Unit information: The Contemporary British Parliament in 2010/11

Unit name	The Contemporary British Parliament
Unit code	POLI31336
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Childs
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit critically examines the role and functions of Parliament within the contemporary British political system. Both the Commons and the Lords are addressed. Parliaments formal rules, traditions, conventions and norms of behaviour are considered within a context of wider analysis of political institutions, and institutional change. More specifically, it examines parliamentary representation; parliamentary scrutiny, influence and accountability; Executive-Legislative relations; and questions of parliamentary reform.

Aims:

• To develop an advanced understanding of UK Parliamentary practice and behaviour; and of the relationships between Parliament and other parts of the political system, not least the Government.

• To be able to identify and critically examine the formal rules, traditions, conventions and norms of the UK Parliament.

• To be able examine the role and functions of, and behaviour within, the Houses of Parliament and appreciate the wider institutional setting within which they occur.

• To develop an understanding of the concepts of representation, accountability, scrutiny and power within the context of the UK Parliament.

• To develop an understanding of institutional change; to be able to recognise the relationship between structural and behavioural factors in considering institutional change.

• To gain awareness of major concepts and significant typologies developed in the comparative study of legislatures.

• To develop skills in analysing primary source material, not least Parliamentary material.

• To develop skills in written and oral communication.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Advanced knowledge and understanding of the key practices, roles, and functions of, and behaviours within the UK Parliament.

• Advanced knowledge and understanding of the key academic and practitioner debates associated with the UK Parliament, not least debates about parliamentary reform.

• Facility in handling key concepts crucial to understanding parliaments, including, representation, accountability, scrutiny and power.

• Awareness of the conceptual framework within which the analysis of the UK Parliament and legislatures in different political systems can take place.

Teaching Information

The teaching is based around seminars in which different texts and empirical cases will be discussed and critically analysed. The seminars will, in turn, be mostly based around group discussions, with small group work based on empirical case study material in many sessions. There will also be student presentations based on the assessed essay plan.

Blackboard will be used to make a variety of additional information available for the students.

Assessment Information

There will be two summative assessments.

1. One, 3500 word essay. This will be worth 75 % of the overall unit mark. Titles will be agreed with the Tutor on an individual basis

2. One, 10 minute powerpoint presentation to the class and one, 2-sided draft plan of the essay. Combined, these are worth 25% of the overall unit mark.

Rationale:

This unit focuses in depth on key aspects of the British Parliament rather than constituting a broad survey unit. Accordingly, it requires of students to gain a detailed and comprehensive understanding of a particular aspects of the British Parliament. This involves, in turn, extensive analysis of practices in the contemporary Parliament acquired through reading and observation of, for example, the passage of legislation, public bill committee and select committee activity together with reports from parliamentary reform organizations such as the Hansard Society.

This unit is, then, best examined by an extended essay, worth 75% of the overall unit. Students will be able to decide upon their own topic for the essay  reflecting their own particular interests, albeit constrained by the coverage of the unit  and will be guided to construct an appropriate essay question by the Unit Owner, who must approve all titles. The essay will require the analysis of both secondary and primary literature. To provide formative feedback the students will present a ten minute powerpoint presentation in class and submit (one week later) an essay plan, which is a piece of summative assessment. Together these are worth 25% of the overall unit. Students will be advised to talk through their presentations and essay plans in advance of submission with the Unit Owner in their office hours and time will be made available in class for students to make the presentations. The delay between the presentation and the essay plan submission date permits feedback from peers and the tutor in class to inform the essay plan.

Reading and References

• Dods House of Commons Procedure 7th Edition, (on order, ISBN 9780905702810)

• Griffith and Ryle on Parliament 2nd ed 2002, R. Blackburn & A Kennon Sweet and Maxwell KM84 GRI

• Robert Rogers & Rhoderi Walters How Parliament Works, 6th ed (2006) Pearson Longman, JN 509 ROG