Final Year Project
You will make an original contribution to research by designing, carrying out and writing up your own project on a topic you choose, supported by your dissertation supervisor.
One Trimester Abroad
An opportunity to study for a semester abroad at any of our partner institutions. Select a number of modules on offer from the host institution to count towards your degree.
One-Trimester Internship
Apply knowledge learned on your degree in a real working environment on one of our unique internship opportunities - enhance your chance of getting a job at the same time.
UK Politics in an Age of Decline and Renewal
Explore topics that have been implemented by the Cameron-Clegg coalition, May and Johnson Governments since the May 2010 General Election. You'll investigate the politics of austerity, reform of public services and the NHS, the welfare state, Brexit and the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Politics of the Environment
Analyse attitudes towards the environment and the politics of the environmental movement, pressure groups, political parties, states, the EU and international organisations.
The Contemporary House of Commons
The Contemporary House of Commons module provides a distinctive opportunity not only to study the role of the House of Commons in the UK political system, but also to engage with practitioners, to develop skills of advocacy and to engage in research of primary sources, and to do so through small-group extended seminars, ensuring continuous engagement with fellow students and with the module leader, who is also parliamentarian.
Comparative Legislatures
Examine how legislatures fit within systems of government. You'll explore the Westminster model, US Congress, and the Brazilian, German, South African and Chinese parliaments.
Culture Wars
What causes the culture wars? Explore the controversies. From identity politics to free speech and BLM to transgenderism.
Parliament in the UK: Approaches to Reform
Parliament in the UK: Approaches to Reform provides students with an opportunity to assess Parliament in the content of a constitution in flux, to debate the merits of constitutional reforms, and to engage with practitioners, to develop skills of advocacy- not least through an adversarial debating format – and to engage in research of primary sources, and to do so through small-group extended seminars, ensuring continuous engagement with fellow students and with the module leader, who is also parliamentarian.
BRICS: Emerging Powers in International Affairs
Discover challenges facing the five emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in the shifting power structures of international affairs.
Political Thought of the Right
This module offers a thorough education in the political thought of the “Right” from the upheavals of the ancient world to those of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It introduces you to the lives and works of major authors from various traditions—conservatives, nationalists, radical individualists—whose ideas have made lasting contributions to the contemporary politics of the “Right” in both theory and practice, and for better and worse. Together we will read and debate a straightforward module anthology of classic texts by authors from diverse cultures and traditions: from the war between Athens and Sparta and mediaeval laudations of the English constitution, to radical and dangerous visions of moral counter-revolution, national rebirth.
Single Trimester Project
The Single Trimester Project module provides you with an opportunity to engage in and write up your own political research project. In researching and writing your project you will work primarily one-to-one with your supervisor, but the module also involves a degree of team work and peer support.
Brave New World: The Internet
This timely, fascinating module is about the Internet revolution and its impact on our lives, on politics and society. The module combines theory with practical case studies and thus is very relevant to all students who utilise the Internet for their daily activities. The module balances the raison d'être of the Internet, freedom of expression, against no less important principle: social responsibility, and ponders what responsibilities we have as Internet users and as readers of information, what are the responsibilities of Internet intermediaries, and what are the responsibilities of the government and of the international community at large to ensure an innovative and secure digital environment.
While observing friendship and romance on the Internet, the module also questions whether self-regulation work. Is government regulation required to tackle terrorism, racism, child pornography and cyberbullying?
Troubled History: Irish Politics and Anglo-Irish Relations
In this module you will examine the evolution and contemporary relevance of the political relationships between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. You will be introduced to the emergence of these relationship from the Ulster plantation to the Act of Union 1800, through the Home Rule movement, War of Independence and partitioning of Northern Ireland, and further through the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement and the impacts of Brexit. The purpose will be to equip you to critically engage with contemporary aspects of Anglo-Irish relations with a sound understanding of their historical, cultural, religious and economic influences
Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
This module analyses the real-world challenges of democracy and legitimacy in the European Union, and situates them in the context of contemporary theoretical and conceptual debates. In addressing these issues, you will consider the following questions: is the EU politically legitimate? What are the limits of democracy beyond the national state? Can the EU’s democratic deficit be addressed by strengthening the European and/or national parliaments? Will the EU ever be democratic if it lacks a demos? Is public support necessary for the EU to be legitimate? The module is practically-oriented module, assessed by a 4500-word, independently produced policy paper which accounts for 100% of the final mark.