lseupr school essay competition 2023

LSEUPR Annual Essay Competition

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Unrestricted

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Description.

Each year we hold an essay competition for students who are yet to complete their A-Levels, IB or equivalent, i.e. those entering years 12 and 13, or equivalent. This year the essay question is “What is the most important lesson governments can learn from the Covid-19 epidemic?” and the deadline is 1 October. The essay should be no more than 1,000 words long, in order to not detract from the students’ studies, but could also be completed over the summer break. This essay competition was created to act as an outreach effort by the LSEUPR and as an opportunity to expose A-Level and equivalent students to university-style writing assignments in a relevant and engaging way, having recognised the desire for this during our own time at school. In addition, this presents an ideal piece of experience and name recognition for students wishing to apply to university to include within their UCAS personal statements. Exact details of the competition including how to apply can be found at the link below. Prizes are as follows: 1st Place Prize: £100 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSE Undergraduate Political Review blog The opportunity to attend and to present your essay at the LSEUPR Annual Conference 2nd Place Prize: £50 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSEUPR blog 3rd Place Prize: £25 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSEUPR blog

Other Criteria

Each year we hold an essay competition for students who are yet to complete their A-Levels, IB or equivalent, i.e. those entering years 12 and 13, or equivalent. Do not apply if you do not fit into this age threshold.

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Essay competition

London School of Economics’ Undergraduate Political Review Essay Competition 2023 is now open.

Year 12 and 13 students are invited to submit an essay in response to ONE of the following:

• “The management of Artificial Intelligence technology should be the biggest priority for the international community.”  To what extent do you agree?
• “Democracies would be better off without political parties.” Discuss.
• Can International Organisations fight climate change effectively? 

The essay should be no more than 1,000 words long, including all in-text citations, footnotes and headings but excluding title and bibliography. Further details and submission specifics can be found in this Information Guide . 

The completed essay can be submitted here .

Deadline for submission is 23:59 on Tuesday 10 October.

This year’s first place prize is as follows:  

• £100 Amazon Voucher 
• Certificate signed by Professor Paul Kelly, Head of the LSE Department of Government 
• Essay published in the LSEUPR blog 
• The opportunity to attend and to present your essay at the LSEUPR Annual Conference 2024

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LSEUPR Annual Essay Competition

Description.

Each year we hold an essay competition for students who are yet to complete their A-Levels, IB or equivalent, i.e. those entering years 12 and 13, or equivalent. This year the essay question is “What is the most important lesson governments can learn from the Covid-19 epidemic?” and the deadline is 1 October. The essay should be no more than 1,000 words long, in order to not detract from the students’ studies, but could also be completed over the summer break. This essay competition was created to act as an outreach effort by the LSEUPR and as an opportunity to expose A-Level and equivalent students to university-style writing assignments in a relevant and engaging way, having recognised the desire for this during our own time at school. In addition, this presents an ideal piece of experience and name recognition for students wishing to apply to university to include within their UCAS personal statements. Exact details of the competition including how to apply can be found at the link below. Prizes are as follows: 1st Place Prize: £100 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSE Undergraduate Political Review blog The opportunity to attend and to present your essay at the LSEUPR Annual Conference 2nd Place Prize: £50 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSEUPR blog 3rd Place Prize: £25 Amazon Voucher Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government Essay published in the LSEUPR blog

Other Criteria

Each year we hold an essay competition for students who are yet to complete their A-Levels, IB or equivalent, i.e. those entering years 12 and 13, or equivalent. Do not apply if you do not fit into this age threshold.

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LSE Undergraduate Political Review

Essay Competition 2021

Our Annual Essay Competition has returned!

Essay Question 2021:

To what extent have emerging social movements caused politicians to respond with effective social change .

• £100 Amazon Voucher
• Certificate signed by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Head of the LSE Department of Government
• Essay published in the LSEUPR blog
• The opportunity to attend and to present your essay at the LSEUPR Annual Conference
• £50 Amazon Voucher
• £25 Amazon Voucher
• Exploration:  this is a chance to engage with the topic and to explore your ideas and thoughts in a new way, outside the confines of academic stress from examinations and grades.
• Experience:  for those of you wishing to apply to university, this essay competition is a chance to produce an evidence-based, long form piece of writing. This is exactly the kind of work you will be regularly asked to produce at university, LSE or elsewhere!
• Prestige:  taking part in this competition is an achievement in itself and something that you can discuss in interviews, on your CV, and your personal statement for university.

Eligibility

• You must be yet to complete your A-Level studies, IB or equivalent, i.e. about to begin year 12 or 13 of secondary school or equivalent.
• Students from any country are allowed to enter, the competition is not limited to the UK, but is limited by level of study.

How to Enter:

Submission specifics:.

• Must be written in English.
• Please note: any in-text citations, footnotes and headings are included in the word count, but the title, bibliography and appendix, if applicable, are not included.
• Arial font, sized 12.
• Standard 1-inch margins.
• Submit essay as a PDF.
• It is extremely important to cite your sources. You are free to use any established referencing style (APA, Chicago, Harvard), as long as its use is consistent.
• Ensure that the PDF essay entry is completely anonymised, there should not be any personal details such as name or school attended included within the PDF.
• This is an independent piece of work. While you are free to discuss the topic with your peers/teacher, the final submission ultimately needs to be your own work. Plagiarism is a serious case of academic misconduct and will be met with disqualification.
• Submissions that are explicitly biased, agenda-fuelled, or without strong supporting evidence, are discouraged – scholarly essays are not columnist opinion pieces.

Essay Writing: 

• General guidance on academic essay writing: https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-life/resources/podcasts/academic-writing-basic-principles
• Developing your essay thesis: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/developing-thesis

Structuring your essay:

• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/essay-structure
• https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-life/resources/podcasts/essay-writing-planning-and-structure

Writing a clear introduction:

• https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-life/resources/podcasts/essay-writing-the-introduction

Ensuring your essay is clear and easy to follow:

• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/topic-sentences-and-signposting
• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/transitioning-beware-velcro

Writing an impactful conclusion:

• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/ending-essay-conclusions

Editing your essay:

• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/editing-essay-part-one
• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/editing-essay-part-tw
• https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/developing-thesis

Referencing your Essay

General overview:   https://student.unsw.edu.au/referencing

• Chicago: Chicago Manual of Style (17 th Edition): https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html
• https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_a
• https://student.unsw.edu.au/apa
• Harvard : Harvard style https://student.unsw.edu.au/harvard-referencing
• Footnotes & bibliographies: https://student.unsw.edu.au/footnote-bibliography-or-oxford-referencing-system

Topic Specific Resources:

The study of social movements is vast and it can be difficult to know where to start. If you are unsure of where to begin, here are some resources that can kick off your research:

LSE Research on Social movements 

• https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/research/smpm/papers ]
• http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/88297/1/Ishkanian_Social%20Movements_Accepted.pdf
• http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/29695/1/__Libfile_repository_Content_Campbell,%20C_Heeding%20the%20push_Heeding%20the%20push%20(lsero).pdf

Background on social movements and effective change: 

• https://hbr.org/2017/01/how-protests-become-successful-social-movements
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-lsquo-good-rsquo-social-movements-can-triumph-over-lsquo-bad-rsquo-ones/

Background on specific examples of critical social movements: 

• https://harvardpolitics.com/rhodes-must-fall/
• https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/rhodes-must-fall-founder-racist-statues/
• https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/BLM
• https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/08/15/the-hashtag-blacklivesmatter-emerges-social-activism-on-twitter/
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-51004204
• https://thewire.in/law/jnu-sedition-case-umar-khalid-kanhaiya-kumar-delhi-court
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-51005444
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47952787
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34592527
• https://globalclimatestrike.net/

Examples of responses to protests: 

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-57189928
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-57175057
• https://myscp.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jcpy.1201

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Hi, when will results be announced? Before Oct. 15th which is oxbridge application deadline?

Hi there! Thank you so much for your interest in the essay competition. We are aiming to complete the review process before the 15th October deadline for the benefit of Year 13 students but we cannot guarantee that this will happen. However, we would still strongly recommend that you submit a piece as partaking in prestigious essay competitions (such as this!) can add a lot to your personal statement.

I hope this helps!

Hi, there! May I ask whether I have to focus on BLM movement as stated below the question, or can come up with totally new social movements that I want to deal with? Thank you:)

Thank you for your question! You absolutely do not have to focus on the BLM movement. You can choose to talk about any social movement you like: such as the Climate Strikes or the student-led gun control movement in the USA (March for Our Lives). You may even want to talk about a few! Do look at our ‘Topic Specific Resources’ section for more pointers on different types of social movements you could discuss. However, do remember to choose the social movements carefully and ensure they are relevant to the question and give you enough material to talk about.

Can the word count go a little over 1000 words?

Hi there! You should ensure that is it under 1000 words. Cutting down your essay is a very important skill and something you will have to do many times if you decide to go to university! Look for unnecessary words and sentences which are too long.

I have completed my essay on the Nirbhaya movement which occurred in 2012-2013. I couldn’t find any specific date details other that it needing to be recent . Is this okay? Thank you !

Hi there! That’s absolutely fine, we’re looking forward to reading your work soon!

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Who Is Russia’s New Defense Minister?

Putin’s appointment of economist andrei belousov suggests moscow is digging in for the long haul..

• Amy Mackinnon

Russia’s War in Ukraine

Understanding the conflict two years on.

More on this topic

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed his former economic advisor, Andrei Belousov, as defense minister on Sunday in the latest sign that the country’s economy is being placed on a war footing in anticipation of a drawn-out fight in Ukraine. 

Belousov, who most recently served as first deputy prime minister, replaces longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was appointed secretary of Russia’s Security Council amid a cabinet reshuffle following Putin’s inauguration to a fifth term in office last week. 

Belousov takes the helm of the country’s Defense Ministry amid record military expenditure; spending on the war is set to account for almost one-third of the state’s budget this year. 

Putin’s decision to tap an economist with no military background to lead the closely scrutinized Defense Ministry in wartime came as a surprise to many analysts, who noted that the 65-year-old is not part of Putin’s inner circle of security hawks. His appointment speaks to the Kremlin’s thinking about the future of the war in Ukraine as it grinds into its third year, said Mark Galeotti, an expert on the Russian security services and the director of the consultancy firm Mayak Intelligence. 

“There is clearly a sense that Putin’s Russia is digging in,” he said. “It’s going to be an attritional conflict, and to that end, national resources have to be concentrated.” As first deputy prime minister, Belousov oversaw efforts to ramp up Russia’s domestic production of unmanned drones, which have plagued Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin opted to tap a civilian economist for the role in the hope of better integrating defense spending with the wider economy and fueling innovation. “ Today on the battlefield, the winner is the one who is more open to innovation,” Peskov said. “Therefore, it is natural that at the current stage, the president decided that the Russian Ministry of Defense should be headed by a civilian.”

During wartime, the Russian defense minister’s role is to ensure that the generals have the resources they need to press ahead in the war—a cross between “comptroller and political advocate,” Galeotti said. “These are roles that Belousov can absolutely fill.”

Analysts broadly divide the Russian elite into two camps: the hawks, drawn from the country’s security services, and the technocrats who have helped keep the country’s economy afloat amid increasing international isolation and punishing financial sanctions. 

Belousov, a Soviet-educated economist who supported the annexation of Crimea in 2014, is seen as straddling the two worlds as a skilled technocrat and statist who sees the government as having a large role in managing economic affairs. 

“He has always been a sort of a strange combination,” said Konstantin Sonin, an economist at the University of Chicago who has known Belousov for 20 years. “He was old school ideologically, but he was basically modern methodologically.”

In 2000, Belousov founded the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting, Russia’s first homegrown macroeconomic think tank, Sonin said. Having held a range of roles in government since 2006, including as minister of economic development, Belousov is known and trusted by Putin, but his otherwise low profile and lack of a power base pose little challenge to the Russian president’s grip on power. “Putin is extremely careful about not elevating anyone who could be seen as any kind of successor,” Sonin said.

With extravagant corruption rife among Russia’s political elite, Belousov is regarded to be relatively clean “by Moscow standards,” Sonin said, something that will likely be welcomed by Russia’s patriotic military bloggers who have long accused the Defense Ministry of being hamstrung by corruption.

“The appointment of a figure trusted by the president from a different agency will disrupt the rigid system of corrupt ties inside the Defense Ministry,” the nationalist blogger Dmitry Seleznev wrote . “It’s obvious that this reshuffling is being done for the purpose of strengthening the economic component of the military bloc.”

A tax on windfall profits of large corporations, proposed by Belousov and signed into law by Putin last year, succeeded in raising $3 billion for the country’s war-strained economy.

Shoigu, a shrewd political operator who had served in the role since 2012, was routinely singled out for scathing criticism by former Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who incited a short-lived military rebellion last year before dying in a plane crash in August. 

The dramatic arrest of Shoigu’s deputy and close ally Timur Ivanov in late April was widely interpreted as a shot across the bow at Shoigu ahead of the government reshuffle. 

Shoigu’s appointment as head of the Security Council speaks to Putin’s desire to remove Shoigu from the scene while preserving his dignity, Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya wrote in a post on Telegram . “Not because he is a friend but because it is safer for Putin himself,” she wrote, noting that the Security Council has become a place to park former political heavyweights who “have nowhere to settle but cannot be thrown out.” 

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has served as deputy chair of the council since 2020.

The secretary position had been held since 2008 by one of Putin’s closest friends, the ultra-hawkish Nikolai Patrushev, who forged the role into a hybrid of national security advisor and director of national intelligence, Galeotti said.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said Patrushev would be appointed to a new role set to be announced this week.

Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy . Twitter:  @ak_mack

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Japanwala,ZA (ug)

November 6th, 2021, lseupr annual essay competition second place essay.

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Evie Bowden 

Lady Eleanor Holles School, United Kingdom 

To what extent have emerging social movements caused politicians to respond with  effective social change?  

‘Effective social change’ is difficult to define. Should social change be measured in  statues toppled, in flags changed, in buildings renamed? Should social change be  measured in diversity officers appointed, in hours of equality training undertaken, in  progressive leaders celebrated? Or should social change be measured in reviews  commissioned, power granted, funding generated? There is little agreement on this  debate, which was reignited by the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, in the  wake of the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Yet almost everything  mentioned above has happened: protestors in Bristol toppled a statue of Edward  Colston, a 17th century merchant with strong ties to the Atlantic slave trade2, the  number of diversity officers appointed at major companies has exploded,3 and Boris  Johnson commissioned a report into ‘Race and Ethnic Disparities’ in the United  Kingdom. Yet politicians themselves have done very little, and while the Black Lives  Matter movement has received unparalleled exposure, catapulting race relations to  the top of the political agenda, little concrete change has occurred.

An obvious question to ask is ‘what are politicians supposed to do?’. While almost  every politician in Western democracies has, when asked directly, affirmed a  commitment against racism, many have found their hands tied. Politicians are  fundamentally representative. In democracies with regular election cycles politicians  are bound to act in accordance with the will of voters, or face being removed the next  time their seat is up for election. In fragmented societies with two dominant parties and  clear political divides, such as the USA and to a lesser extend the UK, this discourages  politicians from making radical social changes in response to emerging movements. If  politicians go too far in any direction, they risk alienating swing, and even core, voters,  and thus harming their own political careers. The rate of change is constrained and  can only be accelerated through the election of politicians on a strong mandate to  affect this change. Change must therefore be incremental and come from people  rather than legislators. In his article ‘Is There a Culture War?’4 William Jacoby terms  political culture as “the general framework of values that characterizes the orientations  of a nation’s citizens” Attempts by legislators to enforce social progress beyond what  the culture currently accepts– “top-down change” – is ineffective and risky,

their political changes electoral issues and succeeded in getting politicians elected,  such movements can hardly still be called ‘emerging’.

Indeed, in Britain, the report produced by the government’s Commission on Race and  Ethnic Disparities went further, arguing that it ultimately was not governments  responsibility to cause social change and shift attitudes. According to the report, the  Commissioners “increasingly felt that an unexplored approach to closing disparity  gaps was to examine the extent individuals and their communities could help  themselves through their own agency, rather than wait for invisible external forces to  assemble to do the job.”5 Such a statement calls into question the very premise of this  question: politicians may not have responded to emerging social movements with  effective social change, but they might not even need to do so. While such a report  might be seen as a government absolving itself of social responsibility, it raises  important questions about not only the government’s ability to create social change in  response to emerging social movements, but also its incentives and duty to do so.

Increased government involvement in rapid social progress risks alienating ordinary people, in a way that is both damaging to the government and the movements  themselves. Indeed, backlash groups already exist, for example Counterweight,  described in a recent Atlantic article6 as a “support group for the unwoke”: “a support  group for people who feel that they are being pressured to endorse what she calls  ‘critical social justice’ […] or [are] being forced to affirm beliefs that they don’t have  about race or about gender.” About two-thirds of Counterweight’s clients are  Americans, and the rest are a mix of Brits, Canadians, and Australians.” The existence  of such groups highlights the danger of rapid social change: in a world where some

people already feel pushed to endorse values that they do not fully subscribe to,  government intervention only exacerbates such issues. Returning to Jacoby’s idea of  political culture, there is a real risk of the government acting beyond what the culture  will allow if it responds forcefully in alignment with emerging social movements.

The socially effective emerging social movements are almost oxymorons: by the time  social movements have established themselves enough to create lasting social change, they can no longer be termed ‘emerging’. And attempts to rush this process  rarely create the broad cultural change they seek. Mature social movements cause  social change, emerging social movements do not.

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