Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2114: Issues in Modern British Politics

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

Module Aims

This module aims to enhance and deepen your understanding of specific issues of most relevance and importance in British politics, which will be selected by you from a wide range of potential issues. Drawing on vast academic literature, you will have an opportunity to decide whether to interrogate generational trends in political engagement (e.g., the phenomenon of a ‘youthquake’ (Prosser et al. 2018), apathy and alienation among the Millenials (Grasso 2014; Fox 2015)), or explore changes in social and political attitudes (e.g., in relation to homosexuality, gender roles, monarchy (Phillips et al 2018)), or consider legacy of multiculturalism in the UK (Heath and Demireva 2014) – among other topics.

The module encourages you to engage with a range of reliable scholarly sources in order to explore each issue from different angles and to engage in a lively, evidence-based, scholarly debate. Hence, the module uses various participatory and interactive techniques to encourage your participation in class and your contribution to each other’s learning.

Finally, it aims to build confidence and proficiency in formulating and conveying a convincing, evidence-based argument respectfully in different debate formats.

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. Identify and critically examine scholarly and political debates on the core domestic issues in Britain in the context of wider context of British politics 2. Explain and evaluate the core arguments regarding the main issues in British politics and apply relevant scholarly and political debates to individual case studies
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical and methodological approaches for the analysis of the core domestic political issues in Britain and ability to apply them 4. Select, critically engage with and manage relevant learning resources and information and to develop own, evidence-based arguments 5. Collect, synthesise and analyse evidence, and present it in a coherent way to academic and non-academic audiences individually and as a part of a group
Personal and Key Skills	6. Select and present in a coherent way, orally and in writing, empirical and theoretical arguments relevant to the issues covered by the module 7. Organise study time, plan and undertake assigned tasks, as well as reflect on and integrate oral and written feedback, individually and in collaboration with peers 8. Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, to academic and non-academic audiences individually and as a part of a group

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module’s precise content varies from year to year depending on the issues of relevance and importance that emerge.

In the beginning of the module, you will be asked to vote on and select 4 issues to be covered in the module.

The list of the possible issues includes the following topics:

Reforming the electoral system – pros and cons (and how to)
Future of multiculturalism and social cohesion
Electoral rights (e.g., vote at 16, voting rights for non-citizen residents and non-resident citizens)
Social and political values in a state of flux
Political engagement beyond elections
Changing nature of social class
The rise of identity politics
Media and politics
Representative claims and challenges to representative democracy in Britain, etc.

In addition, the module will provide an opportunity to develop team working, debating and presentation skills through interactive sessions spread across the term.

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

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

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	14	7 x 2 hr interactive lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	8	4 x 2 hr student presentations and discussions
Guided independent study	50	Completing readings assigned for the module in preparation for the discussion of selected poitical issues
Guided independent study	30	Preparation of the presentation
Guided independent study	48	Preparation of the research report, including conducting research, collecting and analysing data and writing up results

Online Resources

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