Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2115: Political Campaign Strategy

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module aims to capture the historic, ethical and strategic dimensions of campaigns and locate them within a broader understanding of democratic government. You will explore campaigns as a pivotal site of democracy and examine to what extent campaigns can be understood as a legitimate and effective form of democratic action. You will examine case studies of political campaigns and learn practical campaigning skills through their assignments.

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. Demonstrate good knowledge of the role of political campaigns in contemporary democracies through lectures, class discussion and submitted coursework; 2. Demonstrate good knowledge of how to develop a campaign plan and how to communicate strategically with constituents;
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Demonstrate the capacity, through formative and summative coursework, to assimilate taught materials and utilise them to analyse different political campaigns; 4. Demonstrate knowledge of democratic theory and understand political campaigns in the context of democratic government;
Personal and Key Skills	5. Strategic communication skills; 6. Project planning skills; 7. Demonstrate critical argumentative skills.

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:

understanding the historical development of political campaigns in the twentieth century
evaluating the democratic quality of political campaigns
demonstrate knowledge of the most recent political and technical advances in polling, micro-targeting, political finance and
understanding the basics of media strategies for election campaigns
develop their own campaign plan

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 Activity	22	11 x 2 hours seminars
Guided independent study	60	directed reading;
Guided independent study	28	essay preparation;
Guided independent study	40	campaign plan preparation.

Online Resources

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

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

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 assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Draft of Campaign Analysis	250 words	1-7	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.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

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

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	50	1,800 words	1-7	Written
Campaign Plan	50	1,800 words	1-7	Written

	0
	0
	0

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 assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay (1,800 words)	1-7	August/September re-assessment period
Campaign Plan	Essay (1,800 words)	1-7	August/September re-assessment period

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.

Ronald A. Faucheux, Winning Elections: Political Campaign Management, Strategy and Tactics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003)

Michael John Burton and Daniel M. Shea, Campaign Craft The Strategies, Tactics and Art of Political Campaign Management, 4th Edition, (Praeger Publishers, 2010 )

Michael McNamara, The Political Campaign Desk Reference A Guide For Campaign Managers and Candidates Running for Elected Office 2^nd edition (Outskirts Press, 2012)