Entry requirementsEntry requirements The course's entry requirements are a good first degree in a relevant area (for instance, politics, international relations, law, administration, sociology, and so on). Individuals with a professional link with a parliamentary institution are particularly encouraged to apply. The medium of instruction is English, and those who do not speak English as a first language must achieve a score of 6.0 or higher on the IELTS or achieve comparable results on a comparable test.
Academic titleMA in Legislative Studies
Course descriptionProgramme structure
Core
Parliament in the Contemporary Political System - Parliament
& Government (Semester One)
The aim of this module is to identify and analyse the
consequences of Parliament for government in the United
Kingdom. It considers the consequences for government in
terms of elite recruitment and training, policy formulation
and deliberation, the administration of government, and EU
law-making.
Comparative Legislatures - Systems and Cultures
The aim of this module is to provide a basic understanding
of the role of legislatures in the modern world and to
establish what consequences legislatures now have for
political systems. It focuses on basic methodological
problems and on the impact of culture and party systems
in determining the impact of legislatures on public policy.
Options
Graduate Workshop in Legislative Studies I
Democratic Governance
German Politics & Policy 1 - Historical & Institutional
Framework
Core
Parliament in the Contemporary Political System - Parliament
& Citizen (Semester Two)
The aim of this module is to identify and analyse the
consequences of the relationship between Parliament and
citizen in the United Kingdom. It considers the relationship
between Parliament and citizen in terms of enhancing
legitimacy, acting as a 'grievance chaser', safety valve and
interest articulator for constituents and organised and
unorganised interests, and as a mobiliser and educator of
the public and particular publics. It concludes with an
assessment of the potential consequences of Parliament
for the British polity in future decades.
Comparative Legislatures - Structures and Activity
The aim of the module is to complement the pre-requisite
model - Comparative Legislatures: Systems and Cultures -
in identifying the consequences of legislatures for political
systems. It focuses on characteristics internal to legislatures
in determining their impact on public policy and analyses
legislative activity by parliamentarians and interest groups.
Options
Graduate Workshop in Legislative Studies II
Research Sources and Techniques in Legislative Studies
European Public Policy
Period Three
15,000 word dissertation on a topic approved by the
course co-ordinator