| Unit name | How to Win a Political Argument |
|---|---|
| Unit code | POLI30020 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Jonathan Floyd |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important:
If Socrates and the Sophists had ever found grounds for compromise, almost two and a half thousand years ago, then it would look something this: A unit concerned with making you better at persuasive political argument, whilst also inviting reflections on how much the ‘truth’ matters in such things. Each week we will consider a different set of political arguments by prominent public figures (journalists, politicians, etc.) on a particular issue, such as war, discrimination, taxes, environmental degradation, migration, surveillance, and more besides. Each week we will analyse these arguments and see if general lessons can be learnt regarding the art of public political persuasion. Each week we will construct our own arguments during workshop-based seminars. Each week, as a result, we will enhance your ability to construct and deliver political arguments, in both written and verbal form, including your ability to discern when, if ever, it makes good rhetorical sense to begin four sentences in a row with the same phrase, e.g. ‘each week’.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study:
This unit brings together all your political learning so far, enabling you to apply it in active, task-based seminars, as well as reflect upon it in both discussions and the final assessment. We will be closely following contemporary events as well as drawing upon your political knowledge to date. We will also be working on becoming people who change politics as well as study it from afar.
An overview of content:
Following an overview and introduction, this unit gives you, each week, a different ‘tool’ of argument to use and reflect upon. These range from ‘grand narratives’ to ‘credibility’ to ‘images’. In each case we will be using ample real-world examples, and you will be thinking about, not just what works and doesn’t work, and why that is, but also how it could be optimally combined if you were to mount a campaign of your own.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
They will be politically upskilled. Better able to analyse arguments from afar, better able to compose them, and better places to advise others on both tasks.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:
1. Produce sophisticated written political arguments
2. Produce sophisticated verbal political arguments
3. Demonstrate an appreciation of the relevance of truth to persuasive political argument
4. Demonstrate an appreciation of the relevance of political argument to political practice
Following a lecture each week, you will practice in seminars the particular tools under discussion. You will, for example, write speeches, record campaign videos, design manifestos, and even try launching petitions.
Lectures
These will outline the content, set out why the topic matters, explore key concepts, and discuss relevant examples.
Readings
There will be core readings on this course, such as speeches, but also core ‘viewings’, such as campaign videos or public debates.
Extra Activity
As noted, there will be mixed media used on this course, according to the topic under discussion. For example, in ‘image’ week we will be looking at things like campaign posters but also ‘damning’ real-life images, such as a Prime Minster offering a toast at a ‘meeting’ during the Covid lockdown.
Seminars
Each week's activities will culminate in the weekly seminar. This will be our chance to reflect, unpack and debate the week's material. During the seminars we will discuss the material, but also produce material of our own.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There is no formative assessment
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
You will write a final 3000 word essay in response to questions set closer to the time. These questions will ask you to think about why different campaigns went well or badly, due to the different tools they deployed, in different real-world contexts. They might also ask you to plan future campaigns. In any case, they will be directed towards your thinking about all the tools we have studied, together with all the real world examples of their application, in order to either assess the arguments of others or design arguments of your own (and quite possibly both of those things)
When assessment does not go to plan
In exceptional circumstances, reassessments may be offered as determined by the exam board. You will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. POLI30020).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
