Module Information For Visiting and Erasmus Students
2013/14
Department*
Department of Political Science
Notes
Visiting/Erasmus
The Visiting student timetable and module list will be available on the following page of the
Module Info on
Departmental website; http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/undergraduate/visiting-students/
Department
shortly.
Website
Module Code*
Module Name*
ECTS Weighting*
PO2610
History of Political Thought
10 ECTS credits if students do full year. 5 ECTS for one semester/term.
Semester/term Michaelmas and Hilary Term
taught*
Contact Hours*
2 lectures per week; 1 tutorial per fortnight
Module Lecturer – Eddie Hyland
Personnel
Students should acquire a general overview of the major political thinkers from ancient
Learning Greece until the present. They should become familiar with the main themes of political
Outcomes thought, such as the nature of the state, the basis of political legitimacy. In addition, students
will also be expected to acquire a more detailed knowledge of a selection of the main
political theorists.
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
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Analyse, specify and appraise differing normative theories of society
Discriminate between differing theoretical conceptions of the role of the state and
evaluate the impact of these differing conceptions on citizens
Name and appraise the theories of central political thinkers of the western tradition
Evaluate the importance of concepts such democracy, liberalism,the state,political
obligation,the sources of political authority
Differentiate between theories of political legitimacy based on divine right as
opposed to popular contractual consent.
Appraise the claims that political order derives from the inevitability of conflict as
against claims that socio-political community is natural to human beings.
Critically appraise the logical cogency of complex arguments.
Express your evaluations of arguments concisely and articulately in written
assessments
OVERVIEW
Module Learning
Aims The general aim of the course is to introduce students to the emergence and development of
the major ideas, theories and controversies in political thought from the time of classical
Greece to the beginning of the twentieth century. The course will fall into four fairly distinct
sections.
1. In the first we will deal with the classical world of Greece and Rome: we will be looking at
the first emergence of such ideas as “democracy”, “justice”, “natural law” and so on.
2. In the second section we will treat of the influence of Christianity on political thought in the
medieval period.
3. Thirdly, we look at the great flourishing of political theory in the 16th-18th centuries, with
special reference to such topics as the nature of man and society, the social contract, the
nature of the state, the function and limits of government.
4. The final section encompasses those theorists of the 19th century who contributed to the
formulation of the political problems of the present era, such as Marx and J. S. Mill.
This course introduces students to the main themes of political and social philosophy as they
Module Content/ have emerged in the western intellectual tradition. The lectures will provide a critical survey
Description* of some of the main contributions to the history of political and social thought, while a parallel
seminar programme will enable students to specialise in specific areas and discuss the
major problems that arise, presenting papers on topics of their choice.
GENERAL READING GUIDE
Recommended A.Books that provide selections from primary texts
Reading List
1.
Masters of Political Thought (three volumes) edited by M. B. Foster, W. T. Jones
and L. W. Lancaster.
These books contain a good selection of quite long extracts from the classic works of
political theory ranging from the pre-Platonic period to Marx. They also contain useful
commentaries by the editors on the texts quoted. s.
2.
Some interesting and important selections from primary texts which are not
included in the Masters series can be found in Western Political Heritage by W. Y.
Elliot and N. A. MacDonald (Prentice Hall, 1963)
3.
Classical Political Theories: From Plato to Marx, (ed), Robert Brown (London 1990).
4.
Classics of Moral and Political Theory, Michael L. Morgan (ed.), Hackett Publishing
Company, Indianapolis (Cambridge,1992).
( This is an excellent collection of , in many cases, the complete texts of the
relevant political thinkers)
B.Commentaries
1.
W. T. Bluhm, Theories of the Political System, a good attempt at demonstrating the
relevance of certain classic
political theories to contemporary political
problems (Prentice Hall, 1965).
2.
G. H. Sabine, A History of Political Theory, standard textbook. It gives a good
survey of political thought (N.Y., 1961).
3.
S. S. Wolin, Politics and Vision, consists of a series of sophisticated interpretative
essays. A serious work, well worth close study. (Little, Brown and Co., 1960).
4.
J. Plamenatz, Man and Society (two volumes) provides a good critical analysis of
modern political theories of Machiavelli to Marx. (Longman, London, 1970).
5.
L. J. Macfarlane, Modern Political Theory (Nelson, London, 1970).
6.
D. Thomson, Political Ideas (Penguin Books, 1970)
7.
R. N. Berki, History of Political Theory (Dent, 1976)
8.
E. Wood and N. Wood, Class Ideology and Ancient Political Theory (Oxford, 1978)
9.
M. Forsyth and M. Keens-Soper (eds.), A Guide to the Political Classics: Plato to
Rousseau (Oxford, 1988).
10. Brian Redhead, From Plato to Nato (BBC publications)
11. Iain Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought,( Basil Blackwell,
1992.)***
12. Edward Bryan Portis, Reconstructing the Classics: Political Theory from Plato to
Marx, (N. Jersey, 1994).
13. J. S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, (London, 1996)***
14. Janet Coleman, A History of Political Thought, Vols. I and II (Oxford, 2000)
15. David Boucher and Paul Kelly, Political Thinkers From Socrates to the
Present(Oxford. 2003) ***
16. John Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy (Harvard, 2007) – a
very sympathetic and close reading of political theorists from Hobbes to Marx by
one of the great political theorists of the 20th century
17. Joseph M. Bryant, Moral codes and social structure in ancient Greece (New York,
1996) – a sophisticated work containing material relevant to Athenian democracy,
Plato, Aristotle, Epicureanism and Stoicism
Students’ attention is drawn to the series Great Political Thinkers published by
Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. There are volumes on most of the great political
theorists and each contains an extensive collection of the most important writings
on each political theorist.
C.Monographs
Unwin University Books publish a series of monographs on the major political thinkers. The
ones so far available are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
J. B. Morrall, Aristotle (1977)
R. Plant, Hegel (1972)
M. Evans, Marx (1972)
F. O’Gorman, Burke (1974)
R. J. Halliday, John Stuart Mill (1972)
J. Steintrager, Bentham (1977)
D. D. Raphael, Hobbes (1977)
G. Parry, Locke (1977)
R. W. Hall, Plato (1982)
Two recently published books are of relevance as background to ancient Greek
political thought, they are: Polis: An Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State,
Mogens Hansen,(Oxford. 2006) and Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice.
Paul Cartledge,( Cambridge, 2009)
D. Oxford University Press publish a series, Past Masters, containing volumes on Aristotle,
Plato, Machiavelli, Marx and Hegel. These books are short, readable and readily available.
They are excellent introductions to their subject.
E.
The bi-annual journal History of Political Thought, published since 1980, contains
many important articles on all the political thinkers covered in the course.
F.
STUDENTS’ ATTENTION IS DRAWN to The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
there are entries on ALL the political theorists covered in the course. They are of
an ECXELLENT standard and have in addition a very comprehensive and up-to-
date extra bibliography. THIS IS AVAILABLE FREE ON-LINE.***
*** ITEMS ARE RECOMMENDED AS REALLY GOOD INTODUCTORY
OVERVIEWS.
Module Pre
Requisite
Module Co
Requisite
Assessment Assessment
Details*
2 essays counting for 12.5% each
Term Tests: No
Examination
1 x 3-hour examination
LECTURES AND SEMINARS
1. Attendance at lectures is voluntary.
2. All students are required to attend class seminar meetings (once every TWO weeks) and
write TWO class papers during the year. Papers should be about 1,500 words long and
accompanied by a bibliography.
The two essays together count for 25% of the overall grade for the year.
3. There is an annual examination at the end of the academic year taken by all full-year two
semester students.
4. One Semester students do not sit an examination. They are assessed on the basis of
TWO essays, the first submitted at the end of the study week in the semester that they are at
TCD and the second at the end of that semester.
Dr Hyland has office hours between 10.00-11.00am on Tuesdays during teaching term, in
room 4.05, College Green
Module Code*
Module Name*
ECTS Weighting*
PO2640
International Relations
10 ECTS credits if students do full year. 5 ECTS for one semester/term.
Semester/term Michaelmas and Hilary Term
taught*
44 hours lectures + fortnightly tutorials
Contact Hours* 10 hours tutorials
Module Lecturer - Dr. William Phelan
Personnel
On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
Learning - Understand the basic causal mechanisms underlying leading approaches to explaining
Outcomes state behaviour in international politics
- Assess the explanatory power of leading theoretical approaches to international relations,
including as relates to particular historical examples
- Compare leading international regimes, such as the WTO and EU, both from the point of
view of their formal rules and from different theoretical perspectives
- Understand the different collective action problems associated with different issue-areas in
international politics.
- Contribute, on the basis of theory and knowledge of a range of issue-areas, to
contemporary debates in international relations scholarship about the relative influence of
power, international institutions, domestic interests and itnernational norms in state
behaviour.
Module Learning To introduce students to basic scholarly approaches to studying international relation.
Aims
This course is an introduction to the positive, descriptive study of international relations. Why
Module Content/ do states make war? What are the conditions for the growth of cross-border trade and
Description* finance? What is the impact of international organizations on relations between states? This
course considers these questions by looking at differing theoretical approaches to
international relations and a selection of topics in historical and contemporary
politics, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the European Union,
and international environmental and human rights regimes.
Recommended TBC
Reading List
Module Pre
Requisite
Module Co
Requisite
Assessment Assessment
Details*
Tutorial participation: 10%
Essay 1: 12.5%
Essay 2: 12.5%
1 x 3 hour final exam 65%
No term tests
Module Code*
Module Name*
ECTS Weighting*
PO2650
Comparative Politics
10 ECTS credits if students do full year. 5 ECTS for one semester/term.
Semester/term Michaelmas and Hilary Term
taught*
Contact Hours*
44 hours lectures + fortnighly tutorials - 9 hours of tutorials
Module Lecturer: Gail McElroy (2013/14)
Personnel
Learning TBC
Outcomes
Module Learning TBC
Aims
The course is an introduction to the study of comparative politics and provides an overview
Module Content/ of some of the key theoretical frameworks, concepts, and analytical methods of this field of
Description* study. We study political systems around the world with a view to understanding and
explaining their differences and similarities with respect to their political institutions, the
behaviour of their key political actors, and their policymaking processes and performance.
Recommended TBC
Reading List
Module Pre None
Requisite
Module Co
Requisite
Essay 1: 12.5%
Assessment Essay 2: 12.5%
Details* Tutorial participation: 10%
1 x 3 hour final exam 65%
No term tests
Module Code*
Module Name*
ECTS Weighting*
PO3630
Irish Politics
10 ECTS credits if students do full year. 5 ECTS for one semester/term.
Semester/term Michaelmas term + Hilary term
taught*
Contact Hours*
2 lectures per week; 1 tutorial per fortnight.
Module Lecturer: Prof Michael Gallagher
Personnel
On successful completion of this module, students will:
Learning
Outcomes — have an enhanced understanding of the Irish political and governmental processes
— be familiar with academic research into Irish politics
— have been encouraged, and ideally have learned, to critically assess the material they
encounter
— have gained an understanding of the origins of, central issues in, and interpretations of
‘the Northern Ireland problem’
The aim of this module is to deepen students’ understanding not only of the substance of
Module Learning Irish politics, north and south, but also of the academic research that aims to interpret and
Aims understand it.
The course covers Irish political culture, the constitution, elections and electoral behaviour,
Module Content/ parties and the party system, government and parliament, policy-making, Ireland and the
Description* EU, and history and politics in Northern Ireland.
Reading chapter 1 of the course textbook (Politics in the Republic of Ireland, see below) in
Recommended advance of term or early in the term is recommended for those with little background
Reading List knowledge of Irish history. A useful overview of the country is Eoin O'Malley, Contemporary
Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Module Pre
Requisite
Module Co
Requisite
Assessment 2 essays, each counting 12.5%
Details*
1 exam, counting 75%
Module Code*
Module Name*
ECTS Weighting*
PO3680
European Union Politics
10 ECTS credits if students do full year. 5 ECTS for one semester/term.
Semester/term Michaelmas term + Hilary term
taught*
Contact Hours*
2 lectures per week; 1 tutorial per fortnight
Module Lecturer - Dr. Raj Chari
Personnel
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Learning
Outcomes
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Analyse, specify and appraise different policies and how they affect the daily lives
of people living in Europe.
Evaluate the importance of different theoretical concepts of how comparative public
policy is made.
Differentiate between theories and evaluate the explanatory power of these
theories by reference to particular episodes in EU Politics.
Discriminate between the differing role of political actors and institutions when
public policy is made in Europe.
Analyse, specify and appraise the role of domestic level and supranational level
when economic, social, agriculture, foreign, competition and internal security policy
is made.
Summarize the range of research tools that you would use if you were to engage in
further research on the EU at a future date.
The main aim of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding and
Module Learning comprehensive knowledge of the government and politics of the EU, as well as the policy
Aims making processes of the EU when policy is made. In particular, in the first term, students will
learn about the main institutions of the EU (The Commission, Council, European Parliament
and the European Court of Justice), the role of interest groups in Brussels, and different
theoretical approaches to understanding policy-making. In the second term, the main aim is
for students to learn about specific EU policies including: single market, competition,
economic and monetary union, agriculture, social, internal and external policies. At the end
of this course it is expected that students will have learned a detailed understanding of: how
the EU institutions work, how public policy is formed and theoretical characterisations of the
policy making process.
The underlying theme of this course is to examine the extent to which the EU’s institutional
Module Content/ framework and policy environment provide evidence of deepening integration, where
Description* national borders are increasingly irrelevant. This course examines various theoretical
approaches of relevance to understanding the evolution of the EU, and, examines the EU its
institutions and policies in the light of these approaches.
Recommended TBC
Reading List
Module Pre None
Requisite
Module Co None
Requisite
Assessment
Assessment 2 essays counting for 12.5% each
Details*
Term Tests: No
Examination
1 x 3-hour examination
*Required fields.