The most common obstacles to environmental problem solving are often not scientific or technological, but political. This module examines the theoretical and empirical development of environmental politics in modern society (mostly in Western Europe) including: the sources of modern environmentalism and its many manifestations in modern policy making systems; the environmental policies of the UK and the European Union; different theories of political power and public policy making; the role of environmental pressure groups and business; global environmental politics and policy making. The module encourages student-led learning by enabling students to develop their own theoretical interpretations of real world examples of politics. These are explored in seminar presentations and in an extended (4000 word) case study (i.e. essay). This module assumes no prior knowledge of politics/social sciences.