Introductory description

FP009-30 Politics and International Relations

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Unit One: What is Politics? Democracy, political power and its exercise through voting, interest groups, social movements and protest.

Unit Two: Political Ideologies. What is ideology and the core ideas of liberalism, conservatism and socialism? How have these ideologies changed and developed over time and how are they challenged by new, contemporary ideologies?

Unit Three: UK Politics. The constitutional arrangements of politics in the UK and the roles of the three branches of government - legislative, executive and judiciary. How democratic is politics in the UK and what are the consequences of devolution? The role of the UK in international politics.

Unit Four: International Relations. The key concepts of sovereignty and globalisation. The central ideas of international relations theories realism, liberalism, Marxism and constructivism, and how these can be used to explain contemporary global issues such as security, the global political economy and global environmental politics.

Learning outcomes

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

• Recognise and appraise the main ideological and theoretical debates within politics and discuss its essentially contested nature as a subject and academic discipline.
• Explain how the political system works in the UK.
• Evaluate the relative merits of the main approaches in international relations and apply them to contemporary global political issues.
• Demonstrate a range of key competences including time management, teamwork, communication and presentation skills, and research skills (including information retrieval, analysis and interpretation).

Indicative reading list

Baylis, J., Smith, S., and Owens, P. (Eds) (2020) The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations (8th Edn) Oxford: OUP
Heywood, A (2019) Politics (5th Edn), Basingstoke: Macmillan
Heywood, A (2017) Political Ideologies: An Introduction (6th Edn) Basingstoke: Macmillan
Jones, B., Norton, P., and Daddow, O. J., (Eds) (2018) Politics UK (9th Edn) London: Routledge
Leach, R. and Lightfoot, S. (2018) The Politics and IR Companion (2nd Edn) London: Macmillan

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Interdisciplinary

Within politics and international relations students can bring together perspectives from philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics and law to understand the theoretical ideas, institutions and issues studied.

International

Takes a global perspective on issues such as the environment, economy, development and security.
Students have the option to focus on a variety of countries and issues for activities and assessments, as fits their interests.
Global examples used wherever possible.

Subject specific skills

Application of concepts and theory to real world political issues and institutions.
Evaluation of competing interpretations of political events and issues.

Transferable skills

Time management, teamwork, communication and presentation skills, research skills (including information retrieval, analysis and interpretation)