Communication, Media and Politics BA (Hons)

The module covers the ideas, policies of the main political parties in UK politics and how they are conditioned by wider ideologies. It examines the key reasons why people vote the way they do, analysing recent elections. The module assesses the importance of the media and political rhetoric and also analyses the importance of gender.

This introductory politics module focuses on the distribution of power in Britain and the nature of the British state. It outlines the traditional conception of the British political system as the ‘Westminster Model’ and considers the implications of this model for how democracy is conceived and how political power is mobilised, in whose interests and with what consequences, primarily in the UK but also in former British colonies and dependencies. The module examines the various component parts of the British political system including the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Parliament, the judiciary, the civil service , regional and local government and devolved institutions, from both a constitutional and political-sociological perspective. It also assesses the emerging impact of Brexit on the UK political system and for the distribution of political power within it, including consideration of the role of ‘imperialist imaginaries’ in shaping discussion of the UK’s post-Brexit future. The module assumes no prior knowledge of the British political system or the particular issues under consideration.

This module will give students foundational knowledge about ways that communication, media, and culture can be systematically and critically analysed: students will learn about key concepts and theories from the field of media and communication studies and about how these are applied as tools for analysis. The module offers examples of the craft of screen analysis, cultural analysis, and social scientific communication studies. These will be analytical approaches that students can subsequently use in the course of their studies.

How does politics function in a globalised world? What explains cross-country and cross-time differences in political institutions, behaviour, and outcomes? This module provides an introduction to Comparative Politics by focusing on key concepts and contemporary issues affecting democracies and authoritarian regimes across the world. It introduces students to basic debates around regime types, their causes and consequences, institutional configurations and their effects, political parties and party systems, and political behavior. The module also introduces the idea of the comparative method and how to apply it to the study of different countries. Teaching is based on a combination of theoretical and empirical perspectives, using case studies as illustrations throughout the module.

This module will provide a broad introduction to digital communication and social media as an object of study. It will facilitate students in thinking about the role of the internet, digital platforms and social media apps and their role in culture, society and democracy. It will firstly ask what is different about digital and social media compared to more traditional media, and pose the question of whether we need new tools and ways of thinking in relation to these newer media. It will then introduce several topics and case studies to allow students to think about the role and potential influence the rise of these tools may or may not have had on society.

This module provides students with a critical introduction to a number of political concepts such as power, the state, legitimacy of sovereignty and gender through engaging with political thinkers such as Weber, Dahl, Tilly, Hooks and Rousseau. It also aims to establish a grounding in a number of areas that will benefit the students in the academic study of politics. For example, essay writing, debating in seminars, and an introduction to academic research. In so doing the module develops on the skills gained at A-level to ensure students are fully prepared for degree level study in Politics. Principally this will be accomplished through interactive lectures and seminars, as well as detailed feedback on their assessments. This module provides students with the tools they require to master different forms of assessment and course work. It also lays the foundations for the development of research confident students by making them active learners with a responsibility for their own academic study.

This module will introduce students to foundational knowledge in the field of communication and media studies. Students will learn how communication practices and media technologies have developed historically and their relevance for social, political and economic changes, as well as learning about the development of Communication and Media as a broad and diverse academic field. The module familiarises students with different theoretical perspectives both historical and contemporary.

This is an introduction to issues and concepts surrounding media and communication industries and institutions. The module gives students exposure to core and current debates and issues such as the political economy of media, relations with power and regulation, and processes of globalisation, digitalisation and conglomeration. Students will learn about creative roles and the practices and lived experiences of professional media workers, including the process of conceiving and developing media texts. Successful students will be able to critically consider media and communication studies with an emphasis on its industries and institutions.

This module will enhance students’ understanding of academic research in the field of communication and media studies. It is the first of a series of two modules that will equip students with the skills and techniques needed to analyse, execute, interpret, and present academic research. The module will also prepare them for advanced academic projects such as their final-year projects/academic dissertations. This module will introduce students to the basics of academic research – from the key elements in a research study to the difference between primary and secondary, and quantitative and qualitative research. Students will be taught how to write literature reviews and what ethical considerations to bear in mind when designing a research study.

This module will enhance students’ understanding of academic research in the field of communication and media studies. It is the second of a series of two modules that will equip students with the skills and techniques needed to analyse, execute, interpret, and present academic research. The module will also prepare them for advanced academic projects such as their final-year projects/academic dissertations. This module will introduce students to specific quantitative and qualitative research methods for the study of media texts, audiences and producers, continuing on from the semester 1 Research Methods module. These will include textual analysis, content analysis, thematic analysis, discourse analysis; surveys, interviews, focus groups, ethnography; as well as archival research and digital research. Students will also be taught how to formulate research questions, what makes a good student dissertation/final year project and how to communicate their research. They will then be required to prepare research proposals for their final year projects/dissertations.

This module aims to develop students’ knowledge of British political parties and the party system within which they operate. It explores questions and issues surrounding party structure and organisation, electoral strategy, party ideology and the socio-historical contexts which lead to the rise of certain types of parties rather than others.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in support for populist political parties and movements, on both the right and the left of the political spectrum, across a large number of western democracies. This module examines the growth of populist politics in Britain, represented primarily by UKIP and the 2016 Brexit referendum, placing these developments in a comparative international perspective. It examines the distinctive features of populist movements, considers the distinctive national conditions and common global factors that have spawned them, and considers the implications for the future of party politics and representative democracy. In addition to Britain, the module includes case studies of populist politics in a range of countries internationally.

This module will introduce core concepts in contemporary gender politics –including feminist theoretical understandings of nation, state, family and the market. Gender and feminist politics will be explored more deeply by engaging with intersecting identities and current theories of the concept ‘woman’. Concepts will be illustrated with real world, contemporary case studies (for example, gender based violence and reproductive rights) and also consider non-traditional forms of political engagement including activist organising. The module will encourage students to critically engage with topics through popular culture, media sources, films, books and podcasts and reflection on their own experience. Research, critical thinking and presentation skills will be developed through coursework assessment.

This module provides an opportunity for students to gain credit from experience acquired in a placement, usually off campus, and outside their immediate academic context, in a setting that matches their academic and possible career/industry interests. During this placement students will have the chance to develop materials and/or undertake tasks within a practical or vocational context; to apply academic knowledge from their degree, and to develop their personal and employability skills within a working environment. Students will also be encouraged to critically reflect on their time on their placement, and tie their experiences into a broader theoretical understanding of what constitutes ‘politics’.

The module aims to prepare students for a smooth transition into a work placement year and, more broadly, to develop lifelong skills, attitudes and behaviours and support students in their continuing professional development. This will help students lead flexible, fulfilling careers working as a professional in their field, and enable them to contribute meaningfully to society.

This module will explore theoretical perspectives on Public Relations, including critical perspectives on its role in media and digital society and the professional practice of promotional writing, a key skill within and beyond PR. Students will develop understanding of what it means to be a creative professional in the PR industries by learning to organise their time effectively, to produce work to specific briefs and to ensure attention to detail in the delivery of projects.

This module introduces students to the study of elections and voting behaviour. It uses post-war British elections and referendums as the focal point for introducing key political science debates about voting and party competition and as a context for analysing political change in Britain. In place of seminars, students attend required data lab sessions, in which they are taught quantitative skills (e.g. t-test, Chi- Square test, statistical correlation, linear regression) through the analysis of key election datasets (e.g. vote shares, opinion polls, election surveys, candidate spending) in guided PC sessions. These sessions involve the use of both Excel and SPSS software and students will need to be confident in their ability to undertake basic mathematical procedures and to learn introductory statistical methods.

This module examines the governing institutions and processes associated with the US federal government, and how these interact with core linking institutions and structures of society to create what is understood as the American political process.

The media are now central to any discussion of contemporary war and conflict while global news reporting is supposedly in decline. How can we understand the interplay between global news, media and war in the context of rapidly evolving communication technologies and journalistic practices? This module explores the broader context of global news focusing on media in different parts of the world and the way they report on global issues. It considers the professional practice of foreign reporting and the challenges that notions of ethics, objectivity and attachment present for journalists. Then it engages with both the responses of states, including the use of media management and persuasion, and those of audiences who are often conflicted in reaction to distant conflict. The module concludes with an investigation of specific wars of recent years and a look at the future of reporting war and beyond.

This module is designed to introduce second year undergraduates to issues surrounding racialization in comparative politics. It will locate ‘race’ as an enduring feature of access to power and look at critical race theory in relation to national (UK) and international politics. This module will enable students to develop critical thinking skills about the construction of ‘race’ and ethnicity and how this construction affects certain marginalised communities and precipitates particular modes of democratic engagement and disengagement, participation and resistance and privilege and disadvantage.

As of March 2022, this course was awarded a Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Award (GCTA). The GCTA requires that a Liverpool class be adapted for co-teaching with a US counterpart as part of a virtual exchange. For 2022, POLI265 will be a COIL class. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) refers to a learning and teaching paradigm aimed at developing cross-cultural awareness through shared learning environments. This means that those who participate in this class will be now co-taught by journalism and creative media Professor George Daniels of the University of Alabama. They will now collaborate with and learn alongside an American cohort of students. The module will also now incorporate Professor Daniel’s expertise on race, gender, and media.

This module introduces students to feminist media studies. Throughout the module, they will become familiar with key concepts and debates relating to gender and its interaction with media and cultural practices. The module will refer to a wide range of media, such as television, journalism, and digital platforms to bring to life the character of gender relations in contemporary media cultures, as well as in historical perspective. Students will consider the power relations which characterise media production environments, the gendered nature of representations, and the political contestation of these by feminist activists. The module adopts an intersectional approach, ensuring that gender is considered alongside other identity markers such as race, class, disability and sexuality.

Besides introducing you to a variety of remarkable and sometimes rare documentary texts, this module examines the key purposes, forms and approaches employed at different moments in the history of documentary, how documentary represents the “real world”, and notions of “truth”, ethics and audience engagement. The module also focuses on how documentary form and content can be analysed.

In this module, students will learn about Artificial Intelligence algorithms that influence the development of digital media systems and content. Students will critically address key questions around the social, political and economic consequences of online platforms’ use of AI systems and how they are or could be regulated.

This module analyses the major ideologies in British politics and explores how ideas have brought about change in British politics and society since 1945.

The module examines the factors that give rise to international crises and shape the foreign policy responses of states. It examines the making of foreign policy from a number of different analytical perspectives. Successive weeks examine factors at different scales that influence foreign policy. These include the distribution of power and interests in the overall international system, the role of public opinion, the operation of foreign policy bureaucracies, and psychological processes in the minds of national leaders. Concurrently, we will examine statistical patterns in international crises, using data from the International Crisis Behavior (ICB) project. We will also discuss specific inter-state crises in depth, including India- Pakistan conflicts, the first Gulf War, and the Cuban missile crisis. The main assignment for the module, which is submitted at the end of the semester, will encourage students to combine different levels of analysis into a convincing explanation of a foreign policy scenario in world politics.

This is an empirical-based module that discusses classic and current topics of electoral politics from a comparative perspective.

Among the themes usually covered by the module are class voting, the rise of cultural issues, ethnic voting, generational differences in voting behaviour, the influence of religion on voting, the voting gender gap, economic voting, leaders and candidates, and support for niche and radical parties.

The module focuses mostly on advanced capitalist democracies, but research on the global south is also discussed in lectures and workshops.

The module is strongly empirically-driven. Each week, a new topic is introduced in a lecture and then explored further by analysing real survey data during the PC workshops using a statistical package.

Data analysis training is provided as part of the module. Previous statistical training is not a requirement.

The module is highly recommended for students interested in elections, voters and comparative politics, as well as those interested in data science and survey data analysis.

A dissertation is a self-contained piece of original research. It is your chance to study a topic that interests you in depth, guided by a member of the Department’s academic staff who will act as a supervisor for your research. While it is not expected that the dissertation will achieve the standard of a published article, a general idea of the length, format and style of presentation envisaged can be obtained by scanning academic articles in the area that the dissertation will deal with.

This module will provide students with the opportunity to work on a final year project. The nature of the project will be negotiated between the students and their supervisors. It might include: working on live academic research projects or working on live projects in collaboration with academic staff and external partners or working on practical outputs related to a specified (research) task.

This module aims to acquaint students with terrorism and counter-terrorism in today’s world. It starts by examining key concepts, theories, and history and then moves on to looking at a range of issues that have been the subject of particular debate, such as whether terrorism works, whether there are regularities in how campaigns end, and the necessity and contributions of literature on ‘Critical Terrorism Studies’. The module concludes by looking at whether we are at the end of the religious wave of terrorism and what we might expect to occur next.

This module offers students an introduction to study of strategic communication, seen as an interdisciplinary field of research and professional practice. Students will familiarise themselves with key concepts for critical understanding and analysis of how organisations communicate strategically in social contexts. The teaching content combines theories and case studies which relate to strategic communication phenomena in different sectors (e.g. business, politics, non-profit). Assessment is based on an essay and a group project.

The module studies human rights through the lens of the media in order to critically understand the changing nature of human rights’ representation and the role media play in representing and responding to critical human rights issues. It explores the interconnections between media and human rights focusing on media and human rights theory, policy and practice and exploring both historical developments and contemporary issues. In particular, the implications of the global media in the current information age for a range of key human rights’ issues are analysed. Among the issues that will be reviewed are terrorism and war on terror, freedom of speech, human trafficking, asylum and immigration, torture and genocide, humanitarian intervention.

This module examines the concept of news, how it is constructed and disseminated, and the implications this has for society. Students will be introduced to key debates related to the historical development of journalistic norms and ideals such as the rise of objectivity and impartiality. The module also considers key theories which help to explain how news is selected and produced such as ‘news values’ and ‘agenda-setting’, and furthermore, the potential implications for audiences as citizens. The module will also consider the political and economic pressures which journalists face when reporting the news. We will also consider the future of journalism in a digital age, examining the challenges of producing news in times of declining revenue and the rise of the Internet and social media platforms.   

This module will involve students producing and presenting a weekly politics and current affairs programme (The Politics Hour). Over the course of a full academic year, students will work in programme teams to plan and present regular one hour broadcasts and linked web and social media content. Within each team, students will rotate key roles (as researchers, reporters, presenters, producers, editors and social media managers). There will be no formal teaching. Instead, students will ‘learn by doing’ by participating in weekly editorial meeting, in the production of each show and in structured peer feedback and self reflection exercises. The learning process aims to replicate a ‘real world’ broadcasting environment and this approach will be reflected in the use of ‘authentic’ assessment tasks. Students will be required to produce a range of audio and written outputs and will also be assessed, in part, on their ability to work successfully in teams. Reflective learning will also require students to engage in ongoing review of professional, mainstream radio broadcasts and to undertake recommended reading to support the development of their broadcasting skills. The module will be particularly suited to students keen to pursue a career in political journalism. However, it will furnish all participants with a wide-range of transferable skills designed to enhance their employability, including communication, team-working and problem-solving skills, by facilitating the application of academic subject knowledge gained on the degree programme as a whole in a ‘real world’ and ‘real time’ context.

POLI346 is an interdisciplinary module in political psychology that combines basic statistical concepts and data analysis with SPSS with substantive content on biological, physiological, psychological, communication related, and health-related aspects of political behaviour.

This is a challenging module that exposes students to high quality, to cross-disciplinary research largely based on quantitative methods, and to statistical inference. This means that the practical part of the module is divided between seminars and data lab sessions. In their assessments, students: engage in the hypothesis generation process; are tested on their understanding of data analysis and interpretation of findings based on quantitative research and substantive content; analyse data and produce a research note or short article, following the structure of short articles published in the leading journal American Political Science Review (including background, hypotheses, data, results and conclusions).

The module explores how popular culture can be political by examining a range of popular cultural commodities discursively. The module surveys a range of views on how to examine popular culture in order to contextualise discourse analysis. This is examined and then used to critically consider the political potential of popular culture. Successful students will be able to critically analyse a range of popular cultural commodities such as film, television programmes, digital popular culture, popular music and the tabloid press. The module is delivered in the forms of lectures and more hands-on analysis during seminars. Students are assessed by an essay, which is an analysis of a popular culture commodity.

This module is an opportunity for you to undertake a placement in a setting which matches your academic and possible career/industry interests, develop materials and/or undertake tasks within a practical or vocational context, apply academic knowledge from your degree, and develop your personal and employability skills within a working environment. SOTA300 is not open to students who have taken SOTA600.

This is the first substantive module in the UK to examine the rhetoric of British political parties at Undergraduate level. It roots its theories and methods in the classical schools of rhetorical analysis, alongside developing a more contemporary understanding of discourse analysis. This module will enable students to think critically about the political message, how it is constructed, and delivered to a range of audiences.

This module offers students a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical production skills enabling the design, production and marketing of ‘viral videos’. Students develop their own creative practice and take a highly active role in designing, presenting and producing their own videos, and promoting them through video-sharing and social media networks.

Viral videos are an important and rapidly evolving cultural phenomenon. As yet there is little consensus on a definition but essentially they are videos that gain popularity by being shared and recommended through online and offline sharing and recommendations (France et al 2016: 20).

The module is aimed at students considering a career in digital communications, public relations and corporate, political and third sector communications.

France, S., Vaghefi, M. and Zhao, H. (2016) Characterizing viral videos: Methodology and applications. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 19: 19–32.

Global heating, deforestation, natural disasters, mass extinction of wildlife – the world is currently facing extraordinary environmental degradation that increasingly affects people’s daily lives and our common future on this planet. At the same time, the veracity of these issues as well as questions of remedies are being heavily contested. It is the news media and social media platforms where viewpoints are promoted, exchanged, discussed and the battle for dominant issue interpretations is fought. In this module, students will learn about the most salient fault lines of mediated environmental discourse. Who are the stakeholders that engage in environmental debates and what are their arguments? What are the challenges for journalists and other content providers in communicating complex environmental issues to their respective audience? And what do we know about the short and long term effects of different forms of communication and sometimes widely differing arguments and narratives? Students will develop the knowledge and analytical skills to be able to tackle these issues via their own theory-driven and empirical work.

This module involves students researching and producing an 8,000 to 10,000 word dissertation. It helps develop key skills such as autonomy, in-depth analysis and research design.

Students are responsible for formulating their own research question and are encouraged to maintain a close relationship with their supervisor who will provide guidance and support throughout the module.

This module aims to provide students with an overall introduction to the UK Parliament and, in particular, to how its role has changed over time. It will provide students with key knowledge and understanding of the institution and of how it has changed. We will examine how the institution is organised, who MPs and Peers are and how they perform their representative role. We will then focus on key roles such as law-making and scrutiny and accountability, where we will explore in particular the role of Select Committees and of questions to the government. We will also consider how Parliament relates to outside actors such as the public, government and pressure groups. Throughout our enquiry we will identify the role played by tradition in Parliament, as well as outlining paths for reform. The module has been developed in conjunction with the Parliamentary Outreach Service of the UK Parliament and includes guest talks by parliamentary officials and Clerks. Whilst the module introduces students to the key literature and theories on Parliament, it also has a very practical insight. It is therefore particularly suitable for those students considering a possible career in public relations, lobbying, journalism, as well as in parliament itself or party politics.

The module’s assessment has a strong practical component. It is composed of two reports, each actively encouraging the use of resources from Parliament and each putting students in a real life scenario.

This module explores entertainment (specifically film and television) as an “unofficial” source of historical knowledge. For many people, entertainment is the primary site of engagement with history and one that makes history relevant, accessible and enjoyable in the present. It will consider what is required to make history entertaining and what this suggests about the kinds of stories that are enjoyable to consume compared to those that are omitted and silenced. The majority of screenings are British/American productions and we will consider the way in which this shapes those perspectives, but we will also draw on international examples during the course. These non-academic popular encounters with history offer a space for alternative and challenging versions of history. In this module we will consider the ways in which this can reinforce, resist or disrupt “official” accounts of history.

Queer Film, Video and Documentary explores the different ways in which ‘queers’, specifically lesbian, gay, and transgender people, have been represented in moving images, produced their own films, videos, and documentaries, and shaped reception practices, politics and moving image cultures specific to them. The module will introduce students to queer theory alongside advanced moving image analysis paying particular attention to key theoretical debates and texts in queer politics and film, video and documentary, that demarcate shifts in knowledge, representations, sexual identities, cultures, and practices related to ‘queerness’. The module will be structured around three conceptual blocks. The first block is an overview of the foundational theories, debates and concepts in queer theory including their relationship to canonical films and documentaries. The second block on the AIDS crisis addresses the historical trauma’s centrality to the development of queer theory and the politics of queer identity. The final block examines particular moments in queer moving image history from underground cinema to multiplex acceptance. 

The module begins with an analysis of the validity of comparative approaches to the study of the politics of peace, before moving to a series of individual case studies. These include Northern Ireland, Bosnia, the Middle East and the Basque Region.

This module considers propaganda, its relationship to power, and its capacity to persuade individuals and groups. Exploring both historical and contemporary case studies, it introduces students to different types of propaganda, such as political speeches, television commercials, and sponsored content on social media, and different types of propagandist, from the emperors of Ancient Rome to the multinational corporations of the twenty-first century.

One of its central contentions is that propaganda has both represented and contributed to many of the defining events of the recent (and not so recent) past. Another is that no analysis of the modern world, communications technologies, and the audiences that access and contribute to them would be complete without at least some attention to propaganda.

Students enrolled on the module will learn how to identify propaganda and how to analyse its place within larger political, social, and economic structures. Part of the module will be devoted to propaganda in times of war and crisis, part to propaganda during general elections and referenda, and part to rituals of consumption in late capitalist societies.

It will be taught through a combination of weekly lectures and workshops and assessed with two summative assignments: a plan for an analysis of a propaganda campaign (chosen by the student) and an analysis that considers how the campaign was planned and organised, what impact (if any) it had, and what lessons can be learned from it.

This is an opportunity to spend the third year of your studies working as part of your degree programme. The placement year is not just about gaining work experience, it is also about deepening your academic understanding in your subject. Whatever modules you have taken previously, your prior studies in Years 1 and 2 will have given you some appreciation of general issues and theoretical concerns in your subject area. Your placement will give you some real-world experience against which to compare that academic knowledge. The experience will in turn inform your studies in your final year, providing you with material to discuss in such modules as the Independent Project or the Dissertation. You will have the opportunities to learn and practise a range of intellectual, interpersonal and technical skills relevant to your chosen industry. You will be encouraged to think creatively and to develop skills in adapting and responding positively to changing circumstances. Ultimately, your academic learning will be enhanced in the final year of study through this opportunity to contextualise your studies in the workplace. Students who have taken SOTA600 are not allowed to take SOTA300.