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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Politics

Undergraduate Course: British Government (PLIT10103)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe Honours Seminar in British Government is an advanced senior honours course that examines the challenges of governing the United Kingdom in the twenty-first century. We will analyse critically and historically ideas that the political system is "broken", that there is no difference between the main parties, and that parliament and government are in "crisis".
Course description Who runs Britain? Why do people vote UKIP? Are our political elites all the same? These are the sort of questions and issues that we will explore in this in-depth course on the contemporary governance of the United Kingdom. Are the traditional structures of British government buckling under the strain of globalisation, devolution and voter apathy?

The Honours Seminar in British Government is an optional course for senior honours students in Politics and International Relations. It is an advanced, research-led course that is designed to be the culmination of a four-year undergraduate degree at Edinburgh. Using cutting-edge research (including work in progress by Edinburgh academics) we will study how the United Kingdom deals with the challenges of governing in the twenty-first century. Crucially, we will also consider wider questions about the nature of social science and its relationship with the study of British politics.

The best introductory text to the course is David Richards et al. (eds.) (2014), Institutional Crisis in Twenty-First Century Britain.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  25
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 30, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 166 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 35 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 15 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Seminar paper and presentation: 15%
Long essay: 50%
Written exam: 35%
Feedback Students will be given feedback on their performance at seminars and their paper presentation
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Students will acquire an in-depth sense of the chronology and development of British politics in the latter half of the twentieth century, and they will be able to discuss how this political history has affected the present state of British government.
  2. Students will acquire a deep knowledge of the workings of the central formal political institutions in the UK (including Whitehall, Parliament and the core executive) and the challenges they face.
  3. Students will be able to place the UK in the context of wider debates about the nature of government in the twenty-first century, particularly in relation to voter disengagement, political economy and ¿governance¿ perspectives.
  4. Students will be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of competing theories of British governance and relate these to wider debates about the nature of social and political science.
  5. Students will have sharpened their research and presentation skills through delivering extended papers to the class and the writing of scholarly essays.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills In-depth knowledge of the political institutions of the United Kingdom.
Ability to write with economy and clarity.
Ability to present ideas clearly to groups based on a written paper.
Ability to have an informed and critical argument about competing perspectives on the nature of government in the twenty-first century
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMr Alan Convery
Tel: (0131 6)50 8255
Email: aconvery@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Claire Buchan
Tel: (0131 6)50 8253
Email: Claire.Buchan@ed.ac.uk
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