Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2078: Governing the Public Sector: Bureaucratic Power and Politics

This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

While the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, this plan is indicative of the topics to be covered by the module. More details will be given and the plan finalised in the module outline.

  • Modern Executive Government and the Bureaucracy: The Fundamentals
  • Why Bureaucratic Structure Matters
  • Bureaucratic Power: Influence, Reputation, and Neutrality
  • Bureaucratic Motivations and Public Policy: Knights and Knaves
  • Bureaucratic Turfs: Co-ordination, Competition and Turf ‘Wars’
  • Inside Bureaucracies I: Role and Influence of Street- and Mid-Level Bureaucrats
  • Inside Bureaucracies II: Leaders, Influence and Confines on Leadership
  • Civil Servants, Elected Representatives and Public Service Bargains
  • Representative Bureaucracy
  • Oversight and Accountability

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity2211 x weekly 2hr sessions with a mix of formal lecture, student-led seminar, collective discussion and presentations
Guided Independent Study60Reading and preparation of assigned readings for seminars
Guided independent study58The research, preparation and completion of essay plans and essays
Guided independent study10Research and preparation for the group presentation

Online Resources

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

Indicative web based resources e.g. online learning:

A number of articles, reports or book chapters will be available for every topic on the module website. These will be supplemented with empirical materials from government documents, as appropriate etc.

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/