| CODE | PPL2015 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Activism and Political Campaigning | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Public Policy | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study unit examines activism and campaigning in contemporary politics, particularly within contexts of political strive, mobilization and advocacy. Campaigning by political parties and leaders within electoral contests is also looked at through the lens of tools and instruments such as social media. Patterns of activism and campaigning are examined through case studies of leading campaigns conducted in Malta or overseas. Study-Unit Aims: - to subject political campaigning (national and international) to scholarly scrutiny and thereby to permit the emergence of a more comprehensive understanding of contemporary Maltese politics; - by drawing on comparative and country studies, to give students of politics and governance a sound grasp of the role, characteristics and patterns of political campaigning; - to gradually create a corpus of written case studies of activism and campaigns, conduct analysis of strategies and tactics, and draw critical observations on respective successes and failures. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - identify, outline and appraise the principal theories of activism and campaigning; - apply theoretical frameworks to an in-depth analysis of real-life cases; - comment knowledgeably, aurally and in writing, on campaigns as they unfold; - infer from historical occurrences and propose critical considerations on impact. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - write brief, incisive commentaries on political campaigns; - research and write case studies on political campaigns; - determine, on the basis of acquired knowledge, how such campaigns are likely or not to impact the political environment. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Holburn, V. (2020), How to Be an Activist: A practical guide to organising, campaigning and making change happen, Robinson. - Johnson, D. (2011), Campaigning in the Twenty-first Century: A Whole New Ballgame? Basingstoke: Routledge. - Segalov, M. (2018), Resist!: How to Be an Activist in the Age of Defiance, Laurence King Publishing. - Suhay, E. et al. (eds.) (2020), The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion (Oxford Handbooks), OUP USA. - Zetter, L. (2007), The Political Campaign Handbook: Lessons from the Front Line. Petersfield, Hampshire: Harriman House. Supplementary Readings: - Bono, F. (1999), The Constitutional Implications of Party Organisation and Finance. LLD Dissertation, University of Malta. - Enos, R.D. and Hersh, E.D. (2015), "Party Activists as Campaign Advertisers: The Ground Campaign as a Principal-Agent Problem", American Political Science Review, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/renos/files/enoshershpa.pdf - Ewing, K. (ed.) (1999), The Funding of Political Parties: Europe and Beyond. Club. - Gafa', A. (2001), An Analysis of Campaign Strategies in Recent General Elections, Dissertation, University of Malta. - Goswami, M.P. (2018), "Social Media and Hashtag Activism", Liberty Dignity and Change in Journalism, Kanishka Publisher, pp.252-262 - Kenski, K. and Jamieson, K. H. (eds.) (2019), The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication (Oxford Handbooks), OUP USA. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Kurt Borg |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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