1. semester 2011 - basic course in political science - house 21.2

7/30/2019 1. Semester 2011 - Basic Course in Political Science - House 21.2

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Political Science (International) 2011

Introduction

This Political Science course is the international version of the PoliticalScience course taught at Roskilde University as part of the Social

Science Basic Studies Programme.

Political Science is fundamentally about the accumulation and use of

power. The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the key

concepts of political science. The course comprises 10 lectures, and

some of the time will be dedicated to group exercises and discussions.

The course is structured as follows. First we introduce some of the

overarching concepts in the discipline such as power, democracy,

political regimes, bureaucracies and political actors. An overview of thenumerous approaches and levels of analysis which constitute modern

Political Science will also be covered. Three lectures will cover the role

of the state, the economy, society and the mass media, and interest

groups. One lecture will also be given on the character of the Danish

political system. We then examine the power flows as they move

outwards to a range of actors linked into governing through networks,and upwards to the supra-national level (represented by the European

Union, for example). The role of the political executive and theories of

bureaucracy are explored. Finally, the policy process and system

performance as the outputs of the political process are discussed.

It is important that you do the specified reading prior to the lecture.

Lectures are supplemental to the reading do not expect to pass the

course unless you have read the required literature.

Course responsible: Professor Jenny LewisProfessor of Public Policy and Public Administration

Department of Society and Globalisation

The text book for this subject is:

Heywood, Andrew (2007) Politics, 3rd

edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave

MacMillan.

Some additional reading in relation to the lectures will be uploaded to

the BSCW before the lecture.


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Teaching Schedule Overview of Lectures and Reading

Lecture 1 14th

September

Politics and Power

Jenny Lewis

How do we define politics? How do political scientists understand

power, and how do competing approaches to politics affect our

perceptions of political phenomena? How do we go about making

academic inquiries about Politics? Which sub-disciplines constitutePolitical Science? Which levels of analysis are available and how do

they relate to the different approaches of the field?

Reading: Heywood chapter 1, pp. 3-23.

Lecture 2 16

th

September

Political Regimes and Ideologies

Jenny Lewis

One of the chief occupations in political science is to classify, and to

compare, various forms of political regimes. How do we understand the

concepts of political systems and a political regime? What kind ofpolitical regimes can be observed around the world? There are a number

of competing political ideologies with different themes, theories and

principles. We will explore what these are, how they have changed over

time, and how to explain ideological changes.

Reading:

Heywood chapter 2 (pp 25-40) and chapter 3 (pp 43-69).


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Lecture 3 19th

September

Power and Democracy

Elisa Kankaala

Democracy as an idea is currently more popular than ever, but the

concept is far from unambiguous. What is Democracy, and how does it

relate to democratic norms and models? How is power distributed within

liberal democracies?

Reading: Heywood chapter 4, pp71-88.

** See additional paper on the BSCW for this topic

Lecture 4 21st

September

Government and the state

Jenny Lewis

The exercise of power in liberal democracies seems increasingly to takeplace at a distance; that is beyond the State and other public authorities.

What is the difference between the State and the government? What is

the difference between the government and governing? What major

changes have taken place in the ways of governing the national economy

in liberal democracies over the past three decades?

Reading:

Heywood chapter 5, pp89-106.

NOTE: In this lecture we will also spend time discussing how to write

essays, including how to refer correctly to the literature you are using,

and how to make reference lists in the correct format.



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Lecture 5 23rd

September

Interest Groups

Elisa Kankaala

There are many groups of actors involved in politics, including political

parties, unions, business associations and groups that reflect broader

social movements. What are interest groups, and how do they use their

influence in politics and public policy-making? What is a grassroots

movement and can it really represent a new paradigm in politics? Is the

political parties hitherto unprecedented dominance in politics in

decline?

Reading:

Heywood chapter 14 (pp293-311).

Lecture 6 26th

September

The Political System in Denmark

Eva Srensen

What characterises the political system of Denmark? What does

separation of power entail in a Danish context and are there certain

Danish exceptions?

Reading: Heywood chapter 8 (pp163-180)

Lecture 7 28th

September

Global Politics

Jenny Lewis

How does globalisation affect national political systems? Which aspects

of globalisation challenge political orders and the distribution of power?

What are the key positions of the two opposing school of thought in

international politics? Why is the EU so important?

Reading:

Heywood chapter 7 (pp127-161).


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Lecture 8 30th

September

The economy, society and the mass media

Jenny Lewis

Politics is exercised within the larger context of the economy and

society. Can government control the economy? Should it? How relevant

are class, race and gender in contemporary society and how do they

impact on politics? The mass media is immensely important in

contemporary society and in politics. We will examine the influence of

mass media on governance, as well as how governments use the mass

media.

Reading:

Heywood chapter 9 (pp183-203) and 11 (pp231-245)

Lecture 9 3rd

October

Political Executives and Bureaucracies

Jenny Lewis

This lecture discusses political executives and theories of bureaucracies

as distinctive organizations that are key to politics and policy. To what

extent is power concentrated in government elites? Does power

ultimately rest with the bureaucracy of government?

Reading:

Heywood chapter 17 (pp357-379) and chapter 18 (pp381-400).** See additional paper on the BSCW for this topic


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Lecture 10 5th

October

Policy and performance

Jenny Lewis

Policy can be considered as an output of political systems and politics.

How can we understand the policy making process? Is it scientific and

rational or is it fundamentally based on political positions and power?

Performance is crucial because policies must be evaluated in order to

find out if they have achieved what they were supposed to. But how

straightforward is it to measure the performance of policies?

Reading: Heywood chapter 20 (pp425-444).


1. semester 2011 - basic course in political science - house 21.2

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