Democracy and Public Policy (912N1)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

This module questions the links between democracy, development, and public policy. You'll explore debates, counterintuitive ideas, and empirical findings on democratic practice around the world.

The module explores answers to one central question: does democracy matter for public policy? You'll focus on interactions between state institutions, citizens, civil society, and media to deepen your understanding of how democracy functions and how it impacts public policy.

You'll also look at how our current challenges around democratic backsliding and growing autocratisation impact development and public policy.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 44 hours of contact time and about 256 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.