Political Science and International Relations MA

Research methods in social science encompass a vast array of techniques meant to guide research of social, political and human behavior. This is a challenging and exciting enterprise. This module will introduce you to some of the most used methods in social science. We will start by defining the research process and the fundamental features of research design before covering a number of qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of political phenomena. The aim is to equip you with the vital skills required to conduct research in political science and international relations and to provide the advanced knowledge required to undertake a dissertation at Masters level.

This module will be of particular interest to students interested in big data and how it is collected and used in modern society; in the politics and policy questions around social media; and in the interactions between media, platforms, and citizens. It will introduce students to the study of online media and platforms, with a particular focus on ‘big’ social trace data. As well as developing their understanding of how Internet-based media systems work, students will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of using big data for social science research, and engage with key online political communication policy questions.

The module examines a range of interconnected issues concerning the politics/media relationship. It offers a critical overview of the ways in which the media have been studied and discussed in relation to political processes and explores the key aspects of contemporary theory and research in politics and media. Part one is devoted to theories and debates about the politics and media relationship. It examines different ways of making sense of the relationship between the state, the public, and the media and questions surrounding media power and media audiences. Part two focuses on specific cases and controversies in the media-politics relations. It explores the changing relationships, representational forms, power dynamics, and impacts of media performance in selected forms of contemporary ‘conflict’.

This module follows the evolution of the field of conflict studies: from the early adoption of an IR framework of bargaining to explaining conflicts within states, to testing structural, country-level correlates of conflict resolution or recurrence, to the recognition of multidimensional conflicts and the shift toward dyadic data, and finally, to the recent focus on armed group fluidity and theories about how rebel spoiling, splintering, and alliances lead conflicts to take new forms.

This module requires students to engage with the politics around efforts to tackle contemporary forms of exploitation often categorised as ‘slavery’, to consider the origins and human experience of such activities, to assess policies for combating them, and to apply this to an independent research project. Seminars will challenge students to analyse the major themes in legal and political responses to trafficking, forced labour and other forms of human rights abuse analogous to slavery. Students will develop strategies for researching practices and policies relating to contemporary ‘slaveries’ and they will develop an independent study of a particular aspect.

The history of the nation-state formation and disintegration reflects the history of modern Europe which has been formed and often torn by these processes. While the nation-state is the most successful political organisation of modernity and a focus of peoples belonging, its design and its inherent association with a particular national group and its identity is not without controversy. The principal aim of this module is to analyse the political significance of the nation-state in European politics from 19th Century to the present. It covers waves of nationalism (1848, 1917, 1945 and 1989) and provides academic tools for understanding politics of national identity, minorities, immigration and citizenship in the past and in our time.

Increasingly recognition of the environmental threats that we all face means that responding to this crisis affects the decisions we all make at a variety of different scales. This module explores the extent to which environmental concerns are taken into account in various decision-making processes involving the public (government), private and third sectors at a variety of different scales, global, European, national and local. The module is assessed by an essay and an open-book exam, which provides students with significant choice to explore those parts of the module they find most interesting.

This module is designed to introduce students to the range and diversity of current research in languages and cultures. In individual sessions, students will be encouraged to consider the range of theoretical and methodological approaches which they could adopt in approaching their individual research projects. This module aims to provide students with an awareness of the key theoretical issues central to cultural studies, and to develop in them an understanding of current methodologies.

This module examines some of the most crucial topics in contemporary electoral research, and aims to provide students with a deep understanding of the factors explaining people’s political preferences and electoral behaviour in different contexts. The module takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines sociology, psychology and political science. Geographically speaking, this is a comparative module that focuses on full democracies, and students are encouraged to think about how the mechanisms covered in the different sessions may(or may not) work in other democratic contexts.

War Writing addresses the ways that wartime and peacetime are imagined by writers in the 20th and 21st centuries. We consider the topic by looking at a diverse range of texts that address war directly or indirectly. We ask our students to ask exactly what it is that war means and the ways in which writers have attempted to answer that question. We actively look to expand our definition of war writing and to include a wide spectrum of writers and writing.

This module will offer a cross-national comparative perspective on the state of journalism around the world, journalists’ perceptions of their role in society and the contextual factors that influence journalistic roles and performance. Only 14% of people in the world live in counties with free media so it is important to appreciate that the news media might play different roles based on the nature of the political system, the respective media systems and the relevant cultural and societal differences. The extent to which the news media can act as the fourth estate is to a large extent determined by these contextual factors but also by audiences’ expectations about the role of journalists in their society. A range of case studies will be used throughout the module.

This module explores the relationships between politics, economics, and mainstream media. The traditional, 20th century business models of news media have collapsed, prompting news organisations to make redundancies and to consider new ways of financing their activities. As a result, significant concerns have been raised about their sustainability as well as the wider role that news media (should) play in democratic societies. Furthermore, social media platforms and search engines have become the new gatekeepers, directing attention to news (and the knowledge, understandings, and attitudes shaped by news consumption) based on algorithms and audience members’ self-selection into disparate groups. In this module we will be looking at the ways in which media content across a variety of platforms and channels is being shaped by economic considerations and neoliberal ideology and how this creates tension, and sometimes outright contradiction, with the public and democratic role of mass media (including social media platforms) in open societies.

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’.

This module provides an in-depth analysis of the external policies of the EU in the current context and critically analyses the role of EU in international affairs. The module will trace the evolution of the EU as an international actor, scrutinize the EU’s external action in different policy areas and its relations with its regional and global partners.

The module analyses the process leading to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the form it took (referendum and withdrawal agreement) as well as the ongoing implications for British politics, society and culture.

At the end of the sixteenth century, England was making its first attempts to build a tradition as a nation of travellers and unsuccessfully attempting to establish colonies in north America. By the end of the Eighteenth century the European Grand Tour was a standard part of a British aristocratic education, and the British Empire was a global force actively participating in the international slave trade. This module looks at both literary and non-literary records of and responses to: the relationship between the ‘old world’ or the Mediterranean and the ‘new world’ of the Americas; the encounter with unfamiliar people and lands; the rise of and debate about the international slave trade, from the perspective of both the enslaver and the enslaved; the literary and cultural importance of these developments for the city of Liverpool.

Environmental issues are of growing importance to businesses both large and small. Companies and organisations have to comply with a burgeoning body of environmental legislation and environmental considerations are becoming more prominent in relations with industrial partners and clients, suppliers, customers, banks, insurers and local communities. Whilst such pressures are forcing businesses to pay more attention to the environmental implications of their actions, some businesses which are forward looking, perceive the environmental agenda as a great business opportunity. This module is designed to explore some of these issues more fully.

Comparative Peace Processes examines the similarities and differences between peace processes. What common features can be identified in terms of how and why peace processes develop? What aspects of threat removal are most common, such as decommissioning, disarmament and reintegration? What political tools, such as consociation, partition, secession, devolution or integration, might be used? After a short overview, the module addresses these questions via a series of case studies, including Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine Bosnia and the Basque region.

The module provides an overview of record keeping developments from an international perspective. It introduces students to record-keeping structures, traditions and practices throughout the world, and to the legislative, cultural and political traditions which affect those practices. In doing so it enables students them to approach record-keeping theory and practice in their home country both critically and comparatively. The module considers the role that records and archives have played over time, particularly, from 1945, in the area of human rights.

The module introduces students to the quantitative study of international relations, security studies and comparative politics. Much of the most important research on topics such as the foreign relations between states, public attitudes towards global issues, and violent conflict within societies is quantitative. The module provides a guide to navigating these areas of research.

Beginning at an introductory level with descriptive statistics, it will introduce students to the most frequently-used tools for the statistical analysis of politics. Using statistical software, students will replicate existing studies and familiarise themselves with some of the major datasets in the fields of comparative politics, international relations, and security studies.

By the end of the module, students should have the confidence to replicate existing research in political science, make use of quantitative datasets in the study of politics conduct their own quantitative empirical investigation. Having studied statistics in a previous university degree is not a requirement for the module as we start from an absolute beginner’s level.

This module explores a series of dissident perspectives in international politics which evaluate how the study of international affairs exists as part of a continuum of empire. Examining the core features of different knowledge traditions emanating from postcolonial theory, decolonial methodologies and non-western thought, and critical positions in geography, history, sociology, and legal studies; this module situates the study of international politics with each of their epistemic stances, methodologies, and distinctive themes. We will evaluate what are often regarded to be the core concepts of International Relations theorisation (e.g., the treaty of Westphalia, liberalism, realism) and topical events like far- Right extremism, climate change, the Migrant Crisis, and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, with the diverse socio-political and ethical commitments that exist within the interdisciplinary field of anti-colonialism. This includes ideas of decolonization, abolitionist thought, reparative justice, and world repair.

Research methods in social science encompass a vast array of techniques meant to guide research of social, political and human behavior. This is a challenging and exciting enterprise. This module will introduce you to some of the most used methods in social science. We will start by defining the research process and the fundamental features of research design before covering a number of qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of political phenomena. The aim is to equip you with the vital skills required to conduct research in political science and international relations and to provide the advanced knowledge required to undertake a dissertation at Masters level.

The history of the nation-state formation and disintegration reflects the history of modern Europe which has been formed and often torn by these processes. While the nation-state is the most successful political organisation of modernity and a focus of peoples belonging, its design and its inherent association with a particular national group and its identity is not without controversy. The principal aim of this module is to analyse the political significance of the nation-state in European politics from 19th Century to the present. It covers waves of nationalism (1848, 1917, 1945 and 1989) and provides academic tools for understanding politics of national identity, minorities, immigration and citizenship in the past and in our time.

This module provides an in-depth analysis of the external policies of the EU in the current context and critically analyses the role of EU in international affairs. The module will trace the evolution of the EU as an international actor, scrutinize the EU’s external action in different policy areas and its relations with its regional and global partners.

This module follows the evolution of the field of conflict studies: from the early adoption of an IR framework of bargaining to explaining conflicts within states, to testing structural, country-level correlates of conflict resolution or recurrence, to the recognition of multidimensional conflicts and the shift toward dyadic data, and finally, to the recent focus on armed group fluidity and theories about how rebel spoiling, splintering, and alliances lead conflicts to take new forms.

This module requires students to engage with the politics around efforts to tackle contemporary forms of exploitation often categorised as ‘slavery’, to consider the origins and human experience of such activities, to assess policies for combating them, and to apply this to an independent research project. Seminars will challenge students to analyse the major themes in legal and political responses to trafficking, forced labour and other forms of human rights abuse analogous to slavery. Students will develop strategies for researching practices and policies relating to contemporary ‘slaveries’ and they will develop an independent study of a particular aspect.

Increasingly recognition of the environmental threats that we all face means that responding to this crisis affects the decisions we all make at a variety of different scales. This module explores the extent to which environmental concerns are taken into account in various decision-making processes involving the public (government), private and third sectors at a variety of different scales, global, European, national and local. The module is assessed by an essay and an open-book exam, which provides students with significant choice to explore those parts of the module they find most interesting.

This module is designed to introduce students to the range and diversity of current research in languages and cultures. In individual sessions, students will be encouraged to consider the range of theoretical and methodological approaches which they could adopt in approaching their individual research projects. This module aims to provide students with an awareness of the key theoretical issues central to cultural studies, and to develop in them an understanding of current methodologies.

This module examines some of the most crucial topics in contemporary electoral research, and aims to provide students with a deep understanding of the factors explaining people’s political preferences and electoral behaviour in different contexts. The module takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines sociology, psychology and political science. Geographically speaking, this is a comparative module that focuses on full democracies, and students are encouraged to think about how the mechanisms covered in the different sessions may(or may not) work in other democratic contexts.

War Writing addresses the ways that wartime and peacetime are imagined by writers in the 20th and 21st centuries. We consider the topic by looking at a diverse range of texts that address war directly or indirectly. We ask our students to ask exactly what it is that war means and the ways in which writers have attempted to answer that question. We actively look to expand our definition of war writing and to include a wide spectrum of writers and writing.

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’.

This module examines the different ways in which states intervene in the domestic affairs of other states or territories such as humanitarian intervention, invasion, annexation, peacekeeping, and colonial interventions. It explores how intervention has changed and developed historically, especially during and after the Cold War. It analyses whether state-practice has out-run the rules and norms that guide international state behaviour, particularly the legal framework of the United Nations and other relevant bodies of international law.

The module analyses the process leading to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the form it took (referendum and withdrawal agreement) as well as the ongoing implications for British politics, society and culture.

At the end of the sixteenth century, England was making its first attempts to build a tradition as a nation of travellers and unsuccessfully attempting to establish colonies in north America. By the end of the Eighteenth century the European Grand Tour was a standard part of a British aristocratic education, and the British Empire was a global force actively participating in the international slave trade. This module looks at both literary and non-literary records of and responses to: the relationship between the ‘old world’ or the Mediterranean and the ‘new world’ of the Americas; the encounter with unfamiliar people and lands; the rise of and debate about the international slave trade, from the perspective of both the enslaver and the enslaved; the literary and cultural importance of these developments for the city of Liverpool.

Environmental issues are of growing importance to businesses both large and small. Companies and organisations have to comply with a burgeoning body of environmental legislation and environmental considerations are becoming more prominent in relations with industrial partners and clients, suppliers, customers, banks, insurers and local communities. Whilst such pressures are forcing businesses to pay more attention to the environmental implications of their actions, some businesses which are forward looking, perceive the environmental agenda as a great business opportunity. This module is designed to explore some of these issues more fully.

Comparative Peace Processes examines the similarities and differences between peace processes. What common features can be identified in terms of how and why peace processes develop? What aspects of threat removal are most common, such as decommissioning, disarmament and reintegration? What political tools, such as consociation, partition, secession, devolution or integration, might be used? After a short overview, the module addresses these questions via a series of case studies, including Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine Bosnia and the Basque region.

The module provides an overview of record keeping developments from an international perspective. It introduces students to record-keeping structures, traditions and practices throughout the world, and to the legislative, cultural and political traditions which affect those practices. In doing so it enables students them to approach record-keeping theory and practice in their home country both critically and comparatively. The module considers the role that records and archives have played over time, particularly, from 1945, in the area of human rights.

This module explores a series of dissident perspectives in international politics which evaluate how the study of international affairs exists as part of a continuum of empire. Examining the core features of different knowledge traditions emanating from postcolonial theory, decolonial methodologies and non-western thought, and critical positions in geography, history, sociology, and legal studies; this module situates the study of international politics with each of their epistemic stances, methodologies, and distinctive themes. We will evaluate what are often regarded to be the core concepts of International Relations theorisation (e.g., the treaty of Westphalia, liberalism, realism) and topical events like far- Right extremism, climate change, the Migrant Crisis, and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, with the diverse socio-political and ethical commitments that exist within the interdisciplinary field of anti-colonialism. This includes ideas of decolonization, abolitionist thought, reparative justice, and world repair.

The dissertation will enable students to demonstrate their research skills and knowledge in a single substantive independent piece of study. Students will select their chosen topic under the umbrella of ‘political science and international relations’, thereby affording students with a wide range of potential topics upon which to research. The opportunity to conduct this piece of research will enable students to focus on a topic they are intellectually interested in, and so motivated to conduct the research.