Module POL2026 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2026: Political Analysis: Behaviour, Institutions, Ideas
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of these main topics:
- The study of Politics: Explaining, Understanding, Evaluating
- Rational choice and political action
- Rational actors or rational fools? Substantive and procedural rationality
- Collective action and social choice
- Trust in Politics
- Social Capital and democratic participation
- Do Institutions matter?
- Constructing political reality
- Feminism and Ideologies
- Concepts in political language and political analysis
- Norms and political argument
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 122 | 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 | 18 | Overview of topics by module convenor in weekly Lectures |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 10 | Small group discussion of key texts in weekly Tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 40 | Reading and preparation for tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 82 | Research and writing of essays |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Presentation | 5-8 minutes | 11-13 | Written comments and feedback |
| Optional Formative Essay | 1,000 words | 1-10, 14-15 | Written comments and personal feedback in office hours if requested. |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One short essay on a topic covered in first part of module | 25 | 1,000 words | 1-10, 14-15 | Written comments provided in an Assessment Sheet; personal feedback in office hours if requested. |
| Two short essays in answer to questions on topics covered by the second part of module. To be submitted as part as the same assessment | 75 | 3,000 words (in total) | 1-10, 14-15 | Written comments provided in an Assessment Sheet; personal feedback in office hours if requested. |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| One short essay on a topic covered in first part of module | One short essay on a topic covered in first part of module (1,000 words) | 1-10, 14-15 | August/September re-assessment period |
| Two short essays in answer to questions on topics covered by the second part of module | Two short essays in answer to questions on topics covered by the second part of module (3,000 words (in total)) | 1-10, 14-15 | August/September re-assessment period |
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/
