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Regular version of the site

The Political Theory

2018/2019
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
5
ECTS credits
Course type:
Compulsory course
When:
2 year, 3, 4 module

Instructor

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The main goal of this course is to introduce students to the concepts and authors of the contemporary political theory, grounding students in several national theoretical traditions and encouraging them to produce analysis beyond the nation-states centered paradigm. Students will learn about why these concepts matter, what controversies surround each of them and what the vigorous debates and disagreements about them reveals about the character of contemporary politics in the era of globalization. By the end of the course students will have a much better understanding of the ideational, normative dimension of political science. They will learn about how to do concept analysis, and generally improve their analytical capabilities and their abilities to grasp the essence of abstract ideas
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The main goal of this course is to introduce students to the concepts and authors of the contemporary political theory, grounding students in several national theoretical traditions and encouraging them to produce analysis beyond the nation-states centered paradigm.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Able to think critically and interpret the experience (personal and of other persons), relate to professional and social activities
  • Work with information: find, define and use the information from different sources which required for solving of research and professional problems (including the system approach)
  • Able to identify scientific subject
  • Student is familiar with notion of violence
  • Student is familiar with notion of politics
  • Student is familiar with notion of freedom
  • Student is familiar with notion of civil society
  • Student is familiar with concept of sovereignty
  • Student is familiar with concept of power
  • Student is familiar with concept of nation
  • Student is familiar with concept of modernity
  • Student is familiar with concept of legitimacy
  • Student is familiar with concept of justice
  • Student is familiar with concept of ideology
  • Student is familiar with concept of identity
  • Student is familiar with concept of human rights
  • Student is familiar with concept of democracy
  • Student is capable of reporting the results of the information retrieval and analysis, academic or applied research she/he has conducted: - in various genres (including reviews, policy papers, reports and publications pertaining to socio-political subject matter); - and depending on the target audience
  • Student is capable of posing research problems relevant to the study of political phenomena and political processes; setting particular research tasks; and putting together a research design
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • General Introduction / Knowledge of Political
  • Power
  • Violence
  • Sovereignty
  • Justice
  • Modernity
  • Ideology
  • Politics
  • Identity
  • Legitimacy
  • Freedom
  • Democracy
  • Civil Society
  • Human Rights
  • Nation
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Class activity
  • non-blocking Essay
    Students are to write a 2000-word essay from a choice of set questions: 1. Is consent necessary for legitimacy? 2. What is the best argument for the claim that we have a duty to obey the law? Does it succeed? 3. Is the value of democracy purely instrumental? 4. What does it mean to say that we have a right? Why do we have rights? 5. Why should the application of principles of justice only be restricted to the ‘basic structure’ of society? 6. What should egalitarians seek to equalise? 7. Are the principles of justice that apply within states different from the principles of justice that apply in the international realm? 8. Should the state be neutral between citizens’ competing conceptions of the good? 9. What is our best conception of liberty? On that conception, is liberty the supreme value in politics?
  • non-blocking Exam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0,8*Cumulative*(0,5*Essay+0,5*Seminars)+0,2*Exam.
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Duncan Bell. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Political Philosophy by David Estlund (ed.). Oxford : Oxford University Press , 2012 . 446pp., £95.00, ISBN 9780195376692 The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy by George Klosko (ed.). Oxford : Oxford University Press , 2012 . 840pp., £85.00, ISBN 9780199238804. Political Studies Review, (1), 94. https://doi.org/10.1111/1478-9302.12041_11

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • The Oxford handbook of political theory / ed. by John S. Dryzek . (2006). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.121392570