Showcasing student research

Again, an exciting range of topics have been analysed this year.

The conflict has been a concern for three students, while international norms and security issues continue to be popular:

  • Are the hegemonic ambitions of Russia and the US in Syria an indicator of a new Cold War?
  • Syria: a chaotic proxy war on both a regional and global scale?
  • The struggle for Syria: to what extent is the conflict in Syria a proxy war for the wider geo-political game?
  • Terrorist or Freedom Fighter. Is there a difference in views between the East and the West?
  • Who are the legitimate holders of the British representation claim for the 2003 invasion of Iraq?
  • To what extent is Westphalian sovereignty under threat from international norms?
  • Different sides of the same coin? Parallels in the construction of US and Chinese regional hegemonies – and the potential for exceptionalist divergence in policy thereafter

At the same time, challenges faced in democratic societies today – in the UK, the US and elsewhere – have received a lot of attention:

  • Explaining democratic transitions. Has modernization, as theorised by Inglehart and Welzel, brought about effective democracy in the case of Poland?
  • To what extent do the various facts of human nature threaten our ideal of democracy?
  • Is federalism allowing for democracy in the American political system? With reference to gay rights, legalisation of marijuana, gun control and abortion
  • Given the level of devolution, to what extent could Scotland be considered a sovereign state in all but name?
  • Is Myanmar a political curate’s egg? A critical assessment of the extent to which Myanmar has transitioned over the last 8 years from a military dominated police state to a fully civilian-led multiparty democracy
  • A woman’s place is in the House. An analysis of media representation of women seeking election in the 2015 General Election
  • Apathy in the UK
  • Secularism and State Policies. A case study investigation of Britain’s public policy from 1997-2015 using Ahmet Kuru’s comparative framework
  • Are there still major inequalities in US elections? A case study of Florida in the 2000 presidential election
  • To wat extent did the development impasse see a change to the ‘one size fits all’ aspect of approaches adopted in the development era? A theoretical study with a practical application: the case of Ghana