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Бакалаврская программа «Политология и мировая политика»

07
Апрель

Categories of Political Science

2019/2020
Учебный год
ENG
Обучение ведется на английском языке
5
Кредиты

Автор программы


Кабанов Юрий Андреевич
Статус:
Курс обязательный
Когда читается:
1-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The Categories of Political Science is an introductory course, aimed at providing students with basic knowledge on politics as the sphere of social activity and as an academic discipline. It aims at discussing the evolution of Political Science, the key political concepts, theories, institutions and processes are discussed in the global comparative perspective.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • To give students a comprehensive overview of the basic scientific approaches to Political Science, its main theories and concepts
  • To develop the basic skills of describing and interpreting political and social processes in terms of Political Science concepts and theories
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Able to define basic characteristics of Political Science as a social science
  • Identifies and defines the basic concepts of Political Science
  • Enumerates and describes the main stages of Political Science development
  • Applies the basic concepts and assumptions of the Political Science theories to describe political phenomena
  • Explains similiarities and differences between political regimes in terms of their competitiveness and institutional design
  • Enumerates the basic institutions of political process, their subtypes, advantages and disadvantages
  • Enumerate the main actors of the political process, their functions and modes of interaction
  • Defines and illustrates the models of public participation in political process
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Politics and Political Science
    Science and Scientific Explanation. “Hard” and “Soft” Sciences. Political Science as a Social Science. Politics. Policy. Polity. Political Science vs. Politics
  • State and Political Power
    The State: Definitions and Theories. The Social Contract (T. Hobbes, J. Locke). The Monopoly on Violence (M. Webber). Stationary Bandits (M. Olson). The State and Modern Political Science. State Autonomy and State Capacity (B. Geddes, T. Skocpol). Political Power: Interpretations and Definitions. Despotic and Infrastructural Power (M.Mann). “Three Faces of Power” (S. Lukes). Legitimacy.
  • Behavioralist Revolution and Systems Theory in Political Science
    Explanation in Social Sciences: Agency vs. Structure. Old Institutionalism. Chicago School. Behavioral Revolution in Political Science. System Approach and Structural Functionalism.
  • Rational Choice Theory and New Institutionalism in Political Science
    Rochester School. Rational Choice Theory and Its Application to Political Science (A. Downs, W. Riker). New Institutionalism and Its Variations: Historic, Sociological, Rational Choice.
  • Political Ideologies
    The Notion of Ideology. Liberalism. Conservatism. Socialism and Social Democracy. New Ideologies. Ideologies in the Modern World.
  • Political regimes: Democracies
    Political Regime: Definitions. Aristotle’s Six Types of Government. Classic Definition of Democracy. Minimalist Concept of democracy (J. Schumpeter). Electoral Democracy. Polyarchy (R. Dahl).
  • Political regimes: Non-democracies
    Political Regime: Definitions. Aristotle’s Six Types of Government. Classic Definition of Democracy. Minimalist Concept of Democracy (J. Schumpeter). Electoral Democracy. Polyarchy (R. Dahl).
  • Interest groups and political parties
    Interest Groups and Advocacy in Politics. Lobbying. Models of Interest Representation. Pluralism, Corportatism, Neocorportatism. Origins of Political Parties. Types of Political Parties: Mass and Cadre Parties (M. Duverger). Catch-all Parties. Parties vs. Interest Groups. Functions of Political Parties. Party Systems Classifications (M. Duverger, G. Sartori). Effective Number of Parties.
  • Division of power
    Horizontal Division of Power. Head of State, Cabinet, Assembly (Legislature) and their functions. Hierarchical and Transactional Division of Power. Systems of Government: Presidential, Parliamentary, Semi-Presidential systems.
  • Unitary and federal systems
    Types of state: Unitary, Federal and Confederative. Federalism: Background and Distinctive Traits (W. Riker, P. Ordeshook, D. Elazar). Decentralization in Unitary States. Federalism and Political Regime. Regional Policy
  • Judiciary, bureaucracy and the media
    Non – elective Institutions. Judiciary and its Political Functions. Types of Judicial Systems. Bureaucracy: Weber’s Ideal Type and Its Limits. Political Role of Bureaucracy. Mass Media, Social Media and Media Effects
  • Electoral systems
    Electoral System. Types of Electoral Systems: Plural, Proportional and Mixed. Electoral Formula. Interaction between Electoral and Party Systems: Duverger’s Law. Electoral Engineering. Gerrymondering.
  • Public participation and political culture
    Electoral Participation. Political Participation: Types, Functions and Factors. Civic Culture. Civil Society and Social Capital. Public Opinion.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Class activities (Gclass)
    Lecturers evaluate students’ progress, including assigned readings comprehension and contribution to seminar activities, as well as the ability to answer seminar questions fully and correctly.
  • non-blocking Quizzes (Gquiz)
    Small quizzes that contain various questions (multiple choice, fill in the gaps, matching, open questions with short answer), aiming at assessing of students' progress or comprehension of a particular topics (or multiple topics), given at the beginning of the seminars.
  • non-blocking Teamwork (Gteam)
    Students are to make up and deliver a presentation (group talk) devoted to a certain topic. The grade for this component is calculated as an average of the marks received for these presentations (rounding is arithmetic).
  • non-blocking Essay (Gessay)
    Each student is supposed to write an essay. The essay is to be submitted via LMS. In the essay a student is to demonstrate her / his basic abilities to formulate a research puzzle related to Political Science and to select a relevant theory to approach the puzzle.
  • non-blocking Final Exam (Gexam )
    The final exam is organized during the session period and is conducted in a test form, including open questions. The teacher may release students from taking the examination (Gexam). The teacher announces his decision no later than at the last class prior to the examination period. The final test covers the materials from lectures and mandatory readings of all the course content, contains: - part A with 10 multiple choice questions 1 point each, 10 points in total - part B with 5 questions of other types (fill in the gaps, ordering, matching), the total number of points is 10. - part C with 1 open question (10 points)
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.2 * Class activities (Gclass) + 0.2 * Essay (Gessay) + 0.2 * Final Exam (Gexam ) + 0.2 * Quizzes (Gquiz) + 0.2 * Teamwork (Gteam)
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Amadae, S. M., & Bueno de Mesquita, B. (1999). THE ROCHESTER SCHOOL: The Origins of Positive Political Theory. Annual Review of Political Science, 2(1), 269. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.2.1.269
  • Dahl, R. A. (1961). The Behavioral Approach in Political Science: Epitaph for a Monument to a Successful Protest. American Political Science Review, (04), 763. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.apsrev.v55y1961i04p763.772.12
  • Easton, D. (1969). The New Revolution in Political Science. American Political Science Review, (04), 1051. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.apsrev.v63y1969i04p1051.1061.26
  • Rhodes, R., Binder, S. A., & Rockman, B. A. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions. Australia, Australia/Oceania: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.655BAF4C
  • The Oxford handbook of comparative politics / ed. by Carles Boix . (2007). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.253058961
  • Weber, M., & Dreijmanis, J. (2008). Max Weber’s Complete Writings on Academic and Political Vocations. New York: Algora Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=221042

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Klingemann, H.-D., & Goodin, R. E. (1996). A New Handbook of Political Science. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=273524
  • Ostrom, E. (1991). Rational Choice Theory and Institutional Analysis: Toward Complementarity. American Political Science Review, (01), 237. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.apsrev.v85y1991i01p237.243.17
  • The Oxford handbook of legislative studies / edited by Shane Martin, Thomas Saalfeld and Kaare W. Strøm. (2014). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.409632031
  • The Oxford handbook of transformations of the state / ed. by Stephan Leibfried . (2015). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.409903264