This course aims to help students understand how British political institutions operate by way of examining the central questions of controversy surrounding them. Should Britain adopt a codified constitution? Is the British Parliament sovereign? Should the House of Lords be abolished? Does Britain have a presidential Prime Minister? Has the creation of a UK Supreme court strengthened the British judiciary? Are traditional British party allegiances defunct? Has devolution opened the door to the UK’s eventual breakup? Has BREXIT restored British sovereignty? Students will gain a grasp of the structure and allocations of power that underpin the central institutions of British governance as well as their mode of functioning in order to formulate arguments for and against major controversies that implicate their current design and operation.
Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Explain the function of major UK political institution
Identify the principle controversies that define modern British politics
Understand the balance of power between institutions
Formulate arguments for and against reform of governing institutions
Students should have an interest in modern day UK politics and a willingness to explore their dynamics through regular consultation of the major British newspapers of the day.
The course revolves around discussion of readings assigned in advance. This presupposes that
students have done the assigned readings and are able to respond to questions and participate
in the resolution of issues around which each session is aimed.
Assessment and Final Grade
40% presentation of text
40% in class written response during final session
20% participation
Course Requirements
Your text presentation should aim to introduce the topic and controversy at issue. It should
be both descriptive (explaining the institution and its operations) and analytical (identifying
strengths, weaknesses, potential areas of conflict).
The written response serves to evaluate how well you have understood the main themes of the
class.
Regular participation in class discussion is important.
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Practical information
