MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE

MODULE DETAILS

Module title / Political Ideas
Module code / SS535
Credit value / 20
Level
Mark the box to the right of the appropriate level with an ‘X’ / Level 4 / Level 5 / x / Level 6 / Level 7 / Level 8
Level 0 for modules at foundation level
Entry criteria for registration on this module
Pre-requisites
Specify in terms of module codes or equivalent / Normally Level 4 Politics modules
Normally Level 4 Social Science modules for BA(Hons) Social Science
Co-requisite modules
Specify in terms of module codes or equivalent
Module delivery
Mode of delivery / Taught / X / Distance / Placement / Online
Other
Pattern of delivery / Weekly / X / Block / Other
When module is delivered / Semester 1 / Semester 2 / x / Throughout year
Other
Brief description of module content
Overview max 80 words / Key ideas running through the module.
The outsider; exclusion; inclusion/participation; democracy; power; individualism and collectivism; freedom and equality; difference and sustainability.
Part I: Democracy
·  Democratic Ideals 1: Direct/participatory
·  Critiques of Democracy in Practice
·  Democracy Fights Back
Part II: Individualism and Collectivism, Freedom and Equality, and Difference and Sustainability
Part III: Current, Major UK Political Parties and their relationship to political ideas
Module team/ author/ coordinators / Chris Wyatt
School / School of Applied Social Science
Site/ campus where delivered / Falmer
Courses for which module is appropriate and status on that course
Course / Status mandatory/ compulsory/ optional
BA Hons Politics and Sociology / Compulsory
BA Hons Politics and Social Policy / Compulsory
BA Hons Social Science / Optional

MODULE AIMS, ASSESSMENT AND SUPPORT

Aims / The aims of the module are:
·  To provide knowledge of the key ideas and debates concerning models and practices of Democracy.
·  To introduce students to the principal ideas underpinning political debate in the UK political system.
Learning outcomes / By the end of this module successful students will be able to:
1.  Describe models and practices of democracy.
2.  Critically evaluate the arguments for and against models and practices of democracy
3.  Compare and contrast principal political ideas
4.  Critically evaluate the principal ideas underpinning political debate in the UK political system
Content / This module aims to introduce students to ideas on democracy and principal political ideas which inform political debate in the UK, and to enable them to engage critically with these ideas.
Learning support / Key texts/journals for this module include:
2010 General Election Manifestos of Labour, Conservatives, and Liberal Democrats.
Arblaster, A. 2002 Democracy, Third edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill
Baradat, L.P. 1991 Political Ideologies: their origins and impact 4th Edition London: Prentice Hall International
Bardhan, P.K. and Roemer, J.E. 1993 Market Socialism: The Current Debate, Oxford: University Press
Cowling, M. 1990 Mill and Liberalism, Second Edition. Cambridge: University Press
Daniels, N. (Ed.) 1989 Reading Rawls, Oxford: Blackwell
Di Quattro, A. 1983 ‘Rawls and Left Criticism’, Political Theory, Vol. 11, No. 1, February.
Dobson, A. 2000. Green Political Thought, Third Edition. London: Routledge
Dreben, B. 2003 ‘On Rawls and Political Liberalism’ in Freeman, S. (Ed.) 2003 Op. cit
Dunleavy, P. And O’Leary, B. 1987 Theories of the State, Hampshire: MacMillan
Eatwell, R. and A. Wright (Eds.) 1999 Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd Edition London: Pinter
Eccleshall, R et al 1994 Political Ideologies 2nd Edition London: Routledge
Fraser, N. 1996 Justice Interruptus: Rethinking Key Concepts of a Post-socialist Age, New York: Routledge
Fraser, N. And Honneth, A. 2003 Redistribution or Recognition?: A Political-Philosophical Exchange, London: Verso
Freeman, S. (Ed.) 2003 The Cambridge Companion to Rawls, Cambridge: University Press
Gray, J. 1986 Liberalism Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Green, E.H.H. 2002 Ideologies of Conservatism: Conservative political ideas in the twentieth century. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Hampsher-Monk, I. 2006 A History of Modern Political Thought, Malden: Blackwell
Harrison, R. 1993 Democracy, London: Routledge
Held, D. 1989 Political Theory and the Modern State, Cambridge: Polity
Held, D. 1996 Models of Democracy, Second Edition. Cambridge: Polity
Hobbes, T. [1651] Leviathan, in Tuck, R. (Ed.) 1991 Cambridge: University Press
Kukathas, C. and Pettit, P. 1990 Rawls: A Theory of Justice and its Critics, Stanford: University press
Kymlicka, W. 2001 Contemporary Political Thought: An Introduction, Second Edition, Oxford: University Press
Levine, A. 2002 Engaging Political Philosophy: From Hobbes to Rawls, Malden: Blackwell
Lipset, S. M. 1962 Introduction in R. Michels 1962 Op. cit
Locke, J. [1689] The Second Treatise of Government, in Laslett, P. 1960 Cambridge: University Press
MacPherson, 1973 Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval, Oxford: Clarendon
Marx, K. [1843] ‘On the Jewish Question’, in McLellan, D. 1977 Op. cit
Marx, K. [1848] ‘The Communist Manifesto’, in McLellan, D. (Ed.) 1977 Karl Marx: Selected Writings, Oxford: University Press
Michels, R. 1962 [1911] Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, London: Transaction
Mill, J.S. [1861] Considerations on Representative Government, in McCallum, R.B. (Ed.) 1946 Oxford: Blackwell
Miller, R.W 1989 ‘Rawls and Marxism’ in Daniels, N. (Ed.) Op. cit
Mulhall S. And Swift, A. 2001 Liberals and Communitarians, Second Edition. Cambridge: Blackwell
Mulhall S. And Swift, A. 2003 ‘Rawls and Communitarians’, in Freeman, S. (Ed.) 2003 Op. cit
Nisbet, R. 1986 Conservatism Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Nozick, R. 1974 Anarchy, State and Utopia, New York: Basic
O’Gorman, F. 1986 British Conservatism Conservative thought from Burke to Thatcher Harlow: Longman
Pateman, C. 1971 Participation and Democratic Theory, Cambridge: University Press
Paterson, W. E. and A.H. Thomas (eds.) 1977 Social Democratic Parties in Western Europe London: Croom Helm
Pepper, D. 1993 Eco-socialism: from deep ecology to social justice, London: Routledge
Phillips, A. 1998 Feminism and Politics, Oxford: University Press
Rawls, J. 1999 A Theory of Justice, Harvard: University Press
Rawls, J. 2001 Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, New Delhi: Universal Law
Ross, S. 1986 The Conservative Party Hove: Wayland
Rothschild, J and Whitt, J. A. 1986 The Co-operative Workplace: Potentials and Dilemmas of Organisational Democracy and Participation, Cambridge: University Press
Rousseau, J.J. [1762] The Social Contract, Translated by G.D.H. Cole 1950 New York: Dutton
Rowbotham, S. 1997 A Century of Women, London: Viking
Rowbotham, S., Segal, L. and Wainwright, H. 1981 Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism, Boston: Alyson
Rudig, W. (Ed.) 1992 Green Politics Two, Edinburgh: University Press
Saward. M 2002 Democracy, Oxford: Polity
Schecter, D. 2007 The History of the Left from Marx to the Present, New York: Continuum
Swift, A. 2001 Political Philosophy: A Beginner’s Guide for Students and Politicians, Cambridge: Policy
Wainwright, H. 1994 Arguments for a New Left: Answering the Free-market Right, Oxford: Blackwell
Walzer, M. 1983 Spheres of Justice: A Defence of Pluralism and Equality, New York: Basic
Wolff, J. 1991 Reading Norzick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State, Cambridge: Polity
Wyatt, C. 2008 The Difference Principle Beyond Rawls, New York: Continuum
Wyatt, C. 2011 The Defetishized Society, New York: Continnum
Young, I.M. 1990 Justice and the Politics of Difference, Princeton: University press
Journals:
British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
Parliamentary Affairs
Political Studies.
Politics
Some radio and television documentaries will be made available via the Box of Broadcast facility, as the module team deem it appropriate.
A copy of the module handbook will be available for each student, as will access to StudentCentral.
Teaching and learning activities
Details of teaching and learning activities / 200 hours of study time delivered through 36 hours direct teaching and 164 hours directed private study outlined in the module handbook.
Allocation of study hours indicative
Where 10 credits = 100 learning hours / Study hours
SCHEDULED / This is an indication of the number of hours students can expect to spend in scheduled teaching activities including lectures, seminars, tutorials, project supervision, demonstrations, practical classes and workshops, supervised time in workshops/ studios, fieldwork, external visits, and work-based learning. / 36
GUIDED INDEPENDENT STUDY / All students are expected to undertake guided independent study which includes wider reading/ practice, follow-up work, the completion of assessment tasks, and revisions. / 164
PLACEMENT / The placement is a specific type of learning away from the University that is not work-based learning or a year abroad.
TOTAL STUDY HOURS
Please note this must amount to 200 hours for a 20 credit module / 200
Assessment tasks
Details of assessment for this module / There are two assessments on this module.
1.  A course work essay which critically evaluates arguments for and against models and practices of democracy LO’s 1, 2, representing 40% of the total module mark. The word limit of this piece will be 1800 words.
2.  A course work essay which critically compares and contrasts principal political ideas underpinning political debate in the UK political system LO’s 3 and 4. This essay represents 60% of the total module mark. The word limit of this piece will be 2500 words.
Types of assessment task[1]
Indicative list of summative assessment tasks which lead to the award of credit or which are required for progression. / % weighting
or indicate if component is pass/fail
WRITTEN / Written exam, written coursework essay
COURSEWORK / Written assignment/ essay, report, dissertation, portfolio, project output, set exercise / 100%
PRACTICAL / Oral assessment and presentation, practical skills assessment, set exercise

EXAMINATION INFORMATION

Area examination board / Applied Social Science UG
Refer to Faculty Office for guidance in completing the following sections
External examiners
Name / Position and institution / Date appointed / Date tenure ends
Dr. Laura Cashman / Senior Lecturer, Canterbury ChristChurch University / December 2009 / November 2013

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Date of first approval
Only complete where this is not the first version / February 2013
Date of last revision
Only complete where this is not the first version / N/A
Date of approval for this version / February 2013
Version number / 1
Modules replaced
Specify codes of modules for which this is a replacement / SS260
Available as free-standing module? / Yes / No / X

Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012

[1] Set exercises, which assess the application of knowledge or analytical, problem-solving or evaluative skills, are included under the type of assessment most appropriate to the particular task.