Politics BA

Programme structure

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

The BA Politics degree programme is made up of compulsory (core) and optional modules, which are worth 15 or 30 credits each. Full-time undergraduate students need to complete modules worth a total of 120 credits each year.

Depending on your programme you can also take up to 30 credits each year in another subject, for instance a language or business module, to develop career-related skills or just widen your intellectual horizons.

Please note that modules offered are subject to change, depending on staff availability, timetabling, and demand.

Year 1

The first year will introduce you to key methodological and theoretical debates within the study of politics and provide foundational knowledge.

Modules

CodeModuleCredits POL1001B
or
POL1020 State of Britain
or
Politics in Europe15 POL1006
or
POL1019 State and Society
or
Power and Democracy 15 POL1025
or
POL1026Classical Political Thought
or
Early Modern Political Thought
15 POL1020
or
POL1018
Globalisation of World Politics
or
The Challenges of World Politics in the Twenty-First Century
15 Optional modules

Then you select a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 60 further credits from the other pairs of the modules listed above.

Year 2

The core modules in the second year will develop your understanding of the theory and practice of public policy, comparative politics and modern political thought.

Compulsory modules CodeModuleCredits POL2059Political Thought of Modernity 15 POL2060Public Policy and Administration 15 POL2046The Economics of Politics 15 Optional modules

CodeModuleCredits POL2071Experimental Research in the Social Sciences15 POL2052Foreign Policy: Leadership, Power and Responsibility 15 POL2068Global Justice and Transnational Democracy15 POL2038International Relations, War and Peace in the Middle East 15 POL2026Political Analysis: Behaviour, Institutions, Ideas15 POL2050Political Philosophy 15 POL2059Political Thought of Modernity15 POL2060Public Policy and Administration 15 POL2070Quantitative methods in political science15 POL2072Race Ethnicity and Politics15 POL2057Security Studies 15 POL2046The Economics of Politics 15 POL2027The Politics of the World Economy15 POL2082Changing Character of Warfare15 POL2083Introduction to Strategic Studies 15 Year 3

The centre-point of the final year is the dissertation. This provides you with the opportunity to explore an area of interest and to demonstrate what you have learned over the previous years of your degree. You will also take up to three other specialist modules to create a programme of work fully reflecting your interests.

Compulsory modules CodeModuleCredits POL3040Dissertation 30 Optional modules

CodeModuleCredits POL3120War and Public Opinion30 POL3123Strategy in the Twenty-First Century: From Idea to Practice30 POL3124Anarchism and World Ordering30 POL3125The History and Political Development of Iraq15 POL3126Ethno-Politics: Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies15 POL3127EU Democracy Promotion in the Middle East and North Africa30 POL3128Armed Islamist Movements: Jihadism and Beyond15 POL3129Politics and Reform in the Gulf15 POL3136Political Psychology30 POL3148Human Rights and the Political 30 POL3168War and its Aftermath: Interventions and Contemporary Conflict30 POL3170Marxism and Post-Structuralism 30 POL3174International Security and US Foreign Policy 30 POL3175Nationalisms in the Middle East15 POL3177The Refugee Crisis in the Modern World30 POL3179City Politics: Power, Policy and Conflict30 POL3180Latin American Parties, Politics and Elections30 POL3184Politics of Semi-democratic and Authoritarian Countries30 POL3186BGender, Militarization and Resistance 30 POL3187Sub-National and Local Governance: A Practice Approach30

What appealed to me about Exeter was the range of modules on offer, as it was like nothing I had seen elsewhere. In the first year you have a good variety of topics to study and some of it overlaps with A level to get you started – so nothing to worry about if you’ve never studied Politics before. The second and third years have been brilliant.

This all made me choose Exeter – the content of the course and the high league tables ranking definitely sold it to me!

Simon Horswell, BA Politics.