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Academic Year: | 2015/6 |
Owning Department/School: | Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
Credits: | 6 |
Level: | Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
Period: |
Semester 1 |
Assessment Summary: | ES 100% |
Assessment Detail: |
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Supplementary Assessment: |
Coursework reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
Requisites: | Before taking this module you must take SP20262 |
Description: | Aims: This unit aims to: 1. Provide students with an understanding of relationships between lobbying, policy communications and democracy in different institutional and policy contexts. 2. Give students an opportunity to apply this knowledge in practice by working on real-life scenarios. 3. Help students develop their own view on the role lobbying should play in a democratic polity. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the unit the students should be able to: 1. Show a well-developed understanding of the nature of lobbying and the role it plays in different democratic polities. 2. Understand key lobbing methods and their operation in different policy contexts. 3. Have an extensive knowledge of the emergence of the lobbying industry, the professionalisation of lobbying and social processes underlying these developments. 4. Demonstrate practical skills in policy communications, especially in designing a real-world lobbying campaign. 5. Be able to offer a critical perspective on alternative approaches to regulating lobbying. Skills: * To think creatively and analytically; * To communicate an argument; * To evaluate others' arguments and research; * To learn independently and be able to assess own learning needs (i.e. identify strengths and improve weaknesses in methods of learning and studying); * To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information; * To gather information, data, research and literature from a number of different sources (i.e. library, web-based, archives etc.); * To select appropriate and relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge; * To synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding; * To utilise problem solving skills; * To analyse and evaluate innovative practices in students' relevant degree discipline; * To effectively and efficiently apply principles of sociological/social policy analysis within a variety of environments; * To develop study & learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing); * To develop inter-personal and communication skills; * To develop essay research, preparation and writing skills; * To develop time-management and administrative skills; * To reflect upon his/her own academic and professional performance and take responsibility for personal and professional learning and development; * To solve problems in a variety of situations; Content: PART 1: Lobbying and social science theory 1. Introduction. What is lobbying? (review of social science and legal definitions of lobbying, blurred boundaries between and other forms of policy influence, blurred boundaries between lobbying and illicit practices). 2. Rise of the "lobbying industry" in Washington, London and Brussels (comparison of development of the organisational base of lobbying in Washington and Brussels). 3. Significance of lobbying for social sciences (the role of lobbying within major sociological theories of the state, theories of interest group representation, the communication and exchange models of lobbying). 4. Lobbying and democratic institutions (access mechanisms, functions and dysfunctions of lobbying in different institutional contexts). PART II: Case studies of lobbying 5. Tobacco and alcohol policies (tobacco: EU Tobacco Control Directive, Plain Packaging in the UK; alcohol: minimum unit pricing policies). 6. Chemical and pharmaceutical policies (chemicals: REACH directive, endocrine disrupters; pharmaceuticals: EU drug registration, pricing and reimbursement in New EU member states). 7. Lobbying in food and agriculture policies (food: cases involving the European Food Safety Authority; agriculture: pesticides, neonicotinoids). PART III: The practice of lobbying and its regulation 8. The life-cycle of a lobbying campaign (subsequent steps of a model lobbying campaign). 9. Designing lobbying campaigns (group work leading to the development of a lobbying campaign). 10. Lobbying campaign showcase (lobbying campaign pitched before and evaluated by an expert panel). 11. Lobbying reform - possible ways forward (debate on strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to regulating lobbying). |
Programme availability: |
SP30288 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
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