Politics BA (Hons)

On our Politics course you will address some of today’s biggest political questions from local, national and global perspectives, and will gain a thorough understanding of the institutions and processes which drive modern states. This will include an investigation of the domestic government and politics of the UK, along with a wider global focus.

Some of the topics you will explore include:

•  How new communication technologies are changing the way we interact with politics
• How democracies and authoritarian regimes function, thrive and fall in the 21st century
• How states interact with each other, and the changing role of the state
• How states respond to collective dilemmas such as inequality, threats to national security and climate change

You will learn to explain the historical drivers of social change and analyse the current political landscape. This will mean you are prepared to understand and respond to the challenges that will shape our political future.

We do everything we can to help you graduate into a great career, and you will study a specialist Work Related Learning module in your second year. This could involve:

•  Designing campaign materials
• Analysing a current City of York Council policy proposal
•  Contributing to the Students’ Union elections

This degree will provide you with valuable skills that you can use in a career in politics or in many other exciting sectors.

Course Structure

Year 1

•     3 compulsory modules in semester 1
•    3 compulsory modules in semester 2

Modules

• Introducing Politics: Key Concepts and Skills
• Comparative Politics
• Political Philosophy: Themes and Thinkers
• UK Politics: Tradition and Change
• Aid, Inequality and Development
• International Security

Year 2

•     3 optional modules in semester 1
•   2 compulsory modules and 1 optional modules in semester 2

Modules

• Political Analysis: Theory and Method
• Practical Politics
• Political Ideologies
• Foreign Policy
• Political Parties and Politicians in the UK
• Democracies
• The European Union
• International Relations: Theory and Practice
• Using Political Philosophy
• British Government and the State

Year 3

•     A Dissertation module. You can choose either a 20 credit option or a longer 40 credit option which is spread across semesters 1 and 2
•  2 optional modules in semester 1
•  Either 2 or 3 optional module in semester 2, depending on which of the Dissertation options you choose

Modules

• Dissertation
• Short Dissertation
• The Social Contract: Justifying the State
• The Political Economy of Crises
• Hived Out, Hived In: Delegation in the Modern British State
• Authoritarianism
• Global Governance
• The Politics of Global Health
• Global Justice
• The Middle East