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The Department of Politics

STAGE TWO MODULE CHOICE HANDBOOK2015-16

MODULE PORTFOLIO

Political Text ModulesContemporary Political Philosophy (POL00004I)Historical Sociology (POL00012I)History of Political Thought (POL00005I)State, Economy and Society (POL00006I)

Political Process ModulesComparative Politics (POL00037I)Human Rights and Wrongs in a Globalized World (LAW00017I)Politics in the UK (POL00008I)Politics of Development (POL00009I)The European Union: Politics and Policies (POL00032I)US National Security after the Cold War (POL00035I)War and Peace (POL00007I)

Module Title: CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHYCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43

Lectures: 14 (7 per term, 1 hr, Autumn and Spring), 2 x 1hr revision, Summer)

Seminars: 18 (8 per term, 1.5hr, Autumn and Spring, 2 x 1.5hr Summer)

Module Aims to develop in students a critical understanding of approaches to and problems in

contemporary political philosophy to develop students’ analytical, argumentative and communicative skills

Module Learning OutcomesBy the end of this module a student should:

have a critical understanding of approaches to and problems in contemporary political philosophy

have an ability to advance and analyse arguments in political philosophy

Further Module InformationWe commonly declare political arrangements to be just or unjust. For example, we might think that it is unjust that those who have worked hard and been successful in life should have to pay taxes to support the less industrious. Alternatively, we might think it unjust that some people get a better start in life than others (have richer parents, or better education), and we might therefore think that the state ought to compensate those who are disadvantaged. But by what criteria do we decide that political arrangements are just or unjust? What would a just society be like? And why?

These are the central questions of this module. We shall address them via a detailed examination of some of the most important work on social justice to have been published during the past fifty years. In Autumn term, we’ll carefully read the work of John Rawls, as well as looking at a range of important critical and secondary material. In Spring term, we’ll examine some of the reactions and responses to Rawls’s work in the years since the publication of his A Theory of Justice (1971), from libertarian, communitarian, feminist and egalitarian critics. Other philosophers studied may include Robert Nozick, Susan Moller Okin, Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor, and G. A. Cohen.

AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).

Key TextsJohn Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971/ revised edition 1999)John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001)Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)

Module Title: HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGYCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims: To introduce students to an approach to social inquiry that has had a profound influence in

our understanding of both history and society and which continues to stimulate innovative major studies;

To help them see the relevance of historical inquiry to social science, and more particularly how often abstract theoretical issues can begin to be addressed and resolved when they are studied within a specific historical context;

To give students a sense of the connections between apparently separate academic disciplines – sociology, history, and politics – and of the benefits therefore of being prepared to cross academic boundaries and study society as a whole;

To help them understand better the methodological problems involved in studying society, and in particular the relationship between abstract social theory and empirical historical inquiry.

Further Module InformationAutumn term topics

Week 2 Explaining the Origins of Modern Capitalism: Marx Week 3 Explaining the Origins of Modern Capitalism: Weber Week 4 Classes States and Political Movements: Marx on France and Britain Week 5 Classes States and Political Movements: Weber on Germany and Russia Week 6 Contrasting Paths: Trotsky and Russian Distinctiveness Week 7 Contrasting Paths: Sombart and the Weakness of American Socialism Week 8 The Marriage of Weber and Marx? Robert Michels’ Political PartiesSpring term topics Week 2 Was Edward Thompson a Marxist historian? Week 3 Perry Anderson on the peculiarities of the English Week 4 Barrington Moore on the comparative method and the origins of the modern

world Week 5 Theda Skocpol and the centrality of the state Week 6 Karen Offen and a historical sociology of European women’s movements Week 7 Michael Mann and the Sources of Social Power Week 8 Michael Mann on fascism and ethnic cleansing

AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).Preliminary readingAbrams, P., Historical Sociology Goldthorpe, J.H., ‘The Uses of History in Sociology’, British Journal ofSociology, 42 (1991) Mouzelis, N., ‘In Defence of “Grand” Historical Narrative,’ British Journal of Sociology, 45 (1994)

Mann, M., ‘In Praise of Macro-Sociology: A Reply to Goldthorpe’,British Journal of Sociology, 45 (1994) Goldthorpe, J.H., ‘The Uses of History in Sociology: A Reply’, British Journal of Sociology, 45 (1994)

Module Title: HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHTCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims to develop in students a critical understanding of important texts in the history of political

thought to develop students’ analytical, argumentative and communicative skills

Module Learning OutcomesBy the end of this module a student should:

have a critical understanding of some of the key texts in the history of political thought have an ability to advance and analyse philosophical arguments about political ideas.

Further Module InformationThis module examines central texts by major political thinkers: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume and Kant. These thinkers are acknowledged to have provided some of the classic literature concerning politics and its relation to life in general and moral life particularly. This module introduces and investigates their ideas and their arguments, their methods of argument, and the historical and political contexts in which they were developed. Among the topics addressed are political obligation (why should one obey the law?), the criteria for legitimate government, the meaning of freedom, the nature and justification of punishment, the role of private property, and various kinds of equality. All the thinkers studied here discuss some of these issues, and often they comment on one another’s ideas, either directly or by implication, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively. Sometimes an idea stated embryonically by one thinker is taken over and refined or transformed by another, as with Rousseau and Kant. Accordingly, the study of one thinker helps to cast light upon the ideas of the others.


Key TextsThomas Hobbes, LeviathanJohn Locke, Two Treatises of GovernmentJean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality and Social ContractDavid Hume, Treatise on Human NatureImmanuel Kant, Political Writings

Module Title: STATE, ECONOMY, AND SOCIETYCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims

This module has the following aims: (i) to develop in students an understanding of the key issues of modern state theory; (ii) to help students to comprehend competing theories of the state; (iii) to analyse the trajectory of the political in the context of globalisation; (iv) to investigate the emergence of new spaces of political power.

Module Learning OutcomesBy the end of this module a student should be able to:

Critically evaluate different theories of the state in relation to the empirical material covered on the module.

Show an ability to synthesize insights from different disciplines - politics, economics, sociology, and law.

Further Module InformationThis text-based module examines the subject of the study of Politics—the state—and investigates its relationship to law, society, economy, class, and revolution in theoretical and analytical terms. The Autumn Term analyses contributions to modern state theory ranging typically from Marx to Weber, Schmitt to Lenin, Smith to Hayek, and more recent contributions to critical political economy such as Clarke and Holloway. The Spring Term analyses texts on the neo-liberal transformation of the state, and its crisis, in the age of globalisation. Texts will typically include contributions by Agamben, Brenner, Harvey and Negri.

AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).Key TextsAgamben, G. (2005) State of Exception, Chicago, Chicago U.P.Brenner, N. (2004), New State Spaces, OUP, OxfordClarke, S. (1991) The State Debate, Palgrave, London.Cristi, R. (1998), Carl Schmitt and Authoritarian Liberalism, Wales University Press, Cardiff.Harvey, D. (2011) The Enigma of Capital: And the Crises of Capitalism, Profile, London.Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2001) Empire, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U.P.Hayek, F. (1944), The Road to Serfdom, Routledge, London.Marx, K. and Engels F. (1848) The Communist Manifesto, various editions.Weber, M (1994) Political Writings, ed. by Lassman, P., and R. Speirs, CUP, Cambridge.

Module Title: COMPARATIVE POLITICSCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module learning outcomesBy completing this module, students will:

Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the major theoretical approaches to the study of comparative politics and an understanding of the multiple issues associated with it.

Demonstrate ability to define and analyse relevant concepts such as the state, regime type, different forms of institutions, political competition, collective action problems, etc.

Be able to analyse why certain institutions emerge in certain countries compared to others and which their consequences on governance, stability, and policy outcomes.

Further module informationThe module is intended to provide students with a firm grounding in the conceptual debates and key issues that have shaped – and continue to shape – the field of Comparative Politics. The module focuses on the study of democracies, trying to understand what democracies are, how they emerge, how transitions for authoritarian regimes take place, and how they operate. It also examines in detail different institutional arrangements. The module will analyse how they affect the organization of the state, and the behaviour of parties and voters, but also which are the conditions that make certain institutional arrangements more likely than others. Topics include the state, the electoral system and elections, presidentialism and parliamentarism, federalism, the legislature, the judiciary, party systems, welfare institutions, collective action problems, political competition, and veto players. Throughout the module, examples from various countries and cases around the world are used to clarify theories and highlight the importance of comparison as a method of political explanation.AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).

Module Title: HUMAN RIGHTS AND WRONGS IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD (Joint Law-Politics module)

Credit Value: 30-credits

Formal Learning Activities: A combination of lectures and seminars

Other Requirements: Participation in all seminar discussions.

Student Numbers: No set limit

Module Content and Delivery:The practice of human rights currently faces two key challenges. Firstly, the recent proliferation of treaties, adjudicative bodies, and research has not significantly diminished serious human rights abuses. Secondly, while human rights is being contested on familiar territory (such as civil liberties in the post 9/11 era), it is expanding rapidly into new areas such as development and environmental protection. This module is designed so students learn how to advance human rights claims in this context. There are several broad themes that run throughout this module: (1) power versus norms, and politics versus law; (2) international versus national (the debate between cosmopolitanism and state sovereignty); and (3) law versus practice (the challenge of implementation).

Module Learning Outcomes:By the end of the module, students should be able to:

Understand the international and domestic politics of protecting human rights; Apply international law to human rights violations; and Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of human rights mechanisms for preventing

and punishing human rights abuses. Assessment Method: 40% coursework – 2000 word essay; 60% examination.

Preliminary Reading: Olivia Ball and Paul Gready, The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights (2006) Clifford Bob, The International Struggle for New Human Rights (2009)

For students with some prior knowledge of the subject: Rhona Smith, Textbook on International Human Rights (2014)

Module Title: POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENTCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims To provide students with a conceptual and empirical understanding of the comparative

politics of development, including critical enquiry into its political and institutional elements.

To enhance students’ ability to identify contested issues in the field, and to organise and present and substantiate reasoned arguments in oral and written form.

Module Learning Outcomes- To have a sound knowledge of paradigmatic cases that have shaped debates in the field.- To have a good empirical and theoretical understanding of the role of the state and other domestic and international institutions in the development process.- To evaluate different schools of thought and modes of explanation in relation to the politics of development, including development policy.- To organise and synthesize a wide range of empirical material, including quantitative and historical detail.

Further Module InformationThe module has three main parts, of which the first concentrates on theorising, the second on paradigmatic cases and the third on comparative thematic issues. The first lectures cover the contested role of the state and markets as constitutive of individual freedom and social development. This includes presentation of the different liberal paradigms as well as the comparative institutional tradition. The second part introduces paradigmatic cases, including in Latin America, East Asia and Africa, with contrasts to Europe, which have given rise to theorising about different forms of state and politics. This forms a bridge to the third and most substantial, problem-specific part of the module, covering themes such as the relation between democracy and development; forms of state as constitutive of development, welfare and freedom; work and human development; aid and self-reliance; NGOs as governors; and international governance dimensions of development.AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).Key TextsHandelman, H (2008), The Challenge of Third World Development. (FT Prentice Hall).Sen. A. (1999) Development as Freedom, (Oxford University Press).Leftwich, A. (2000) States of Development (Polity)

Module Title: POLITICS IN THE UKCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims An understanding of key concepts and theories associated with the study of UK politics. The ability to relate these concepts and theories to past and present empirical

developments in UK politics. The ability to present clear and cogent arguments concerning the subject matter of UK

politics, both orally and in writing.

Module Learning Outcomes To provide students with a sound theoretical and empirical knowledge of UK politics. To further develop students’ organisational, critical and communication skills through oral

and written work.

Further Module InformationThe first half of the module introduces students to key concepts and theoretical frameworks before discussing the trajectory of UK politics from The Attlee Government through to the present day. The second half of the module investigates a range of contemporary issues with reference to the various material covered in the first semester. The overall theme driving many (but not all) of the questions throughout this module is where power lies in UK politics.


Key TextsM. Flinders, A. Gamble, C. Hay & M. Kenny (eds.) (2009) The Oxford Handbook of British Politics (Oxford University Press).

Module Title: THE EUROPEAN UNION: POLITICS AND POLICIESCredit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43

Lectures: 14 (7 per term, 1 hr, Autumn and Spring, 2 x 1hr revision, Summer)


Module Aims:

This module has the following aims: (i) to develop in students an understanding of the key issues of modern state theory; (ii) to help students to comprehend competing theories of the state; (iii) to analyse the trajectory of the political in the context of globalisation; (iv) to investigate the emergence of new spaces of political power.

Module Learning OutcomesBy the end of this module a student should be able to:

Critically evaluate different theories of the state in relation to the empirical material covered on the module.

Show an ability to synthesize insights from different disciplines - politics, economics, sociology, and law.

Further Module InformationThe aim of this course is to analyse the development, the institutional set-up, the policy-making processes and the main policies of the European Union, including the key issues of its performance as a legislator and international actor. The course begins with an historical overview of the process of European integration and the main EU treaties. It goes on to examine new approaches to analysing EU governance, including multi-level governance and Europeanisation. It also examines the policy-making processes and the role of the main institutional and economic actors therein. The second part of the course applies these approaches to understanding key EU policies, including the single market; Common Agricultural Policy; the European Union's Social Dimension and Welfare State; Common Foreign and Securities policy, Justice and home affairs; Enlargement; and external relations of the EU.


Key TextsBache, I., George, S., (2011), Politics in the European Union3rd ed., Oxford: OUPCini, M., (2009), European Union Politics, Oxford: OUPWallace, Wallace and Pollack, (2010), Policy-Making in the European Union, Oxford: OUP

Module Title: US NATIONAL SECURITY AFTER THE COLD WAR

Credit value: 30 Contact Hours: 43

Lectures: 14 (7 per term, 1 hr, Autumn and Spring, 2 x 1hr revision, Summer)


Module Aims: Gain a detailed understanding of the national security strategies of the Bush Snr, Clinton,

Bush Jnr and Obama administrations and core concepts underpinning them Identify and critically assess post-Cold War trends in US national security relations with

major powers Identify and critically assess the emergence of a ‘rogue’ state-WMD-terrorism nexus in US

post-Cold War national security threat perceptions Provide answers to key questions regarding the nature and extent of US hegemony,

exceptionalism, militarism, security and power

Further module information:One cannot escape the power of the United States in global politics. The post-Cold War era has been defined as ‘unipolar’ and characterised by informal ‘American empire’. This module examines US national security since the end of the Cold War in the context of international order. The first half of the module will introduce you to the concepts of power, exceptionalism, security and hegemony so that we can explore frameworks for analysing and understanding policy under the four post-Cold War presidencies of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. In doing so, we will examine the ‘grand strategies’ of political realism, liberal internationalism and primacy/neo-conservatism and the domestic politics of foreign policy and national security. The second half of the module will explore the application of these frameworks to a range of strategic security challenges, including the post-9/11 nexus of ‘rogue’ states, international terrorism and WMD, US relations with major powers (particularly Russia and China), NATO and the structure of US global alliances, critiques of the exercise of US power in the contemporary international security environment, and prognoses of inevitable decline. The module’s central themes include international exceptionalism, militarism, liberalism, and continuity and change.

AssessmentOne procedural written assignment of up to 500 words during the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).Preliminary Reading

Michael Cox and Doug Stokes, US Foreign Policy, (Oxford: OUP, 2010) Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, America Alone: The Neo-conservatives and the Global

Order, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). Joseph Nye, The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go it

Alone, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). Bryan Mabee, Understanding American Power: The Changing World of US Foreign Policy

(Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Module Title: WAR AND PEACE Credit value: 30

Contact Hours: 43



Module Aims To examine contemporary issues of war, security and peace-making after the Cold War To explore these phenomena using a variety of perspectives, theoretical lenses and

empirical examples

Module Learning OutcomesBy the end of the module, students should be able to:

Examine issues of contemporary war, security and peace-making through a critical lens and from a range of perspectives.

Distinguish and critically assess changing patterns of war and peace-making, or the way in which these issues are understood.

Employ skills in collecting and analysing information from a variety of sources in completing their coursework.

Further Module InformationThis module will focus on the main debates and controversies surrounding issues of war, security and peace-making in the post-Cold War period. This module draws on a range of methodological approaches and sources, including: political and international studies; international political theory; peace and conflict studies; (critical) security studies and development studies, placing a strong emphasis on critical approaches. It will draw frequently on examples and case studies, such as the ‘new wars’, changing patterns of warfare in contexts from Bosnia to Rwanda to Iraq to Libya.

AssessmentOne 500 word procedural assignment in the Autumn Term.One essay of up to 2000 words counting for 40% of the module mark, due in the Winter assessment period (Monday week 1, Spring Term).One two hour closed examination counting for 60% of the module mark, taken in the Summer assessment period (Weeks 5-7).

Key TextsRamsbotham, Oliver, Tom Woodhouse and Hugh Miall, 2011. Contemporary Conflict Resolution: Third Edition. Cambridge: Polity PressMary Kaldor (1999). New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Cambridge: Polity Press).Richmond, Oliver P. and Audra Mitchell, 2011. Hybrid Forms of Peace: From Everyday Agency to Post-liberalism. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

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