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What is Politics? Politics in Brighton

Code

SS129

Level

1

Credit rating

20

Pre-requisites

None

Type of module

Extensive over one semester

Aims

  • To develop an understanding of what politics is.
  • To begin to develop an understanding of the concept of ‘political power’.
  • To identify contemporary social and community issues
  • To interrogate the debates surrounding some of these issues and to identify the perspectives taken by different social and political groups.
  • To evaluate the different processes for mobilising social change in the local community and their apparent effectiveness.
  • To trace the history of these issues through activist identification, community representation and policy formation to the passing of legislation.
  • To develop a holistic understanding of political systems in the immediate area and to assess the different routes through which individuals can influence social change.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module the student will:

  • Identify a range of local political actors;
  • Identify what makes a current issue ‘political’;
  • Articulate different perspectives taken by a range of local actors to current issues;
  • To analyse power relations in the local area.

Content

  • What is politics?
  • Pressure groups and Social movements
  • Local government in Brighton and East Sussex
  • How do we understand power?
  • Current issues in Brighton politics

Teaching and learning strategies

200 hours of study time delivered through 36 hours direct teaching and 164 hours directed private study outlined in the module handbook.  There will be three hours of contact time weekly through the duration of the module.

Depending on the subject matter there may be a more or less formal lecture, or talk from an invited speaker. The two workshops will be organised differently week by week, but will include whole group discussions, and small group and individual learning exercises.

One hour of the contact time will be focussed on skills enhancement. The other one hundred and sixty-four hours will be taken up in seventy-five hours of private study preparing for the sessions; twenty-five hours on a formative essay during the semester; sixty-two hours of revision; and two hours in the examination.

Learning support

Burchill, J. and D. Raven 2007 Made in Brighton from the Grand to the Gutter: modern Britain as seen beside the sea London: Virgin
Coxall, B. 2001 Pressure Groups in British Politics Harlow: Longman
Crick, B. 1982 In Defence of Politics 2nd Edition London: Pelican
De Jong, W., Shaw,M. and N. Stammers. 2005. Global Activism, Global Media London: Pluto Press
Diamond J, 2007. Managing the city Abingdon: Routledge
Grant, W. 1989. Pressure Groups, Politics and Democracy in Britain London: Philip Allan
Harris M, and C Rochester 2007 Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain: Perspectives on Change and Choice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Hay, C. 1996 Re-stating Social and Political Change Milton Keynes: Open UP
Huysmans, J. 2005 What is Politics? Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Jones, B. 1999 Political Issues in Britain Today Manchester: Manchester UP
Lukes, S. 2005 Power: A radical view 2nd Edition Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Minogue, K. 1995 Politics: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP
QueenSpark Rates Book Group Brighton on the Rocks Monetarism and the local state Brighton: QueenSpark Books
Stoker, G. 2006. Why Politics Matters: Making democracy work Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Tarrow, S. 1998. Power in movement: social movements and contentious politics Cambridge: CUP

Journals

Parliamentary Affairs
Politics
Government and Opposition
(There are several other politics journals in the library at Falmer, but these are most relevant to the material and most accessible to students at this level of study.)

Students will be encouraged to regularly read a serious newspaper (e.g. Daily Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Independent or Financial Times) and watch and listen to serious news broadcasts (e.g. Channel 4 news, BBC 10 o’clock news and various Radio 4 programs such as Analysis and File on Four).

A copy of the module handbook will be available for each student, as will access to StudentCentral.

Assessment tasks

A 2000 word case study outlining one of these four issues and identifying the key players involved in decision making locally.

The study should make use of first hand experience and interviews from primary sources as well as library research and draw conclusions about the means through which community issues are resolved or social change achieved (LO 1-4).

Brief description of module content and/or aims (maximum 80 words)

To introduce students to the political structures and local pressure groups who are operating in their immediate community, through first hand experience of both voluntary and statutory bodies dealing with these.

The course will look at several contemporary social issues and trace their histories from their emergence as activist-identified problems, to achieving community representation to becoming political questions.

Students will be encouraged to take on one of these issues as an in depth case study and to spend time with both activists and local politicians concerned with these in order to become familiar with the ways in which policy and legislation are made.

Area examination board to which module relates

SASS Undergraduate

Module team/authors/coordinator

Rob Raeburn (Module Coordinator) and Juliet Millican

Semester offered, where appropriate

1

Site where delivered

Falmer

Date of first approval

February 2008

Date of last revision

 

Date of approval of this version

February 2008

Version number

1

Replacement for previous module

 

Field for which module is acceptable and status in that field

 

Course(s) for which module is acceptable and status in that course

Compulsory:
BA (Hons) Politics and Sociology
BA (Hons) Politics and Applied Psychology
BA (Hons) Politics and Criminology
BA (Hons) Politics and Social Policy

Optional:
BA (Hons) Social Science

School home

School of Applied Social Science

External examiner

Dr John Hudson from January 2006.