BA Political Theory and Public Policy
Bachelor's degree
In Colchester
Description
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Type
Bachelor's degree
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Location
Colchester
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Duration
3 Years
About the course
What institutions and ideologies govern the organisation of public life? What principles of justice should inform public policy? Should markets be left alone or should we seek to control them? And how should we understand markets and politics anyway? How should our public discourses and practices reflect the need to tackle pressing social, economic, and political issues?
Based in the top politics department in the country, this course is designed to enable graduates to think critically about our responses to such events in a way that is theoretically informed, and to tackle a wide range of issues soundly and confidently
We provide students with a solid grounding in the concepts and principles that underpin public policy, and public life more generally
You study topics including:
The influence of language, rhetoric, and ideology on public institutions
Debates over how best to govern
Ethical considerations in public life
Politics and power
Principles of social justice
BA PTPP also gives students the chance to integrate a half-year internship in the second year of their course, and to pursue a 3rd year research paper on a topic of their choice
Politics at Essex is all about moving from opinions to evidence
You will quickly learn to ask – and how to answer – the “how do you know?” question
We train our students to be fearless and independent, to question everything and to draw on the broadest possible range of facts and ideas
Our Department of Government is one of the most prestigious in Europe, with an outstanding record of teaching, research and publication
Facilities
Location
Start date
Start date
Reviews
Subjects
- Public
- Politics
- Teaching
- Political Theory
- Rhetoric
Course programme
Studying at Essex is about discovering yourself, so your course combines compulsory and optional modules to make sure you gain key knowledge in the discipline, while having as much freedom as possible to explore your own interests. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.
For many of our courses you’ll have a wide range of optional modules to choose from – those listed in this example structure are just a selection of those available. The opportunity to take optional modules will depend on the number of core modules within any year of the course. In many instances, the flexibility to take optional modules increases as you progress through the course.
Our Programme Specification gives more detail about the structure available to our current first-year students, including details of all optional modules.
Year 1
Introduction to Politics
Truth, Justice, and the Nature of Politics
Scientific Reasoning for the Social Sciences
Politics and Power
Career Portfolio
Democracy: Forms and Futures (optional)
Comparative Political Analysis (optional)
Politics and Economic Policies (optional)
Co-Operation and Conflict (optional)
Year 2
Principles of Social Justice
Discourse, Rhetoric and Power
Analysing Policy Discourse
Ethics and Public Policy
Career Portfolio
Parties and Elections (optional)
International Organisations (optional)
International Relations: Theories and Approaches (optional)
The European Union: Institutions and Policies (optional)
Final year
Environmental Politics (optional)
Project: Politics (optional)
Electoral Behaviour
Future Global Trends: Forecasting Scenarios
Authoritarianism (optional)
American Political Institutions (optional)
The Analysis of Conflict and Peace (optional)
Career Portfolio
Placement
On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Teaching
Teaching is arranged to allow a lot of freedom in how you organise your learning experience
Lab sessions allow you to improve your technical research skills
Opportunities to gain work experience on placements and internships
Assessment
Assessed through a combination of written coursework, presentations, class participation, and end-of-year examinations
If you undertake a placement, you will prepare an assessed report on this experience
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Additional information
BA Political Theory and Public Policy