The past hundred years have seen monumental and rapid socio-political changes around the world, which have transformed the way we live our lives. If we are to understand how we got to where we are, and ensure that we build just societies into the future, we need to grapple with the ideas and ideologies that continue to drive social, political, and economic change. This course invites students to do so, by surveying the central ideas and thinkers in contemporary normative (i.e., ethical or evaluative) political theory. The first half of the course looks at influential schools of political thought: authoritarianism and totalitarianism, Rawlsian liberalism, liberal-egalitarianism, libertarianism, and feminism. This will give students a firm theoretical foundation upon which to analyse and critique applied topics in contemporary politics during the second half of the course. These topics include: free speech, the design of fair voting systems, reparations, and the rights of nonhuman animals and the environment. Students are shown how to connect everyday political conversation with some of the leading ideas in political theory and, ideally, to tune their ear to conceptual incoherence and logical inconsistency in the former.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate an ability to understand, and critically assess, arguments made in political theory;
- demonstrate an ability to coherently formulate arguments about politics;
- demonstrate an ability to anticipate, formulate, and effectively respond to counterarguments; and
- demonstrate an ability to gather and critically organize a variety of scholarly sources in ways that engage relevant literature.
Indicative Assessment
- Short essay, 1500 words (30) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Long essay, 2500 words (50) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Tutorial work (participation + preparation) (20) [LO 1,2]
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 35 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures, and 11 hours of tutorials; and,
b) 95 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Readings will be provided.Assumed Knowledge
It is recommended that students first take POLS2119 Ideas in Politics.
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you 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). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found 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 |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $4440 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $6000 |
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.
