Elections and Voters POLITIC4188

  • 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 examines elections (polling, electoral campaigns, etc.) and voting decisions in a comparative context, relying on evidence from various political regimes.

Timetable

Seminar: one hour per week x 10 weeks for 2 groups

Lecture: 1 hour per week x 10 weeks 

Requirements of Entry

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

Essay, 2,000 words (40%)

Exam: (50% of the final grade)

Peer-Review task using Moodle Workshop (10%)

Main Assessment In: December

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

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

The aim of this course is to introduce students to research on elections and voting, including how elections work across political regimes and how citizens make election choices. The course will investigate all aspects of elections, including campaigns and polling, as well as all the factors that drive individual voting choices, from parties to social identities, issues and performance. The course provides participants with a framework for thinking and understanding the main instrument that links citizens to authorities by which democratic societies make collective decisions.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

■ Evaluate the competitive nature of specific elections and assess the role they play for the political regime.

■ Recognise the different models that explain election choices and apply them to analyse and explain the election choices of individuals.

■ Critically evaluate existing explanations of election and voting phenomena.

■ Synthesise academic research on a topic in political behaviour.

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.