Interdisciplinary Studies:
Youth and Electoral Politics
IDS 400 Winter 2016
Rm: ERoom A234; Time: 10:00-12:50; Day: Friday, Abbotsford Campus
Instructors: Hamish Telford
Rana Ahmad
Sven van de Wetering
Sam Schechter
Rajnish Dhawan
Amy Prevost
Email: Hamish.telford@ufv.ca
rana.ahmad@ufv.ca
sven.vandewetering@ufv.ca
sam.schechter@ufv.ca
rajnish.dhawan@ufv.ca
amy.prevost@ufv.ca
Course Description
In British Columbia, and Canada more generally, there has been a significant decline over
the past decade in youth or young adult engagement with, or participation in the electoral
process. As the population growth rate has slowed to zero, and the remaining population
ages, however, it is more important than ever for the health of our democracy that this
decline be reversed. This applied and experiential special topics experiential course on
youth and electoral politics is designed for exactly this purpose.
In this course, students will be exposed to a wide range of methodologies to not only
make sense of why youth and young adults have disengaged from the electoral process,
but more importantly, to develop evidence-based recommendations and strategies to
increase re-engagement. In this first-ever edition of IDS 400 at the University of the
Fraser Valley, you will receive guided learning, and practical applied research experience
from six instructors from six different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences –
Political Science, Psychology, Philosophy, Communications, English and Criminology
and Criminal Justice – to study one of the most pressing social, economic and cultural
challenges of our time.
Prerequisites: 75 university level credits
Accreditation: Students may use IDS 400 to meet an upper-level requirement in their
major, extended minor, or minor provided the related discipline is reflected in the faculty
complement above. However, Students who want to substitute IDS 400 for a specific
course must secure approval from the department head and notify Academic Advising.
Students who cannot apply IDS 400 to their major, extended minor, or minor may use
IDS 400 to meet subject-area breadth in the BA, counting it towards the ‘30 credits in 5
or more subject areas outside of the Arts major’; or, for those completing two extended
minors, towards the ‘30 credits in 5 or more subject areas outside of which one can be
one of their extended minors.’
Required text: There is no required text for this course. Some material may be in a prepackaged reader for IDS 400, which will be sold in the Abbotsford bookstore.
Most, however, will be accessed online. Other materials will be handed out in
class.
Grading and Evaluation:
Participation and in-class exercises
Participant Focus Group and Student Survey
Collaborative Outputs
Campus Panel Presentation
10%
25%
40%
25%
Please note there are no exams or term papers required in this course. This is a practice
based multi-disciplinary course based on participation and discussion, applied research in
and with the local UFV campus student population, and outcomes evidence-based recommendations on strategies of messaging, engagement, and involvement designed to increase the level of youth and young adult populations in electoral democracy
Please also note that this is a Human Research Ethics Board (HREB) approved research
course involving human participants and students are required to familiarize themselves
with the Tri Council Policy S2 CORE tutorial at www.ufv.ca/research-ethics/trainingresources/.
Course Outline
Week 1: Introduction to political systems and constitutional theory (Telford)
Week 2: The electoral system in British Columbia and Canada (Telford)
Week 3: Democracy and Moral Philosophy (Ahmad)
Week 4: Philosophical perspectives on youth in electoral politics (Ahmad)
Week 5: The paradox of voting (van de Wetering)
Week 6: Empirical findings on voting (van de Wetering)
Week 7: Cultures of electoral politics, successes and failures (Dhawan)
Week 8: The rhetoric of electoral politics (Dhawan
Week 9: Political communications and message development (Schechter)
Week 10: Planning communications and modern campaign mechanics (Schechter))
Week 11: Understanding Criminal Justice Policy Issues (Prevost)
Week 12: The Role of Crime Issues in the Electoral Debate (Prevost)
Week 13: Conclusions on youth and the electoral process in British Columbia
Suggested Readings:
Kerr, L. and Dobb. A 2015 The Conservative Take on Crime Policy The Harper Decade
Howe, P. 2010 Citizens Adrift UBC Press
Delacourt, S. 2013 Shopping for Votes Douglas and McIntyre
Siemiatycki, M. 2011 The Diversity Gap Ryerson
Fournier, P. and Loewen, P. 2011 Aboriginal Electoral Participation in Canada
Elections Canad
Learning Outcomes
By completion of the course you should be familiar with the use and interpretation of,
and be able to apply to a real world problem quantitative data analysis techniques and
qualitative field and participant observation methodologies. You will have learned how
to pose, and then answer questions from multiple, sometimes competing but sometimes
complementary, disciplinary perspectives generally, and how to use those answers to propose practical strategies and/or evidence-based programs that will enable the participation
of youth and young adults in electoral politics in British Columbia and Canada.
In so doing, you will become allies in the university mandate to change lives and build
communities generally, and enhance the social, cultural, and political development of the
lower Fraser Valley specifically. You will learn to navigate differential cultural and
political terrain, develop critical thinking skills, engage in collaborative leadership, and
through engagement as both researcher and researched develop ethical and respectful
professional practices that you take with you long after you leave UFV.
Most importantly, what you take from this course will have repercussions for the future
of electoral democracy in this country and province.
As noted above, and in addition to the tutorial, you will receive instruction from the
associate dean of faculty on procedures of ethical research with human participants in the
first week of this class. Oversight of the research process will be jointly shared by the
associate dean and instructors at appropriate times throughout the course.
Please note that plagiarism and cheating in any assignment, quiz, or final exam will result
in a grade of zero for that particular assignment or test, and may incur further disciplinary
action from the university.
Attendance is expected at all classes, and will contribute to the overall grade for participation. Much, if not almost all, of the course content and practice is collaborative, involving group work, and comes from presentation, discussion and interactive field surveys,
and should you miss a film or a guest lecture, you will have to follow up on your own.