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 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 Activity	22	11 x 2-hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	50	Private study; reading and preparing for seminars
Guided Independent Study	78	Preparation 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).

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