International Public Policy (2-Year Master's)

To enhance your academic study skills relative to the field of Humanities and Social Sciences, you will be encouraged to utilise all of the available University facilities. This module focuses on developing and enhancing your ability to conduct literature searches, analyse and evaluate sources and to question the suitability of the sources concerning their validity and relevance to your specified field of study. Focus will also be placed on enhancing your academic language, in preparation for constructing a detailed essay or report using an appropriate referencing style and presenting your work in the form of seminar discussions and an individual presentation. Non-linguistic transferable skills include problem solving, critical thinking, team working, time management as well as contributing in seminar discussions.

Global societies and public policy systems face many challenges in the contemporary world. This course takes a comparative approach by systematically analysing key fields related to social inequality, challenges and crises to show how a variety of countries have identified and tackled them. This puts students in an excellent position to work across sectors, ranging from charities to private companies where you need to have critical understanding of contemporary social and policy issues. This includes civil service, private and charity sectors working on social and environmental issues. The module starts with a consideration of theoretical frameworks and moves on to discuss critical challenges and poly-crises in our world today. Students will have a chance to learn not only about these issues nationally, but internationally by analysing  topics such as globalisation, migration, population ageing, disability and austerity measures.

Enhance your ability to conduct research through utilising a range of University facilities in independent literature searches. You will need to demonstrate effective planning and time management in order to work independently to plan, design and execute extensive document research. Through guidance and input, you will be encouraged to find academic sources to analyse, evaluate and to question the suitability of the sources concerning their validity and relevance to your specified field of study.  Your research will lead to preparing and presenting a presentation documenting your research journey, leading to a literature review. Non-linguistic transferable skills include problem solving, critical thinking, organising and managing independent study time, as well as contributing in workshop discussions.”

What is the role of prisons and probation in offender rehabilitation. Are there particular factors that facilitate or impede the realisation of prison and probation goals? Over the course of this module, we explore these questions and many others as we explore the role, use, and rehabilitative work of correctional services for offenders in the prison and probation estate as part of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services (HMPPS). You will be taught the recent history and contemporary concerns of prisons and probation, and the various models employed in attempting to help offenders to change. We shall draw upon relevant theory, research, and practice to consider how these services may, or may not, contribute to the rehabilitation and resettlement of serious offenders. You will be introduced to the idea of desistance and how this can be facilitated or undermined within prison and probation contexts. By the end of the module, you will have gained a sophisticated knowledge to enable you to critically reflect on the central importance of prisons and probation to the criminal justice system and of the potential for, but also pitfalls so often associated with, offender rehabilitation.

Why has crime become such an important political issue in recent years? And how has the politicisation of law-and-order transformed the criminal justice landscape? This module explores the way in which criminal justice and criminal justice policy-making has been subject to increasing political scrutiny in recent years. It utilises topics such as terrorism, dangerous offenders, penology and capital punishment to highlight the interaction between popular opinion, research, policy formation and the criminalisation of particular groups within society. Each week on the module, you’ll be introduced to some of the contemporary debates surrounding the creation of criminal justice policy, and the potential unintended consequences that those political decisions can bring about. Focusing on important ideological shifts in the practice of criminal justice, this module equips students to critically engage with the debates surrounding the politicisation of law-and-order.

Environmental issues have become central matters of public concern and political contention, but addressing these issues is a complicated matter. How can we navigate these complexities to make meaningful, positive change for the environment? In this module we shall consider explanations for the rise of environmental concern as well as the forms of organisation that have been adopted to address environmental questions. This class follows the development of environmental protest from the philosophical to the political. In doing so, we examine various scales of political engagement including the grassroots, nation-state, and international. We will critically examine sociological analyses of environmental inequality, protest participation, institutionalisation, and capitalist co-optation of sustainability efforts. Upon careful consideration of various interventions, approaches, theories, and bodies of research, you will gain confidence in confronting the sustainability challenges that currently and increasingly concern a variety of industries, charities, governments, civic organisations and communities. A greener, more sustainable and equitable society depends on people just like you. This class aims to foster your ambition, leadership, and collaborative skills to realize this potential.

This module combines theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical cases to examine how our understandings of the past, present and future are constructed in various social, cultural, political and digital contexts. It explores the different temporalities that underpin social life on and offline and how ideas and norms about time are embedded in institutions, spaces and everyday practices. We will critically explore the cultural roles of memory and the imagination in the construction of social life, the roles of ‘heritage’ and nostalgia in contemporary political and policy discourse, ongoing debates about the acceleration and mediation of everyday experience, the development of movements for 'slow' ways of living, renewed interest in rhythm, and contest over ‘whose time counts’. Through these explorations, the module provides context and nuance that compliments and help us understand wider issues within and beyond sociology: issues of collective, cultural and individual identity, social and technological change, everyday life, and political decision-making.

In democratic systems, policy decisions are supposed to reflect citizens’ opinions or preferences. The nature of public beliefs is thus a central concern of policy-makers and a focus for political analysis. Yet what are citizen opinions and how are they formed? The democratic ideal sees expressions of public opinion as reflecting citizens’ true preferences and a ‘rational’ processing of information. Yet people’s opinions may not meet these ideals. Instead, individual opinions may be shaped by a range of external influences, and information may be interpreted in a selective and one-sided manner. If so, this raises questions about whether people’s opinions can be manipulated, and suggests the presence of biased beliefs and potentially of misinformation. Public debate in countries like Britain and the US shows many signs of belief manipulation, partisan biases and misinformation. This module is designed to explore why public discourse might suffer from these problems and what might be done to overcome them. In doing so, the module deepens your understanding of the role of citizens in contemporary democratic systems, and enhances their evaluatory and analytical skills.

How does who we are influence how we understand and engage with politics? Is identity always political? Should political decision making take our identities into account? This module will give you the ability to evaluate contemporary debates about identity politics, and develop your own responses to these and other questions. You will explore scholarly literature on identity politics as well as certain key texts from a range of approaches that explore the significance of identity within the field of Politics and International Relations. Bringing these together, you will then be able to assess how these traditions may inform contemporary debates about ‘who we think we are’ while also investigate ways in which we may think about ourselves at the limits of, or even outside of, those traditions. You will be encouraged to apply this material in two ways: as a framework for reflecting upon your own identity and as a way of critically understanding how or if we should judge the identity of others. The module will therefore develop your knowledge of identity politics and the relationship between them with a view to being able to apply these to your own sense of identity in relation to other people.

How should the relationship between economic forces and world politics be understood? What tools can we use to understand the nature of the link between economics and international relations? Through the lens of political economy, which pertains to the complex relationships between society, the state, and the market, you will debate and analyse the economic dimensions of contemporary international relations. Major themes you will explore include: governance; globalisation; institutions; interdependence; power; conflict; cooperation; hegemony; and crisis. You’ll also focus on specific issues, which may shift year-to-year depending on current events, possibly covering: trade; development; poverty; global health; the financial sector; foreign investment; hunger; the energy sector; climate change; and the relationship between political economy and conflict. Across these topics, you will critically examine the interests, relationships, and conflicts of individual actors in the global political economy.

This course provides students with the understanding and skills necessary to use research, whether within a research career or outside of it. Building on other training in the details of specific methods, it focuses on two sets of broader questions. First, it critically analyses central concepts such as truth, power, ethics, and uncertainty in social research. When addressing these issues, the module engages with how they are dealt with and approached in qualitative and quantitative research. In the module, students will engage actively with these issues and critically reflect upon their own views and how they apply them in their own research projects. We particularly discuss the difficulties of causal inference and generalisation, coming to conclusions from research reviews, and philosophical issues around ‘truth’ and values. Second, it looks at the link between research and action. In doing this, it goes from the very practical (how to ensure that your research is used by policymakers and/or practitioners, and to deal with the political pressures on researchers) to the conceptual (in what ways does evidence get used by wider society?) to the normative (should researchers be ‘critical’, and if so, what are their ethical obligations in doing this?).

On this course, you will take a deep dive into the world of comparative public policy where students develop tools allowing them to critically analyse the pressing challenges of our day and how they influence the policy landscape, including globalisation, populism, the intersection of labour markets with society, and the evolving dynamics between welfare systems, social structures, and economic trends. On the module, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of comparative public policy theories and methods, and an in-depth understanding of what approaches to use in what circumstances. You will learn about the theoretical frameworks that shape the field, illustrated by captivating examples from diverse national, regional, and international perspectives. You will also get an understanding of how comparative public policy is shaped, by which institutions at these different governance levels, in other words, analysing organisations such as the EU and the UN. Overall, the module will equip you with the theoretical, methodological, and analytical tools needed to analyse comparative public policy issues. You will gain an in-depth understanding of policy developments, drivers, constraints, and responses to key challenges within and across countries and over time.

Asking questions about society is primary to the work of a social scientist. However, how we go about asking those questions is not straightforward. When planning reliable and generalisable research, many steps need to be taken to ensure robust results. This course provides students with the tools to do just that. The course introduces students to the logic and methods of social research, including the central topics in research design, understanding the methodological choices necessary when designing social research, and the realities of ensuring ethical research from the start. Throughout this process, students will be introduced to both the positivist and critical/interpretive debates behind social research. Additionally, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be covered. This will prepare students to design a research proposal, including selecting appropriate methods, formulating a research plan which covers data collection and analysis, and ultimately allowing them to successfully conduct their own research.

Globally, we are seeing a wide range of pressures and challenges to national, regional, and international public policies, including rising social and economic inequalities and climate change. This course delves into the critical challenges faced in international public policy by systematically examining and differentiating key areas and issues. It does so by taking a deep dive into key policy areas of contemporary international public policy through critical discussions of empirical examples.

The module engages empirically and theoretically with contemporary international public policies, equipping students with skills the enable them to apply their knowledge on ‘real life’ public policy issues. You will get a structured overview and critical discussion of the primary domains where international and national public policy agendas intersect and evolve and critically analysis variations in international policy responses. Specific areas of public policy covered include climate change and environmental issues, demographic changes including ageing societies, health, social security, migration policy, social and political exclusion and urban versus rural policies.

On the module you will enhance your employability by gaining knowledge about how various policy sectors grapple with transformative political, environmental and socio-economic processes their responses to these challenges will differ based on a range of internal and external socio-economic and political factors.

Understanding what works, why, where and for whom remains a fundamental inquiry across diverse organizations and financial sectors, especially in the realm of designing and implementing policies with far-reaching impacts across populations, locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

This module equips you with a comprehensive grasp of qualitative and quantitative tools, and other research methodologies crucial for executing evidence-based evaluations. Thereby it equips you with critical employability skills for anyone working with policies and evaluations across sectors. You will gain invaluable skills in applying evaluation methods, understanding the process of a policy and assessing it.

You will delve into the analysis of policies, examining their design, outcomes, and impacts to determine whether they effectively achieve their intended goals and objectives. Exploring key principles of impact evaluation and experimental design enable you to develop essential skills for understanding and critically assessing the policy process, enhancing your ability to navigate the challenges and political dynamics in policy.

The aims of this module are twofold:

First, to provide students with the opportunity to independently carry out an in-depth inquiry to investigate a research question(s) of their choice, producing a coherent review of the relevant literature, a logical discussion and a clearly communicated set of conclusions in the form of a dissertation.

Second, to prepare students to become ‘research-minded’ practitioners in order that they have the capacity to undertake research in practice settings and/or take a lead role in supervising others in such work.

Critical criminology constitutes a broad and multi-disciplinary tradition that studies the complex relationships between crime, control and power. The module acquaints students with the richness of writings in this field, the variety of political positions and the development of different traditions in the UK, US and the European continent. Critical criminology has also taken a recent interest in the processes associated with globalisation, thus giving rise to an emerging sub-discipline, global criminology. The module will also examine how this allows new understandings of crime, power and control, which link the global to the local. Various theoretical perspectives will be encountered, including those of new deviancy theory, Marxism, Foucauldian thought, left realism, abolitionism, social harm perspectives and, more recently, cultural criminology.

What is social justice? Why does it matter? On this module, you will engage in a critical examination of key debates surrounding social justice in contemporary society. Through an interdisciplinary lens, you will explore theoretical frameworks, historical contexts, and practical implications of social justice movements, policies, and interventions. Taking an international approach, potential topics for debate include economics and welfare; identities and discrimination; rights and equalities; citizenship and governance; ethics and advocacy; and the climate crisis. Emphasising critical analysis and dialogue, the course will invite you to address controversial topics and competing perspectives to foster a deeper understanding of the complexities inherent in pursuing social justice.

Understanding what works, why, where and for whom remains a fundamental inquiry across diverse organizations and financial sectors, especially in the realm of designing and implementing policies with far-reaching impacts across populations, locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

This module equips you with a comprehensive grasp of qualitative and quantitative tools, and other research methodologies crucial for executing evidence-based evaluations. Thereby it equips you with critical employability skills for anyone working with policies and evaluations across sectors. You will gain invaluable skills in applying evaluation methods, understanding the process of a policy and assessing it.

You will delve into the analysis of policies, examining their design, outcomes, and impacts to determine whether they effectively achieve their intended goals and objectives. Exploring key principles of impact evaluation and experimental design enable you to develop essential skills for understanding and critically assessing the policy process, enhancing your ability to navigate the challenges and political dynamics in policy.

Policy evaluation necessitates proficiency in research methods, data analysis, and critical thinking. This module guides you through the use of each of these components, empowering you to gain the necessary skills. Recognizing the significance of policy evaluation in establishing and sustaining effective, responsive, and accountable governance structures across various organizational contexts, the module places equal emphasis on both public and third-sector policies. This ensures you are equipped with applicable skills and prepared to leverage them across a broad spectrum of future roles and responsibilities.

When we think of ‘philanthropy’ we often focus only on the ‘philanthropists’, that is the people who are voluntarily giving away resources. But donors rarely, if ever, act alone. They exist and operate within a much broader set of individuals and institutions that includes all other charitable bodies, potential grantees and their beneficiaries, staff, trustees and volunteers, other philanthropic funders and relevant governmental agencies, and – if they are wealthy –financial and wealth managers and family offices.

We make sense of this complex philanthropic eco system and explore what kinds of support are available to all types of donor to make more effective, efficient and ethical decisions. Topics include both structural issues (tax, legal and wealth management) as well as strategic approaches (theory of change, goal-setting and distributional consequences). We explore current debates in advising and supporting donors, including the different approaches, outcome-orientations, methods of measurement and impact assessment.

By the end of this module you will develop a critical understanding of philanthropy advising and its role in society, and the ways in which private philanthropists and institutional donors are, and can be, supported.

This is a module that set you aside employability wise, as it equips you with advanced quantitative methods skills that are lacking in the job market. The skills acquired in this module are highly relevant across various disciplines and professions where statistical analysis and causal inference play a crucial role. The skills you learn on this module are particularly sought after in private, third sector and government jobs that requires the analysis of data, from social to political and financial data. The module provides you with advanced knowledge and skills in statistical analysis, focusing on two key topics: the General Linear Model (GLM) and Causal Analysis. The GLM serves as a fundamental framework for modelling relationships between variables, encompassing techniques such as linear, logistic, nominal, ordinal and various log-transformed regression techniques.

The module also delves into causal analysis, addressing the complex relationship between variables and identifying causal mechanisms. Topics include causal inference methods, counterfactual reasoning, and the potential outcomes framework. You will learn how to design studies, identify causal relationships, and assess causality in observational and experimental settings.

Understanding the social world is a complex endeavour, in particular due to the complex web of social interactions occurring both off and online in today’s societies. This is in particular true in the urban settings, and this module equips students with methodological skills that allow them to immerse themselves in into the social world and analyse it through ethnographic methods. This is a key social research method, that allows students to engage critically with social interactions and is a method that is increasingly used across sectors, from private research enterprises to government.

Urban studies are often eclectic, bringing together a range of scholars from a wide range of disciplines who are interested in understanding some of the key social issues facing those who live and work in urban spaces. The module will introduce key methodological innovations in studying cities, including visual and sensory methods. These are key emerging methods, giving students advanced methodological skills and tools. This module will explore key theories related to urban studies (including key thinkers from geography, sociology, and criminology), urban methods literature, and literature on visual and sensory methods.

In this module you will explore an advanced topic at the cutting edge of research. The module will invite you into the expertise and ongoing projects of the convening academic, situating you in key debates, foregrounding gaps in knowledge, and drawing out the most challenging problems confronting researchers. You will work closely with academic staff and will benefit from individual feedback in a small group setting. The module will develop your advanced critical and analytical skills, help you to understand the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge, and give you a unique insight into the research process.

What determines environmental outcomes and what are the obstacles to achieving pro-environmental outcomes? This module looks at the politics of global environmental change at the international, national and individual level. Whether it is global environmental governance, national environmental policy making, or individual attitudes and behaviour, we need to understand what motivates actors and how a combination of motivations, interests, and structure translate into environmental outcomes in various contexts and societies. In this module you will gain the tools to explain the politics of global environmental change and environmental outcomes at the international, national and individual level. The module equips you to develop political strategies to improve environmental outcomes by considering, for example, the design of international environmental institutions, the role of leadership, mobilisation, and climate communication. At the end of the module you will also be able to provide political advice based on the latest available (political) science related to global environmental issues. We consider among other issues global environmental governance, international leadership, the role of NGOs and lobbies in policy making, public support for environmental policy making, individual environmental attitudes and behaviour, and the nexus between environmental degradation and violent conflict.