Home | Contact us | Staff | Students | MyExeter | Site map |
This course aims to develop understanding of the theory and practice of public policy in the UK and other Western liberal democracies. Using contemporary examples of policy problems, the module aims to explore the lifecycle of public policies. Where do policy issues come from? How do groups and elites get decision-makers’ attention? How are policy issues framed by policymakers? What are the cognitive dimensions of decisionmaking? Why do countries copy each other in their policy responses? Once a public policy is made can it ever be reversed or terminated? What role does knowledge and evaluation play in decision-makers’ policy reckonings? To address these questions, the course focuses on key themes in public policy literature and on key debates which have dominated public policy discussion historically and currently in various areas of economic and social policy. These themes are explored through lectures and seminars. While this module is located in the public policy sub-field of political science, its successful completion does not assume that students have completed any policy modules.
The 1-1 Essay Writing Skills Sessions program offers students the opportunity to meet with a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PTA) for a 30 minute session to help interpret and and take on board the feedback received on coursework for Politics modules in the Autumn. Students bring copies of first term essays to the appointment, together with the mark and feedback received on them. In the session tutors read the feedback on all essays, help interpret the feedback, identify particular issues and strategies for improvement and answer any questions students have about writing politics essays.
This course enables students to develop an understanding of the theory and practice of public policy in the UK and other Western liberal democracies. Using contemporary examples of policy problems, the module aims to explore the lifecycle of public policies. Where do policy issues come from? How do groups and elites get decision-makers’ attention? How are policy issues framed by policymakers? What are the cognitive dimensions of decision-making? Why do countries copy each other in their policy responses? Once a public policy is made can it ever be reversed or terminated? What role does knowledge and evaluation play in decision-makers’ policy reckonings? To address these questions the course focuses on key themes in public policy literature and on key debates which have dominated public policy discussion historically and currently in various areas of economic and social policy.
This module introduces the discipline of International Relations, the key moments in the historical development of the international political system and how these historical processes have shaped and been shaped by thinking within this academic discipline. Students develop an understanding of the core concepts and theories used within the field, the historical context in which they developed, and thereby understand how to evaluate them and use them for themselves.
