How Politics Works: From the Individual to an International Scale
The University of Kent
  • Start Date: 27 Jun, 2022
  • 4 weeks
  • Study Content: Videos


Prepare yourself for a degree in politics.

Course Fee: Free
Certificate Cost: See Fees and Eligibility

Course Description

This course is made available through the eLearnAfrica and FutureLearn partnership.

Understand politics on an individual and global scale


This introductory course is designed to help you prepare for a degree in politics at degree level, or to introduce you to the basics of politics.


You’ll learn the basics of democracy, the machinery of government, and the political economy and globalisation. Then you’ll move on to identity politics, looking at class and economic individualism. You’ll be introduced to some key texts, and given further reading to boost your learning.


Discover the meaning and function of democracy


In the first week of this course, you’ll explore the meaning and function of democracy, and learn how to identify and assess different models of democracy. You’ll then apply your new knowledge in a debate on which model of democracy is the best, drawing on key texts and examples.


Explore the machinery of government


In the second week, you’ll learn about key parts of government, including constitutions, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. You’ll be recommended further reading, to bolster your learning and to prepare you for future study.


Learn more about the political economy, globalisation, and identity politics


In the latter stages of the course, you’ll zoom out to look at how politics affects the economy, enterprise, social capitalism, and globalisation. Debates here include whether students should pay for their own tuition.


The last week of the course focuses on the individual role in politics. You’ll look at class analysis, economic individualism and neoliberalism, and the impacts of economic individualism. The course will be rounded off with some more recommended further reading.


This course is designed for students who have excellent high school grades or partial A-level equivalent qualifications. It gives undergraduates a flavour of studying politics at degree level, and helps mature students return to study.


If you want to deepen your understanding of this subject, you may also be interested in this course, from the same provider, that shares the same overall learning outcomes:



Certificate cost may vary. You will be redirected to the host page for cost and payment options.

The University of Kent

The University of Kent, the UK’s European University, is one of the country’s most dynamic universities. Established in 1965, it now has 19,850 students studying at its various campuses including Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge in the picturesque south-east of England (close to London) and its European sites in Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.

The University is a major educational, economic and cultural force throughout its region and has well-established external networks and partnerships with leading universities in Europe and around the world, providing students with opportunities to study and work abroad.

Ranked in the Top 20 of UK universities (16th in the Guardian University Guide 2016), Kent has an established reputation for the quality of its research; confirmed by its excellent performance (17th in the UK) in the most recent Research Assessment Framework (REF) where all its academic schools were found to be engaged in research of international and world-class standing.

Students consistently rank Kent as offering one of the best student experiences in the UK and it achieved an overall satisfaction rate of 90% and above in the National Student Survey.

 

This institution is available on eLearnAfrica through partnership with FutureLearn.

You may be able to download course materials after enrolling in this course. If not, all of the necessary course materials provided by the course instructor will be available on the provider's course page.
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Effective Date: September 22, 2016