Module POL2100 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2100: Political Conflicts in Europe
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
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 topics:
Party political conflict
- Party systems and party families in Eastern and Western Europe
- The rise of right-wing populism in Western and Northern Europe
- Economic hardship and political conflict (case studies from Southern Europe)
The rise and fall of democracy
- The promotion of democracy and EU enlargement (case studies: Eastern European countries, Balkan)
- The quality of democracy (e.g. Poland and Hungary)
- Political culture: trust and mistrust in political institutions in the East and West
- Elite-mass linkages in a time of ‘post-factual’ politics
Globalisation and European integration
- European identity: threat or unifying force?
- Globalisation and immigration as a conflict at the national level
- The nature of political conflict at the European level
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 | 128 | 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 lectures with a mix of lecture, collective discussion, and presentations |
| Guided Independent Study | 78 | Preparation and completion of course assignments (50 hours essay, 14 hours presentation, 14 hours reaction paper) |
| Guided Independent Study | 50 | Reading for seminars |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
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.
Basic reading:
Ferrin, M., and H. Kriesi (2016). How Europeans view and evaluate democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Flynn, D., B. Nyhan and J. Reifler (2017). The nature and origins of misperceptions: understanding false and unsupported beliefs about politics. Political Psychology 38 (S1): 127–150.
Hooghe, L., and G. Marks (2017). Europe’s Crises and Political Contestation. Journal of European Public Policy, unassigned.
Hutter, S., E. Grande and H. Kriesi (eds) (2016). Politicising Europe: Integration and Mass Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mudde, C. (2013). Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?. European Journal of Political Research 52.1: 1-19.
Jost, J. T., P. Barberá, R Bonneau, M Langer, M Metzger, J Nagler, J Sterling, and J A. Tucker (2018). How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest: Information, Motivation, and Social Networks. Political Psychology 39 (2018): 85-118.
Norris, P. and R. Inglehart, 2018. Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Authoritarian Populism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Risse, T. (2010). A Community of Europeans? Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Vachudova, M. (2014). EU leverage and national interests in the Balkans: The puzzles of enlargement ten years on. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 52.1: 122-138.
Vachudova, M. A. (2005). Europe undivided: democracy, leverage, and integration after communism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
