Course Title: Challenging Ideas: Political Theory in Practice

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Challenging Ideas: Political Theory in Practice

Credit Points: 12

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
POLI1093	City Campus	Undergraduate	365H Global Studies, Soc Sci & Plng	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2009

Course Coordinator: Dr Eric Porter

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 1011

Course Coordinator Email:eric.porter@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 8.6.27

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

The collapse of the Soviet bloc won Liberal Democracy a podium-finish in the Cold War and acclaim as the highest form of political development. In the words of Francis Fukuyama, it seemed to represent the “end of history”.
Appearances can be deceptive. Since then new and unexpected challenges have arisen. Others thought dead have revived. Obviously ‘history’ had not ended.
This course covers a broad range of conflicting views about the character of contemporary politics. The focus is on how political theories has adapted to these challenges. The lectures build a framework of political theory, emphasising what is distinctively modern and examining the tensions and contradiction in approaches. Tutorials explore case studies where key principles and claims are put to the test in ‘real-world’ situations.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The course aims principally at developing students’ critical thinking. In addition it promotes skills central to writing and research.
This is achieved through learning exercises that prompt students to analyse texts and ideas in-depth, and through assessment that requires students to define a research problem and devise a research question [see below].

At the conclusion of this course, students will have learned to:
 Identify major debates in contemporary political theory;
 Apply those theoretical debates to actual political episodes and developments;
 Interpret political episodes and developments using different political theories;
 Evaluate competing interpretations in terms of practice, ethics and theory;
 Define a research ‘problem’;
 Compose a question that addresses that problem;
 Assemble an argument using evidence;
 Interpret primary & secondary documents in context;
 Structure an argument to answer a question

Overview of Learning Activities

Students will learn principally through a combination of in-class exercises and discussion, and assignments. All will be based on specific sources drawn from a range of media. Students will learn principally through a combination of in-class exercises and discussion, and assignments. All will be based on specific sources drawn from a range of media. These include:
 Set readings from a Course Reader;
 Select films; and
 Key websites.
The tutorials are the main focus of the learning experience. Lectures are short, and cover general themes and context. The tutorials provide a venue for active learning, where students can share their understanding of issues and develop skills in analysing and assessing the materials provided, most of which are primary sources.

Overview of Learning Resources

 Students are advised to purchase a Course Reader from the Bookshop.
 As many readings as possible will be made available through the DLS website
 Recommended website will also be listed on the DLS website

Overview of Assessment

The assessment tasks allow students flexibility in choosing what they want to study, in the focus of their research, and in their method of analysis.
Assessment
Assessment Criteria
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
 Evaluate contemporary political debate/s;
 Determine their relevance to actual political episodes and developments;
 Set political episodes and developments in theoretical context;
 Evaluate competing interpretations in terms of practice, ethics and theory;
 Define a research ‘problem’;
 Compose a question that addresses that problem;
 Assemble an argument using evidence;
 Interpret primary & secondary documents in context;
 Structure an essay effectively to answer a question