Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM156: The Transformation of Politics in the Global Age

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

This module aims to enable you to: study the transformation of politics and of the main principles and institutions which characterize the modern nation-state particularly in its democratic and constitutional version; explore the effects that these transformations on our idea of politics and democracy, and how this affects our conception of the political community; and to investigate the feasibility of more global ideas and practices of governance and democracy.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate substantive knowledge of the theories and developments considered during the course; the significance of these theories and the major critical positions adopted towards them 2. Identify and discuss the key concepts deployed in theories of politics, statehood, democracy and globalisation, and their argumentative articulation 3. Assess the new understandings of the political community in global and multicultural contexts, identifying clearly the contentions made by the different theories of globalization
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate critical and analytical skills in relation to this body of literature 5. Construct critical arguments with regard both to their logical rigour and political plausibility. 6. Exercise informed judgement concerning the policy implications of abstract political principles
Personal and Key Skills	7. Present complex arguments with clarity and concision 8. Identify spurious conclusions and distinguish rigorous from merely persuasive argument

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following:

The idea of politics and the political in modern times
The emergence and consolidation of the nation-state as the main context for politics
Issues of sovereignty, democracy and governance in the nation-state context
Multi-level governance and the politics delegation as challenges to democratic governance
The crisis of representative politics and new forms of representation
The multicultural challenge to the nation state: how to reconcile equality and difference
The global challenge: mobility, borders and people in the contemporary political community
Global governance and cosmopolitan democracy

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	278	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	22	11 x 2 hour per week seminars including small group work, presentations, and class discussion
Guided Independent Study	155	Reading
Guided Independent Study	35	Presentation Preparation
Guided Independent Study	88	Essay Writing

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

ELE - ( vle.exeter.ac.uk )