Corruption Governance and Natural Resources Management (813M9)

15 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

This module deals with the way in which governments manage their natural resource endowments (primarily but not solely energy and mineral sources) and engage with domestic and international political and economic forces. At the heart of the module is an attempt to understand the different strategies adopted by public authorities and the factors which influence whether or not those strategies deliver economic and political benefits. Should states seek to harness the economic windfall associated with such commodities and if so how? What are the risks of government policies leading to corruption and instability? The module therefore considers different theories of the state and its relationship with the economy and society – notably ideas of state capacity and embeddedness – as well as political economy approaches to the natural resource issue. Empirically, the module focuses on the changing role of the state towards natural resources in current and historical perspective (as well as the ideas, ideologies and interests associated with those changes) and draws upon the experience of developed, developing and emerging countries.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.