1. Visit to the University of Birmingham
Department of Political Science
By Estelle Birch
In January, first year Politics students were treated to
a visit to the Department of Political Science at the
University of Birmingham. The visit involved a tour
of the campus, by Lottie, one of the current politics
undergraduates, and a lecture by Dr Pete Kerr on the
theme of ‘What is Politics’. Mike has already alerted
us to the fact that, in a former life, Pete was a standup
comedian, and this was quite apparent in his lively,
engaging lecture. He ‘played’ the audience, involving
us in the topic. Pete’s lecture explored the fact that for
a long time, to many, politics was about government,
but that more recently politics has been defined as
much wider engagement with many different aspects
of society.
The apparent apathy of the electorate, as evidenced
in the low turnout at recent elections, is not necessarily
a sign of political malaise, for today’s citizens are
discovering new ways of political engagement. Pete
highlighted the fact that the RSPB and the National
Trust each have significantly more members than all
the three main political parties put together. Pressure
group politics and social movements are very much
alive. Politics is not dead, it simply needs redefining.
Our visit was enjoyable and inspiring, a taster of what
is to come in the Politics Academy next year, and the
department at Birmingham is clearly dynamic and an
interesting place to study.