POL20230 Political Behaviour

Academic Year 2020/2021

Do citizens understand what is at stake in elections? Why do some vote and others don't? When do people engage in protest? Are individuals behaving rationally when making political decisions or are they easily influenced by others and their own biases? How does a person's social background and values influence her political choices?

The module addresses this type of questions by introducing students to key themes of political behaviour including both rational choice as well as political psychology perspectives. Important topics in this module are the formation of political beliefs, drivers of political choice, and the evolution of political attitudes and participation in Western democracies over the last decades. We will rely on a core reading, "Citizen Politics" by Russel J. Dalton that studies these topics in four Western democracies and highlights issues and trends with public opinion data. We will complement this reading with additional texts and data from the European Social Survey (ESS) to investigate how these themes play out in the Irish context.

In addition, the module will devote sessions to introduce students to some methods used in the study of political behavior.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

This module should enable students to:
- identify major themes in the field of political behaviour
- understand core determinants of political attitudes and choices
- understand trends and patterns of political values and political participation in Western democracies
- apply existing theoretical frameworks to explain public opinion in Western democracies
- acquire a broad sense of research methods that can help identify and analyse political attitudes and choices

In addition, this module will enhance important soft skills such as writing skills, productive team work, presentations, and the ability to interpret public opinion data.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

20

Autonomous Student Learning

100

Total

120

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
- online lectures
- online group work
- problem-based learning
- case-based learning 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: two quizzes
two small individual assignments
one group project
Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

100


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 1 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.