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This course introduces the basic tools and techniques used in political science, including essay writing, methods of analysis, and formulation of hypotheses. It also introduces students to a selection of key theories and frameworks. It covers topics such as democracy, authoritarianism, people’s power, civil society, conflict, globalisation, and the future of our world. This course will be of great benefit to Political Science majors of all levels and to students who desire a broad-based introduction to the field.
POLS102-15SU2 is offered as Distance Learning. Students will not need to be on campus at any point, but will need a reliable internet connection.This course is designed to introduce the tools, techniques, and topics of Political Science. It is also a course full of questions. We begin by discussing the nature of Political Science. Is politics a science? an art? madness? something else? We then turn to some more basic and more difficult questions. Who are we? Here we will explore the nature of identity and its relationship to politics. Nation, religion, and ethnicity are all sources of identity powerful enough to cause tremendous destruction in our world, and will all be considered. How are we governed? Since politics and politicians have a major impact on our daily lives, we will explore how political systems work. How does democracy come about? Over the last few decades, thousands of people like you and I have battled armed soldiers in the streets in order to win the right to participate in a democratic system. We will try to understand the reasons they care so passionately. Finally, we ask the most intriguing questions of all: Where do we go from here? Is globalization our future? Does the future hold peace and prosperity? Or war and chaos?
Students enrolled in this course will learn the scope and basic methods of Political Science and its subfields. They will learn some key concepts used in Political Science, and learn to apply those concepts, in a variety of contexts. They will learn how to use library and internet resources useful for research in the field of Political Science. They will learn to write research papers appropriate to the field of Political Science.
James Ockey
Heywood, Andrew; Politics ; 3rd ed; Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Library portalhttp://canterbury.libguides.com/pols Learn Assignment Sheet Cover Academic Integrity Guidance for Staff and Students PDF document Referencing for Political Science Using EndNote for referencing Writing guides for Political Science
Domestic fee $697.00
International fee $2,913.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .