Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Contemporary British Politics from an Outsider's Perspective
Instructor(s): Robert Turner, Government
What
can we learn about
Britain’s politics by living
there?
Like the protagonist of Mark
Twain’s 19
th century novel A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court who awakens to find himself in
medieval
England, we find ourselves in a
foreign land with a different political system from our own.
However, the current issues are familiar:
popular dissatisfaction with political elites; economic globalization and
increasing economic inequality; immigration and the rise of a multicultural
society; balancing threats from terrorism with civil liberties; and how to
enhance local democracy.
In this
course, we will study the institutions and activities of the British national
government, focusing on contemporary British politics and policy.
Students will study the Monarchy, Parliament,
political parties, the role of the Prime Minister, political ideology, political
institutions, and public policies.
The
American political system will be used as a point of reference and contrast in
order to understand what is similar and different about British
politics.
