalization and International Political Economy
Week 10: An Introduction to Research Methods
Semester 2 - Comparative Politics: Institutions, Actors and Processes
Week 1: Introduction – Comparing political systems
Week 2: Varieties of Democracy
Week 3: Executives & Legislatures
Week 4: Voting behaviour (I): electoral systems
Week 5: Voting behaviour (II): referendums
Week 6: Party systems
Week 7: Political parties
Week 8: Interest groups
Week 9: Youth and Politics
Week 10: Representation
Suggested reading list
Garner, R.; Ferdinand, P. and S. Lawson (2016) Introduction to Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 3rd ed.
For the first part of the module, this is also an excellent textbook – although not always easy to read:
- Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. (2010) Theories and Methods in Political Science (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan) 3rd ed.
For the second part of the module, you may want to look at:
- Caramani, D. (ed.) (2017) Comparative Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 4th edition