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The Transformation of Politics in the Global Age

Module description

This module deals with the transformation of politics in the global age. In particular it looks at the internal and external challenges to the nation-state context as the traditional context for politics during the modern period. The nation-state context is challenged internally by the increasing multicultural make up of its citizenry, and from without by processes of globalization and transnational governance. As part of the module, we shall look at the dominant ideas of politics and statehood, as they emerged in modern times, and then look at their transformations under several challenges. These include: (a) the challenges to traditional forms of representative politics (the crisis of parties, the emergence of new forms of representation, the politics of delegation); (b) the challenges to the political cohesion of democratic states and the problem of combining ideas of equality with the recognition of difference (multicultural citizenship, residence and citizenship rights); and (c) the challenges to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation-state from without posed by globalization and its effects (border issues, transnational governance and cosmopolitan democracy).

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to enable you to:  study the transformation of politics and of the main principles and institutions which characterize the modern nation-state particularly in its democratic and constitutional version; explore the effects that these transformations on our idea of politics and democracy, and how this affects our conception of the political community; and to investigate the feasibility of more global ideas and practices of governance and democracy.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. demonstrate substantive knowledge of the theories and developments considered during the course; the significance of these theories and the major critical positions adopted towards them;
• 2. identify and discuss the key concepts deployed in theories of politics, statehood, democracy and globalisation, and their argumentative articulation;
• 3. assess the new understandings of the political community in global and multicultural contexts, identifying clearly the contentions made by the different theories of globalization.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 4. demonstrate critical and analytical skills in relation to this body of literature;
• 5. construct critical arguments with regard both to their logical rigour and political plausibility;
• 6. exercise informed judgement concerning the policy implications of abstract political principles.

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 7. present complex arguments with clarity and concision;
• 8. identify spurious conclusions and distinguish rigorous from merely persuasive argument.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following:

• The idea of politics and the political in modern times
• The emergence and consolidation of the nation-state as the main context for politics
• Issues of sovereignty, democracy and governance in the nation-state context
• Multi-level governance and the politics delegation as challenges to democratic governance
• The crisis of representative politics and new forms of representation
• The multicultural challenge to the nation state: how to reconcile equality and difference
• The global challenge: mobility, borders and people in the contemporary political community
• Global governance and cosmopolitan democracy

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

• Max Weber, Politics as Vocation ; Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political ; Anthony Smith, The Ethnic origins of nations (Blackwell, 1986)
• David Miller, On nationality (OUP, 1995); S. Caney, D. George and P. Jones (eds) National Rights, International Obligations (Westview Press, 1996)
• Andrew Linklater, The Transformation of Political Community (Polity, 1997)
• Amy Gutman and Charles Taylor, Multiculturalism (Princeton UP, 1992)
• Alan Patten, Equal Recognition (2015); Brian Barry, Culture and Equality (2000)
• Hannah Pitkin, The Concept of Representation (1967)
• Michael Saward, The Representative Claim (2012)
• Margaret Canovan, The People (2005)
• Shapiro and C. Hacker-Cordon (eds) Democracy's Edges (CUP, 1999)
• D. Archibugi, D. Held and M. Kohler (eds), Re-imagining political community (Polity, 1997)
• C. Brown (ed), Political restructuring in Europe (Routledge, 1994)
• Philippe Schmitter, How to democratize the European Union (Rowman and Littlefield, 2000)
• Claus Offe, Europe Entrapped (2015)
• Archibugi, Daniele, The Global Commonwealth of Citizens (2008)
• John Keane, Global Civil Society? (2010)                                                              
• William Scheuerman, Liberal Democracy and the Social Acceleration of Time (2004)

Key words search

Ideas of politics, nation-state, globalization, cosmopolitan democracy, identity politics