The course is about the development of party politics in post-war Britain. Its principal focus will be the competition between the parties in terms of ideology, policy, and electoral appeal. It will examine the breakdown of the post-war consensus, the rise of minor parties, theories of partisan decline, the impact of the media on voting behaviour, and the response of the parties to major domestic and foreign policy issues since 1945, including the Suez Crisis, Northern Ireland, the European Community, the Falklands War, economic management, industrial relations, and race and immigration.

•  Knowledge - you will be able to list the major political parties of the United Kingdom and identify the political ideologies which guide their collective decisions and actions;

• Comprehension and Application - you should be able to predict future decision-making or courses of action based on your interpretation of these ideologies;

• Analysis - you will be able to analyse political discourses in order to reveal hidden or taken-for-granted assumptions;

• Synthesis - you will be able to integrate ideology and evidence from different sources in order to generalize from given facts;

• Evaluation - you will be able to assess the value of general descriptions of ideologies in explaining political actions and change.

One short essay of 1500 words (40%) and one research essay of 2500 words (60%)

Two lectures and one tutorial per week.

Two first-year courses in Political Science, or with the permission of the lecturer.

From Socialism to Thatcherism HIST2103