SGIA1231: Introduction to Political Theory

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• The module lays the basis for a systematic understanding of the role that key political ideals, values and theories play in shaping modern political thought: justifying and critiquing political institutions and public policy, and influencing political behaviour and change.
• It introduces students to the contested nature and boundaries of political theories and ideas, offering initial insight into the significance of this contestation for wider human activity.
• It also introduces students to competing theories of justice and demonstrates how arguments in favour of particular interpretations of ideals can be justified and critiqued in order to offer reasoned support or opposition to public policies and political institutions

• Indicative contents of the module include ideals, theories of justice, arguments and ideologies that have been particularly influential in the western political tradition that can be utilised to provide support for particular public policies and governance arrangements.
• Indicative topics may include (but are not limited to): Liberty, Equality, Rights, Social Justice, Distributive Justice, Feminism, Multiculturalism, Responsibility and Luck.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Through the module students will gain an understanding of:
• Theories of justice, freedom, and equality relevant to contemporary political life.
• Prominent arguments in contemporary political philosophy.
• Basic techniques and methods for theorising, investigating and evaluating political phenomena from contemporary political theory.
• The interaction of political structures, political ideas, social groups and individuals in the pursuit of political goals.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will also develop some subject specific skills, such as:
• Accurately summarise and describe theories of justice, freedom, and equality, and arguments in favour of or critical of these.
• Identify the nature of differences between different conceptions of justice, freedom, and equality considered in the module.
• Identify the argumentative structure of particular interventions and assess their soundness and validity.
• Use basic logic, reasoning, argumentation and other critical thinking skills to analyse ideas and arguments.
• Apply political theoretical insights to analyse political problems and argue in favour of particular solutions in a variety of contexts.
• Use diverse theoretical sources effectively.
• Understand the significance of political ideas and ideals to the conduct of politics and the justification of public policy.
• Analyse and evaluate competing conceptualisations and justifications of political institutions and policies, producing defensible, reason-based judgements.
• Begin to adopt a self-critical, reflective, and independent approach to learning.

Key Skills:

• Students will also develop some important key skills, suitable for underpinning study at this and subsequent levels, such as:
• Retrieving and competently and confidently using resources to which they have been directed.
• Planning and successfully completing a variety of written assignments.
• Producing clear written communication focused on the analysis, comparison and assessment of theoretical literature, and the ability to improve these skills through receiving feedback.
• Flexibility in applying knowledge to new areas and problems while working to deadlines.
• Project design and management at the individual and group level, the latter involving teamwork.

• Teaching and learning is through a combination of lectures, and seminars.
• The lectures will provide an introduction to each topic and seminars an opportunity for clarification, and discussion, as well as a forum in which to try out and evaluate arguments and offer criticism.
• Summative assessment is by:
• A take home written examination that tests students' acquisition and retention of subject specific knowledge and their skills of description and summary, as well as analysis, argumentation, evaluation skills, and the appropriate application of ideas to new examples. It also offers an opportunity for demonstrating suitable breadth and depth of knowledge gained via guided and independent research, deployment of appropriate resources and effective planning, and writing and communication within a structured framework.
• Satisfactory completion of the following micro assignments:
• 1. Critical point (300 words)
• 2. Mark another students critical point
• 3. Blog post on discussion board
• 4. Response on discussion board
• 5. Mark a sample essay
• 6.(*) Abstract of an article (200 words)
• 7. (*) Group encyclopedia entry on a key term (500 words)
• 8. (*) Introduction for an essay (250 words)
• All assignments will be marked as pass/fail by the seminar tutor. Three (marked with a (*)) will receive written feedback from the tutor, and the rest will receive ongoing tutor feedback in seminars, as well as peer feedback. If a pass mark is received for all assignments the student will receive the full 10% contribution to their overall grade (or else a proportion according to the number of assignments they have passed). The re-sit for this component will comprise a 1,500-word review of a book chosen from the scholarly literature related to the module, and approved by the convenor. This element of the summative will test students ability to produce work to deadlines over a sustained period, to strengthen their argumentative skills, use diverse sources, apply theoretical knowledge to practical problems, to work independently and with their fellow students, to reflect on their own work and to provide critical feedback on others work, to understand, summarise and explain complex ideas, to analyse theories and ideas, to utilise appropriate methods of scholarly citation, and assess the quality and relevance of sources.
• Formative assessment: one 1,000 word essay, marked pass/fail. This task will give students an opportunity to practice understanding of complex ideas, argumentation skills, and written communication, and test the student's ability to research a topic, utilise appropriate methods of scholarly citation, and assess the quality and relevance of sources and arguments.

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