Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2026: Political Analysis: Behaviour, Institutions, Ideas

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

To introduce you to the key approaches to the study of politics and to some of the main theoretical debates on the relationship between political action, structures and ideas. The study of these approaches will be linked to the development of key concepts and ideas in political research. More specifically, the module aims to provide you with an introduction to the nature, limitations and possible applications of various ways of studying political behaviour, political relations and institutions, and political ideologies and values.

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 Skills1. identify, categorise and explain the basic nature, limitations and the study of politics;
2. assess and judge a range of approaches to the study of politics;
3. understand, assess and compare a range of key concepts integral to the study of politics;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. identify and discuss the major concepts in Politics and IR and deploy them in appropriate circumstances;
5. engage in sympathetic interpretation and reasoned criticism of theories and approaches in Politics and IR;
6. list, describe and evaluate different kinds of interpretations to political action and institutions in the light of appropriate evidence;
7. use logic and reasoning to evaluate arguments about Politics and IR;
8. apply abstract political ideas and concepts to actual events and outcomes;
9. construct well-structured rigorous political arguments based on logical deduction;
10. place the empirical analysis of politics within a conceptual and theoretical context and to move from the concrete to the abstract and vice versa;
Personal and Key Skills11. study independently and in groups;
12. deliver presentations to peers, communicate effectively in speech and writing;
13. appropriately use ICT;
14. research & critically evaluate information; and
15. apply techniques and theories in appropriate contexts.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Della Porta, D and M. Keating, eds. (2008) Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences. A Pluralist Perspective,Cambridge

Marsh, David and Gerry Stoker, eds. (2002) Theory and methods in political science. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hay, Colin (2002) Political Analysis: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Elster, Jon (1989) Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences.CambridgeUniversity Press

Kahneman, D. (2011), Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow. Allen Lane
Olson, M. (1965), The logic of Collective Action, Harvard UP
Donald Green and Ian Shapiro (1994) Pathologies of rational choice theory. Yale UP
Hollis, M. (1989) The Cunning of reason: Cambridge University Press.
Freeden, M. (1996), Ideologies and Political Theory, Oxford UP
Bellamy, R. (1993) Theories and Concepts of Politics. Manchester: MUP.
Connolly, W. (1993) The terms of political discourse, Princeton UP
Goertz, G. (2005), Social Science Concepts: A user’s guide, Princeton UP
Castiglione, D., J. van Deth, and G. Wolleb (2008), The Handbook of Social Capital, Oxford UP
March, J. and J. Olsen (1989), Rediscovering Institutions, Free Press
Harding, S. ed. (1987) Feminism and methodology, Indiana UP

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/