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Political Analysis: Behaviour, Institutions, Ideas

Module description

You will be asked to reflect on what it means to study politics: how we explain political action and political institutions, and how we understand what people do, what they say or argue, and why they act and argue in certain ways in a political context. In discussing these different approaches, you will also be asked to engage with substantive issues of political analysis: What is rational choice? Are political actors selfish? Why people trust each other? Is collective action possible? Do institutions matter? Is political reality a ‘construction’? Are political categories gendered? Is ideology dead? Are concepts contested? Can we argue about values?

There are neither pre-requisite nor co-requisite modules. This module is recommended for interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

To introduce you to the key approaches to the study of politics and to some of the main theoretical debates on the relationship between political action, structures and ideas. The study of these approaches will be linked to the development of key concepts and ideas in political research. More specifically, the module aims to provide you with an introduction to the nature, limitations and possible applications of various ways of studying political behaviour, political relations and institutions, and political ideologies and values.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. identify, categorise and explain the basic nature, limitations and the study of politics;
• 2. assess and judge a range of approaches to the study of politics;
• 3. understand, assess and compare a range of key concepts integral to the study of politics;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. identify and discuss the major concepts in Politics and IR and deploy them in appropriate circumstances;
• 5. engage in sympathetic interpretation and reasoned criticism of theories and approaches in Politics and IR;
• 6. list, describe and evaluate different kinds of interpretations to political action and institutions in the light of appropriate evidence;
• 7. use logic and reasoning to evaluate arguments about Politics and IR;
• 8. apply abstract political ideas and concepts to actual events and outcomes;
• 9. construct well-structured rigorous political arguments based on logical deduction;
• 10. place the empirical analysis of politics within a conceptual and theoretical context and to move from the concrete to the abstract and vice versa;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 11. study independently and in groups;
• 12. deliver presentations to peers, communicate effectively in speech and writing;
• 13. appropriately use ICT;
• 14. research & critically evaluate information; and
• 15. apply techniques and theories in appropriate contexts.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of these main topics:

• The study of Politics: Explaining, Understanding, Evaluating
• Rational choice and political action
• Rational actors or rational fools? Substantive and procedural rationality
• Collective action and social choice
• Trust in Politics
• Social Capital and democratic participation
• Do Institutions matter?
• Constructing political reality
• Feminism and Ideologies
• Concepts in political language and political analysis
• Norms and political argument

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Della Porta, D and M. Keating, eds. (2008) Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences. A Pluralist Perspective,Cambridge

Marsh, David and Gerry Stoker, eds. (2002) Theory and methods in political science. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hay, Colin (2002) Political Analysis: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Elster, Jon (1989) Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences.CambridgeUniversity Press

Kahneman, D. (2011), Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow. Allen Lane
Olson, M. (1965), The logic of Collective Action, Harvard UP
Donald Green and Ian Shapiro (1994) Pathologies of rational choice theory. Yale UP
Hollis, M. (1989) The Cunning of reason: Cambridge University Press.
Freeden, M. (1996), Ideologies and Political Theory, Oxford UP
Bellamy, R. (1993) Theories and Concepts of Politics. Manchester: MUP.
Connolly, W. (1993) The terms of political discourse, Princeton UP
Goertz, G. (2005), Social Science Concepts: A user’s guide, Princeton UP
Castiglione, D., J. van Deth, and G. Wolleb (2008), The Handbook of Social Capital, Oxford UP
March, J. and J. Olsen (1989), Rediscovering Institutions, Free Press
Harding, S. ed. (1987) Feminism and methodology, Indiana UP

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Political Analysis, Behaviour, Institutions, Ideas