Explanatory Concepts in Political Science (M1038)

15 credits, Level 4

Autumn teaching

In this module, you’ll gain a firm understanding of basic theories of the state, including:

• majoritarian and consensus democracy
• pluralism
• elite theory
• Marxism
• public choice theory.

You’ll apply these theories to British Politics to better understand political interests such as the constitutions, political parties, voting, interest groups and globalisation. You’ll confront these theories with the changing reality of British politics.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 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 2025/26. 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.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• American Studies and Politics (with a study abroad year) BA
• History and Politics BA
• Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) BA
• Politics BA
• Politics and International Relations BA
• Politics and Philosophy BA
• Politics and Sociology BA