Module SGIA3171: BRITISH POLITICAL THOUGHT SINCE 1850

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3171: BRITISH POLITICAL THOUGHT SINCE 1850

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This module examines the work of leading British political thinkers between 1850 and 1950 in their effort to understand the changes associated with modernity in their country.

Content

• This module focuses on the historical forces which shaped their ideas ranging from growth of democracy and the decline of religious belief to mass immigration and multiculturalism more recently.
• Topics will include:
• J.S. Mill on Liberty and Representative Government.
• Herbert Spencer and the Nightwatchman State.
• Idealism and the Politics of the 'common good'.
• Fabian Socialism.
• English Political Pluralism.
• Englishness and Political Thought in the interwar period.
• Race and nation in postwar Conservative Thought.
• Anthony Crosland and Socialist Revisionism.
• Michael Oakeshott and 'civil association'.

Learning Outcomes

• Through the module students should acquire knowledge and understanding of:
• some of the significant developments in British political thought since 1850 and the critical reactions they engendered.
• continuity and change between the various doctrines considered, and their historical legacy.
• the course of British historical development through studying some significant attempts on the part of key political thinkers to understand and shape the direction of change.

• Through the course students should enhance their ability to:
• analyse the meaning of primary texts in the context in which they were written.
• identify the distinctiveness of different political ideas and assess their cogency.
• link the material of the module to aspects of other modules, for example, in British and European politics, international relations, and political theory.

• At the end of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate enhanced written communication skills, particularly in synthesising and compressing material and presenting it in a systematic manner.
• Demonstrate an enhanced willingness to engage with the views of others in written work.
• Demonstrate an ability to write scholarly essays and concise examination answers under time pressure.
• Demonstrate an enhanced capacity for independent learning and thought.
• Demonstrate an enhanced ability to take responsibility for their own work.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Two hour seminars will combine student presentation and full group discussion with mini-lecture by the module leader in the last half-hour. The latter will introduce each topic in advance of the following week’s seminar, thus preparing students for the preparation they will be expected to undertake themselves. The presentations and discussion will enable students to develop the skills associated with independent learning and thought necessary to success in the final examination.
• The structure of the session is designed to enhance personal responsibility through the requirement that all students prepare for seminars and give, take part in, at least one presentation.
• Students will be expected to prepare handouts or give powerpoint demonstrations that will maximise the learning experience of all students in the group.
• Two formative essays will enable students to enhance their skills at text-based analysis that is also sensitive to historical context. They will provide the basis for revision.
• The module is assessed on the basis of an unseen written examination lasting two hours and requiring students to answer two out of eight questions. This will test the student’s depth and breadth of understanding of material across the module as a whole. It will test the knowledge and insights that students will have gained through preparing for, and participating in seminars, and in writing two formative essays. It will also test their powers of engagement with ideas that will have been enhanced over the course of the module. It will also test the skills of independent learning and thinking that will have been enhanced in course work and during the revision period that follows.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two essays 1,500 words maximum.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University