Third-year Politics & IR student who knows nothing due to mental health and interrupted study — need urgent advice on dissertation and coursework

[u/AnonymousIdiot777]

Main point: I have to choose my Undergraduate dissertation topic by Tuesday, so I'd really appreciate help picking a topic, especially if the teacher I want to speak to isn't available before then.

I'd also appreciate advice on approaching third year while learning things from scratch, and what core Politics & IR knowledge I should focus on so I feel more confident in 3rd year work and not worrying about being awkwardly caught out by peers or teachers since I don't know anything.

Some context (not making excuses, just explaining my situation):

• Never cared about my education before/wasn't taught how important it was all my life- picked politics as a degree because I didn't know what else to do.
• First year-started good but at the end of things just skipped classes and stopped caring- failed and did resits to pass.
• Second year, unrelated to my lack of care for education -my mental health deteriorated severely, and I barely attended or studied. Someone close to me helped me through repeated resits, extenuating circumstances and doctors' notes. Without them, I think I would've given up.

Present day: I'm somehow in third year, and I genuinely know nothing beyond some basic terms. I don't know the main ideologies, IR theories, major thinkers or much about political analysis and forms of government etc. you name it -I know people sometimes say they've never studied but still know something. That's not me.

I've got through uni through only resits- im good at essays- and all assignments were just topic focussed or options to choose from- so I only crammed readings for questions and passed. 2nd year I did an entire year of resit assessments.

My mental health has improved, and I've matured. I genuinely value education now and realise how lucky I am to have this opportunity. I aspire to be like you guys who are knowledgeable and passionate about Politics or maybe some other field I will learn.

Right now I'm terrified by how much I don't know, but I genuinely want to turn my life around.

Dissertation ideas

One of my current modules is Populism, and I'll probably need to learn comparative politics for other classes and also a resit assessment. So logically, my mind is screaming populism for my dissertation, especially because I feel I could get into it as a beginner?

Other possibilities are representation, media, climate change, drones and sovereignty, military interventions etc. -topics that don't really need much time to learn or background/i can learn from scratch rather than stuff requiring lots of knowledge like IR theory.

But I only have three days to choose, so I'm leaning towards populism. Am I putting all my eggs in one basket, or does it make sense/can work as a beginner?

How would I even approach populism?

• Theory: Compare different authors' arguments or apply theories to specific cases. Would there be enough to write 10,000 words on? -I mean what theoretical stuff could I even possibly do?-cant think of questions for it.
• Data: Voter behaviour seems boring to me, although maybe combining data with theory would work better? -however there is a ton of research available maybe I'm forced to do this.
• Comparative: Comparing two parties or politicians seems promising, but I'm unsure how to develop a strong research question.- I thought maybe left wing vs right wing populism but seems like I cannot say much or am I wrong?
• Discourse analysis: Could comparing two parties' language be a strong enough dissertation? For example, AfD in Germany vs National Rally in France, looking at how they discuss nationality, immigration or present themselves as representing "the people" -would be kinda less scary but I worry theres not too much I can say there?

There are lots of papers on the European far right, so perhaps I could compare why certain parties are more successful, or look at economic vs cultural concerns. I'm just unsure if that's too broad or if its fine.

Overall I think I should go for some sort of comparative scope.

Random research questions I came up with:

• Does populism require crisis to thrive?
• some question about far right populism in Europe since there are so many questions on it -eg. do cultural or economic factors driving success in Europe or why do some far right populist parties succeed not others -(idk if this is too broad)
• How does left and right wing populism compare politician/party A Vs. B
• Does entering government change far-right populism- Does participation in government weaken the anti-establishment message of far-right populist parties? -not sure I could say enough
• Discourse analysis: Would comparing two parties' rhetoric be a strong approach for a 10k-word dissertation? I'm thinking about how they present themselves as representing "the people", anti-establishment rhetoric, nationalism or sovereignty. It seems more manageable to me, but I'm unsure how to make it into a strong, focused research question or whether there's enough to analyse. For example, comparing the AfD and National Rally
• Why do populist leaders who claim to represent the people come into conflict with democratic institutions?
• Does populist rhetoric deepen divisions between social groups, or does it give voice to divisions that already exist?
• How do populist leaders use foreign policy to construct a distinction between the nation and external elites or adversaries? -maybe like EU stuff.

I suffer from indecision so would appreciate thoughts on picking something.

If you've read this far, I'm immensely grateful for your time and any advice.

[u/AnOoB02]

Get to reading about what the current theoretical debates on populist discourse are and go from there.

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/AnOoB02]

Sorry if this is a dumb question- do you mean just the general debates in the field? Eg over definitions, comoeting theories about populist success.

Or do you mean like discourse specifically about speeches and writing?

I assume the first?

Thank you so much for your help.

[u/SarkSouls008 → u/AnonymousIdiot777]

Go through the current literature on populism and carve out a section within the area that has not been looked at yet.

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/SarkSouls008]

Thank you. Okay I will consider this - my advisor did say though they don't expect us to do something completely new- idk if that is at odds with what you say here?

Maybe I just go for something that has been done a lot? I dont really know

[u/SarkSouls008 → u/AnonymousIdiot777]

Eh, dissertations are almost always centered on a new idea that has not been explored yet; it’s your contribution to the literature. But of course, follow the advice of your advisor firstly

I’m only a second year PhD student so take it with a grain of salt lol

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/SarkSouls008]

Okay thank you for taking the time to respond.

Honestly- trying to center around an idea not explored yet just terrifies me- I am completely lost on that or how id practically do it. Ill try and talk to someone about it. Though any ideas?

Hell even since Ive written this post I am thinking of switching topics completely to British Politics -since Im familiar with that.

[u/SarkSouls008 → u/AnonymousIdiot777]

It is absolutely terrifying! That’s a normal feeling. But PhDs are tasked with coming up with novel ideas. But centering on a broader topic and looking through the literature will help produce a new idea. I would read the literature, write down some possible ideas, and then present it to your advisor so they can better guide you on what to pick. They are your resource!

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/SarkSouls008]

Super kind message thanks! However youre mistaken I am an undergrad student lol. My mistake i did not clear that up on the post 😅😅😅😅

[u/SarkSouls008 → u/AnonymousIdiot777]

Oh lol! In that case ya you probably don’t have to find a novel idea! Will the paper require any quantitative work? Btw props for doing a thesis in undergrad!! That’s huge by itself tbh

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/SarkSouls008]

Phew thats a relief 😭. Its actually not my choice my degree requires it for third year students. You might be from the US or some other country where its not the norm but I am in the UK. So not rly any props to me -id rather not lol.

Oddly enough -they said we can do a quantitative or qualitative or both. So quite flexible - i just suffer from indecision.

[u/AnOoB02 → u/AnonymousIdiot777]

You can just do theory-testing work on a case that's not been studied like that yet

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/AnOoB02]

Great suggesttion thanks

[u/stablegenius98]

I actually think all your questions sound good. You might read works by Cas Mudde and Matthew Golder.

[u/AnonymousIdiot777 → u/stablegenius98]

Really? Thats so relieving to hear.

Not that you asked but I just honestly suffer from indecision. I am thinking of asking my populism teacher who specialises in it to meet but idk if he will be available before i gotta meet my dissertation advisor. Sadly my advisor isnt very helpful and basically just told me to go figure it out by wednesday 😅.

Thanks for your help kind stranger.