Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3172: Political Participation

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 the following topics:

Introduction
Classical and Contemporary Theories of Political Participation
Voter Turnout
Political Knowledge
Information and Participation
Socio-economic status and participation
Identity and Participation
Religion and Participation
Social Networks
The Internet and Social Media
Downsides of participation

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 and Teaching Activities	22	11 x 2 hr seminars. Teaching is conducted through introductory lectures, followed by student-led seminars. The main emphasis is on weekly seminar presentations, for which all students are expected to read background materials to make possible their active participation in discussion
Guided Independent Study	80	Reading, preparation for seminars and class presentation, writing weekly summaries
Guided Independent Study	48	Writing 1 essay applying concepts in the course to current or historical examples

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.

Norris, Pippa, (2002) Democratic Phoenix. Reinventing Political Activism, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Franklin, Mark N., (2004). Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies Since 1945. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Milner, Henry, (2002) Civic Literacy. How Informed Citizens Make Democracy Work, University Press of New England
Pattie, Charles, Patrick Seyd, and Paul Whitely, (2004) Citizenship in Britain: Values, Participation, and Democracy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge University Press.