Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy
John Dunn, Atlantic Books, 2005

The Future of Freedom: liberal democracy at home and abroad
Fareed Zakaria, W.W.Norton Company Ltd

Democracy
Ross Harrison, Routledge, 1993

If you would like to follow up your interest by taking a course, the OU offers a range of courses and qualifications designed to fit you.

Which type of course is best for you?

• Interested in studying law and criminology?
• Have study experience and looking for higher level study in Politics?
• Looking for higher level study in Social Science and Criminology?

Where to Start

Rules, Rights and Justice: an Introduction to Law (W100)
This course introduces the study of law and legal reasoning. It begins by looking at how social and legal rules are made, interpreted, and applied. It then moves on to look at the different types of legal personality; unlawful conduct and states of mind; the rules of evidence; and conflict resolution. This course will be of particular interest to those intending to study law at a higher level, but will also provide an excellent beginning for those who may wish to study other subjects.

The course deals principally with the law of England and Wales.

For details of other undergraduate and postgraduate courses and qualifications available in law and criminology take a look at the OU's law and criminology page.

Undergraduate Courses

You can follow up your interest in politics through a variety of Open University courses including:

Governing Europe (DD200)
What exactly do we mean by ‘Europe’? Whether we define it as a geographic, economic or political term, it’s constantly changing. This freshly-updated course studies the origins and motives behind the creation of the EU and takes you through the fascinating history of successive EU enlargements. It offers a cutting-edge approach to the study of social change, politics and economics within the European Union. If you have ever wondered about the Euro, immigration, the preservation (or not) of national identity within the EU, the EU Constitution, and the evolving EU agenda, you should consider this course.

Power, Dissent, Equality: Understanding Contemporary Politics (DD203)
Tumultuous events like 9/11 and the war in Iraq have reminded people how vital – and sometimes how deadly – the world of politics can be. Even at the very local level, the everyday politics of petitioning, local council debate, and of schools and hospitals affects people's lives. This course invites you into the world of politics in a fresh and accessible way, using a wide variety of case studies drawn from the UK and beyond. It sheds light on the inner workings of power, decision making and protest, and it covers politics from parliament to the street, and the politics of ideas as well as institutions. If you are new to this area of study, this course is designed for you, and can lead you on to more advanced politics or other social science courses.

Higher level study

Community Safety, Crime Prevention and Social Control (D863)
Crime prevention and reduction, community safety and security are at the heart of many of the most significant and controversial questions about crime control, social control and social policy. This course introduces you to the new thinking and practice on prevention, safety and risk management. First, you will study the perceived failures and limitations of traditional approaches to crime prevention. Then you will look at contemporary contexts of crime reduction and community safety, exploring the rise of the ‘what works’ approach both in the UK and in other countries.

This course can be studied as part of the postgraduate studies in social sciences programme and may also be studied on its own.