Political Parties, Instituions and Society POLITIC4015

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Social and Political Sciences
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course covers the essentials of party politics. It will cover how parties operate and how they interact within party systems, but also the forces which determine the nature of these processes: namely the design of political institutions and the sociological composition of society. The course is global and comparative in focus.

Timetable

Seminar: two hours per week, for 10 weeks

Requirements of Entry

Mandatory Entry Requirements

Entry to Honours Politics or International Relations requires a grade point average of 12 (Grade C) over Politics 2A and Politics 2B as a first attempt.

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

■ Podcast documentary (25%)

■ Essay, 2000 words (50%)

■ Simulation reflection, 1500 words (25%)

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below.

Course Aims

Democratic countries display a wide variety of political parties and institutions, so this course will be comparative, exploring cases from many parts of the world at different stages of development. We will examine the relationship between the party system and society, as well as the role played by institutions in the political process. We will also examine party ideologies, systems, organisations, members, and the challengers to established parties.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Define and explain the differences between types of political parties and party systems

■ Assess theories on the relationship between party systems, institutional designs and societal cleavages

■ Apply knowledge gained to build reasoned and factually supported arguments to explain differences in party systems and political parties.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.