This course examines the key challenges to good governance in Asia. Poor governance is generally interdependent with ‘state-weakness’ and the course demonstrates how this mix is evidenced by gaps in regime legitimacy, state capacity and/or human security. Moreover, the course examines how these factors contribute to increased poverty, environmental degradation, communal violence, transnational crime, corruption and the propensity of a government to resort to violence in the resolution of disputes. Furthermore, the emphasis of the course on human security is essential not only because of its nexus with state weakness and poor governance, but also because of how significant ‘insecurity’ has the potential to undermine the stability of the state and exacerbate the risk of armed conflict – at the domestic and/or transnational levels. Finally, the course examines potential avenues to improve governance in Asia including political and security sector reforms, military and civil service professionalization programs, development aid and regionalism (e.g. ASEAN).
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
On satisfying the requirements of this course students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the nexus between state-weakness, poor governance and human in-security together with their associated consequences for Australia’s national security.
- Critically assess Australian and international policy responses to both the domestic causes and transnational effects of poor governance and state weakness in Asia.
- Demonstrate a capacity for critical reflection so that the assumptions underpinning security and development concepts and policies can be effectively scrutinised.
- Communicate effectively in verbal, written and group contexts to a professional academic standard.
- Exercise attention to detail and analytical rigour in academic writing and analysis.
- More effectively design and complete a research paper.
- Conduct research in libraries and archives and also utilise relevant internet resources.
- Appropriately reference sources and quotations utilised in scholarly writing.
Indicative Assessment
Book review: 25%
Essay: 35%
Exam: 40%
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The workload will be one 2-hour seminar per week (plus presentations) with the expectation of a further 8 hours per week of independent study.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $3660 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $5160 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.