About the course

Our BA Politics and Law examines the most important rules that govern the relationship between the various branches of government and between the individual citizen and the state. We ask a number of large questions about our democracy: Who should decide our laws – politicians or judges? Should we limit the powers of our elected representatives or place our faith in them? Who – if anyone – can we trust to safeguard our fundamental civil rights? Who actually does make our laws? Does the system really respond to the expressed preferences of ordinary citizens? Students of politics and law have traditionally grappled with these questions and have developed principles about constitutional government that have proved enormously influential.

Our course encourages you to think about these issues from a legal perspective and to recognise the vital importance of the legal system (judges, courts and tribunals) in putting constitutional principles into effect. If you develop an interest in the law, you can apply to transfer to our four-year LLB Law and Politics at the end of your second year and, if admitted, obtain a qualification that permits you to proceed directly to a legal practice course on graduation.

In your first year you will take a number of compulsory modules including Public Law 1 which introduces you to the fundamentals of the UK Constitution and the foundations of judicial review. During your second year you will have a Joint Seminar in Politics and Law which will inform you of the political context in order to interpret laws, the legal framework in which political actors and skills which are needed for providing good advice to decision-makers. In your final year you will have four optional modules: one from law and three from politics.

Why study BA Politics and Law at Essex?

As a student of politics at Essex, you will experience a lively, informal environment with many possibilities to pursue your own interests. One such opportunity is provided by the students’ Politics Society, a forum for the exchange of ideas, for arranging talks by visiting speakers, for introducing you to various career pathways and for organising debates on topical subjects. There are a number of other societies related to Politics and Law including; Conservative Future, Labour, Liberal Youth, Debating, Model UN, PPE, Liberty League and the Law society. This gives a politics student at Essex the opportunity to continue their interest beyond the classroom with other students.

Why study this subject?

This course would be of interest to you if you want to understand where power lies and who makes decisions and what the relationship is between the various branches of government. If you take this course you will look at these issues from both legal and political standpoints, developing your own perspectives and ideas. You will develop skills in essay writing, research, problem solving and legal skills.

Our facilities

As a student on this course you will be able to take advantage of our extensive learning resources, including laboratories of networked computers featuring extensive software for political analysis, as well as our University library, which provides access to a variety of politics databases as well as multiple copies of textbooks, e-books and materials to support your learning. Our School of Law and student Law Society run a Mooting activity which allows you to practice mooting and improve your skills of argumentation.

Study abroad/placement opportunities

Here at Essex we recognise the importance of studying and living abroad, so offer many opportunities for you to spend a term or a full year studying in another country and have exchange partners in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Japan.

Introduction

As a new undergraduate, you may find university-level learning, assessment and studying differs to school or college. Here at Essex, we understand and recognise this by having support in place, particularly during your first year when you may notice the change more.

If you are studying a non-science subject, then your teaching mainly takes the form of lectures and classes, the latter involving about 20 students. A typical timetable includes a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your four modules every week. Any language classes involve language laboratory sessions.

First-year assessment is a combination of written coursework, end-of-term tests, practical and laboratory work (where appropriate) and end-of-year exams.

Teaching methods and styles

Within our Department of Government, teaching is arranged to allow a lot of freedom in how you organise your learning experience.

The modules you take employ a variety of teaching methods with lectures that inform you of the most important topics and classes, which allow you to consolidate your learning through discussion and problem solving. Your modules in Political Analysis will be accompanied by lab sessions that allow you to improve your technical skills. During tutorials, you have an opportunity to discuss the law, apply the law to factual problems, and develop legal arguments.

In some final-year options, the distinction between your lectures and classes is less obvious because teaching often takes the form of seminars in which you are encouraged to participate directly. Modules taken in different departments may have a different structure and employ different teaching methods and styles.

Methods of assessment

Within our Department of Government, assessment is a combination of coursework (written coursework and class tests) and end-of-year exams. Some modules may also employ different methods of assessment such as grading participation in seminars and classes; you may also give a presentation. The weighting system of coursework and end-of-year examinations is simply 50 percent coursework, 50 percent examinations. For our School of Law, the weighting of coursework and examination can vary but the most common weighting is 25 percent coursework, 75 percent examinations.

Career destinations

Your degree is designed to develop many of the skills that are highly valued by employers. Studying politics involves thinking about puzzles and questions, collecting and analysing relevant evidence, and thinking critically about your own and others’ suggested answers. These skills of critical reflection, of data collection and analysis, and of drawing evidence together into clear conclusions, are at the heart of what employers call ‘competence-based recruitment’.

You also develop a number of more practical skills: effective verbal and written communication (including presentation skills); using statistical techniques; working in teams and producing group projects; and time management skills in order to meet multiple deadlines.

All Essex politics graduates have the distinction of a qualification from one of the world’s leading politics departments. In turn, many of those graduates have distinguished themselves in a variety of ways and gone on to careers in politics, the civil service fast stream, management, journalism, police, armed forces, commerce, business, finance, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), teaching and graduate research.

Our notable alumni include the former President of Costa Rica and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Oscar Arias, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP. Reflecting the fact that politics opens rather than closes doors, more recent graduates have begun careers with such diverse employers as polling agency YouGov, Formula 1 magazine Red Bulletin, online bookmakers Betfair, and HM Chelmsford Young Offenders Institution.

As graduates from a leading department, our students are well placed to go on to further study, either at Essex – where we offer a wide range of Masters courses – or elsewhere.

Your employability and Essex

At Essex we take your employability seriously, helping you become a rounded individual with the ability to succeed, whatever your plans. You’ll find your department works with our Employability and Careers Centre to inform you about options to study or work overseas, your Faculty Employability Coordinator finds degree-related work placements, and our Students’ Unions ensures that, annually, over 700 students volunteer and more than 4,000 get involved in sports, clubs and societies.

At Essex you can gain new skills that look good on your CV, like paid placements through our frontrunners scheme, graduate-level paid internships, and opportunities to develop discipline-specific skills as part of your studies.

We help you understand your skills, and how to demonstrate these to an employer. You can get our extra-curricular employability award – the Big Essex Award – recorded on your transcript, receive one-to-one advice on careers, use our Essex CV guides on applying for work, learn from famous entrepreneurs and take part in workshops, and meet employers through on-campus events.

We develop your employability through fantastic opportunities, and give you the tools to explore the meaning of your unique experiences, so you are ready for your future.

Global employability

Here at Essex, our students can undertake period of study or work abroad specifically tailored to his/her academic interests and future career plans. You are taught and assessed by your host university, so assessment may be in the form of written papers, oral or written exams, lab or project work, research, or work-based learning. All successfully completed pre-approved modules will be credited towards your Essex degree.

Study abroad is an excellent opportunity for personal development. It affords you the chance to become immersed in another culture over a sustained period, coming to know a country and its people in a way that you could not hope to as a tourist. It is also an opportunity to experience a different educational system and develop different skills. You learn to view the world (and your academic discipline) from another perspective, becoming more independent and confident.

Study abroad also enhances your employability. It helps your CV stand out from other candidates and signals to an employer that you have maturity, adaptability and organisational skills. As the world of business is becoming increasingly international, the experience of living abroad is, in itself, attractive to many employers. Depending upon your study abroad destination, you may also gain fluency in another language, which is a highly attractive skill to have as you enter the employment market.

If you are interested in learning another language then our Languages for All programme enables you to study a language, alongside your course, at no extra cost. You can take one of 50 taught language modules on a part-time day-time basis, or undertake flexible web-based learning, or opt for a language module taught in the evening. As employers can struggle to find graduates able to speak more than one language, Languages for All places Essex graduates in a very advantageous position.

Postgraduate opportunities

Within our Department of Government, we offer taught Masters courses, as well as research supervision for PhD and MPhil. Our taught courses are designed to provide you with an advanced understanding of contemporary theory, research and methods, plus a knowledge of either the politics of a geographical area or an aspect of the discipline. This comprehensive range of MA, MSc and MRes courses cover an array of research fields, approaches and methodologies. You undertake rigorous training in analytical skills: qualitative and quantitative, theoretical and empirical, and global, local and comparative.

We have steadily consolidated our reputation as the best politics department in the UK and in Europe, with an outstanding record of teaching, research and publication. We offer research supervision in the following fields: government; ideology and discourse analysis; international relations; political behaviour; and politics