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

• Lectures will provide an introduction to each thinker/set of thinkers, together with an outline of the main issues and the relevant historical context for interpreting the texts. The lectures will provide a basis for students to pursue further, independent learning.
• Tutorials will provide an opportunity for students to develop their responses to the texts and commentaries they will have read in advance through engagement in group discussion.
• Two essays, one formative and one summative, will enable students to enhance their skills at text-based analysis that is also context sensitive.
• Summative assessment takes two forms. The first is an essay of 2,000 words maximum. This tests the ability of students to write concise, scholarly essays that engage with leading primary and secondary texts. It enables students to build on the experience of the formative essay in analysing ideas, relating them to their historical context and assessing their legacy.
• The second form of summative assessment is 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 udnerstanding of material across the module as a whole. It will also test their capacity to engage with ideas as developed over the module, and produce concise, well focused answers. Finally, it will 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:

One essay 2,000 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