Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3275: The Politics and Policies of Youth Engagement

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 for example the following topics: 

  • The decline of democracy; which ‘democracy’ and why?
  • The challenges and opportunities in the measurement and conception of participation
  • Alternative, alienated and apathetic: causes and consequences of youth disengagement
  • Young People’s Politics: Brexit, the Climate Crisis, Inequality, Protest and Political Literacy
  • Comparative approaches: central policy responses to youth disengagement in the UK and EU, with a focus on civic education and the rise of deliberative democracy
  • Global participation; with a focus on the MENA region post ‘Arab spring’ and the contemporary protests in Asia

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity2211 x 2-hour seminars
Guided Independent Study50Private study; reading and preparing for seminars
Guided Independent Study78Preparation for assessments; including researching and collating relevant sources; planning the structure and argument; writing up the essay and constructing the research brief

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 assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay Plan500 words2-3, 6-7Peer Feedback Oral and Written

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.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Policy Brief25800 words1-6, 8Written
Essay752500 words1-6, 8Written

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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Policy BriefPolicy Brief1-7August-September
EssayEssay1-6, 8August-September

Re-assessment notes

As students will select their own topic for both forms of assessment, where it is a deferred assessment, it can be undertaken as usual. If it is a referred assessment, students must select a different topic for whichever element they are re-taking.

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.

  • FOX, S. (2014). ‘Is it Time to Update the Definition of Political Participation? Review of “Political Participation in Britain: The Decline and Review of Civil Culture’, Parliamentary Affairs. 67, pp. 495-505.
  • GAGNON, JEAN & EMILY BEAUSOLEIL (2017) 'Resist and Revivify: Democratic Theory in a Time of Defiance', Democratic Theory 4:1, pp. 1-10
  • HUEBNER, C., 2021. How young people in Scotland experience the right to vote at 16: evidence on 'Votes-at-16' in Scotland from qualitative work with young people. Parliamentary Affairs
  • MCCAFFRIE, BRENDAN & SADIYA AKRAM (2014) ‘Crisis of Democracy? Recognizing the Democratic Potential of Alternative Forms of Political Participation.’ Democratic Theory 1:2, pp. 47–55
  • PONTES, A., HENN, M. and GRIFFITHS, M.D., (2018) ‘Towards a conceptualization of young people’s political engagement: a qualitative focus group study’, Societies, 8 (1): 17
  • RAINSFORD, E., (2020) ‘Introducing youth proofing to survey research with young people’, SAGE Research Methods Cases
  • RAGUI ASSAAD & FARZANEH ROUDI-FAHIMI  (2019) ‘Youth in the Middle East and North Africa: Demographic Opportunity or Challenge?’, Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
  • SLOAM, J., (2014) “The Outraged Young": Young Europeans, Civic Engagement and the Social Media in a Time of Crisis’, The Networked Young Citizen: Social Media, Political Participation and Civic Engagement. London: Routledge, p. 161-179
  • UZUN, BEGUM (2013) “Quebec Ö?renci Grevi ve Yeni Gençlik Siyaset(ler)i: Kay?p Bir Ku?ak m?, Genç Olmaktan Kaynaklanan Deneyimler Üzerinden Aktivizmin Yeniden ?n?as? m??” (Quebec Student Strike and New Youth Politics: A Lost Generation or Re-invention of Activism based on Youthful Experiences?), Birikim, 287: March
  • WEINBERG, J., (2021) ‘Civic education as an antidote to inequalities in political participation? New evidence from English secondary education’, British Politics