Module SGIA3841: Can Voters Make Democracy Work?

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3841: Can Voters Make Democracy Work?

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA Module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To enable students to understand and critically engage with major theoretical and empirical debates concerning whether voters fulfil the roles ascribed to them in conventional accounts of democracy.

Content

• Influential “folk theories” of democracy view elections as a mechanism for voters to direct government policy and hold representatives to account for their record. Yet there is an ongoing debate in political science about whether voters in democracies really can and do use elections to fulfil these functions. In this module we will engage with this fundamental debate. We will examine the contrasting theoretical accounts of voter attitudes and behaviours which underpin the debate, as well as the empirical evidence for those competing accounts when it comes to different aspects of political behaviour. Our approach is general rather than country-specific perspective, drawing on research from various countries around the world, and pays special attention to the methodological challenges involved in empirically adjudicating between different accounts.
• Particular topics may include: identity-based vs instrumental theories of voter attitudes and political behaviour; the nature and ideological structure of voter policy opinions; retrospective voting; elite cues; polarization; media influence and misinformation; public commitment to democratic norms.

Learning Outcomes

• Through the module students will gain an understanding of:
• Major theoretical accounts of voters’ political attitudes and behaviours, and the implications of these for democratic processes;
• The varying empirical evidence for and against different theoretical accounts of voter’s political attitudes and behaviours;
• Different methodological approaches for empirically evaluating different theoretical accounts of voters’ political attitudes and behaviours.

• Students will also develop some subject specific skills, such as:
• Advanced ability to describe and critically engage with major theoretical accounts of voters’ political attitudes and behaviours;
• Ability to use advanced scholarly resources to produce defensible judgements of the relative explanatory power of different theoretical accounts;
• Ability to critically evaluate different empirical approaches used to assess theories of voter attitudes and political behaviour.

• Students will also develop some important key skills, suitable for underpinning study at this and subsequent levels, such as:
• Ability for independent thinking informed by the academic debate at an advanced level;
• Develop a self-critical and independent approach to learning;
• Planning and completing written assignments successfully;
• Retrieving and using competently and confidently resources to which they have been directed, as well as identifying resources on their own initiative and assessing their suitability and quality for the project in hand.

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

• Students will develop their understanding of theoretical and empirical debates through a series of 11 two-hour seminars. These seminars will be based around student-led class discussion. The two-hour format is designed to provide the students with sufficient time to explore theoretical and empirical issues in detail.
• The seminars will be supplemented by one processfolio summative support session (module-specific office hours), where students can receive one-to-one advice on developing this aspect of their summative assessment.
• The summative assessment consists of a 4,000-word essay (which will account for 90% of the final marks) and an accompanying 1,000-word ‘processfolio’ (which will account for 10% of the final marks). The essay element of the assessment tests students’ knowledge of and critical engagement with different theories of voter attitudes and behaviours, the evidence concerning these different accounts, and the strengths and weaknesses of that evidence. It will also test students’ ability to: describe theoretical positions, use the analysis of empirical material to support arguments, apply frameworks to support discussion, evaluate theories with respect to empirical evidence, retrieve and use secondary resources beyond those they have been directed to and assess the suitability of resources for research purposes. The processfolio consists of a small number of ‘artefacts’ collated by the student (e.g., draft material, plans, notes, readings) together with accompanying commentary which explains how these artefacts were important in the student’s production of the essay. This element of the summative helps the student explain and reflect upon how they have gone about producing their summative essay, therefore further assessing critical understanding of contested concepts, theories and evidence, as well as self-critical approaches to learning.
• Formative assessment will consist of a 1,500-word essay. A set of possible essay questions will be given to students. This will allow students to develop their understanding of the course material and receive initial feedback.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A 1,500 word essay.

■ 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