Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This course will examine different aspects of the impact of immigration on politics. These aspects will include the reasons of governments to be more liberal or restrictive vis-à-vis immigration flows, the effect of public policy on inter-ethnic conflict, the political behaviour of immigrants and ethnic minorities, and the drivers of populist anti-immigrant parties and sentiment.

This course may not be running this year. For further information, please check the Politics Moodle page or contact the subject directly.

Mandatory Entry Requirements

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

None.

None.

Assessment

One essay of 2,000 words (40%);

One exam (50%)

Oral presentation (10%)

Adjustments and/or alternative modes of assessment will be available for students with disabilities that hinder attendance and/or public speaking.

This course explores the political, sociological, and economic aspects of migration in established democracies. The course will present different theoretical arguments guiding contemporary debates in the scholarly literature, and assess the empirical evidence behind them. The course will focus on current empirical and normative debates on migration policies, the political representation and behaviour of ethnic minorities, the drivers of radical right politics and anti-immigrant sentiment in public opinion, the effectiveness of multicultural and assimilationist public policy designs, and the relationship between immigration and welfare state generosity among other aspects.

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

■ Demonstrate a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights in migration research, and an in-depth understanding of the causes and consequences of migration in established democracies;

■ Apply relevant concepts and theories to address current debates in the field of migration studies;

■ Critically evaluate current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline, the methodologies underpinning that research and, where appropriate, propose new hypotheses;

■ Interpret and evaluate complex issues systematically and creatively, while making sound judgements in the absence of complete data.

■ Advance reasoned, factually supported and critically aware arguments, both orally and in writing.

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