MODULE TITLE: POL1002 Introduction to Social & Political Theory
Module Provider (AoU): Politics
Subject (3 letters): POL
Level: 1
Number of Credits: 20
Module Co-ordinator: Prof Mark Olssen
MODULE AVAILABILITY
Full time only
ASSESSMENT PATTERN
Unit(s) of Assessment
Weighting Towards Module Mark( %)
Essay (1500 words)
25%
Essay (1500 words)
25%
Formal exam (2 hrs)
50%
PRE-REQUISITE/CO-REQUISITES
None
MODULE OVERVIEW
This module serves as a general introduction to political and social philosophy
through a historical survey of key thinkers and themes. The major themes will be:
sovereignty; political obligation; liberty; rights and equality. These themes will be
addressed through a study of major writers in political philosophy from Ancient
Greece to the present day.
MODULE AIMS
 To introduce central issues and themes in political philosophy.
 To introduce central thinkers in political philosophy from the Ancient Geeks to the
late twentieth century.
 To be aware of conflicts in perspectives between different approaches.
 To produce a sound knowledge of the major thinkers and themes in political
philosophy.
 To develop and deepen the students' interest in understanding political issues in
terms of the central thinkers and principles involved.
 To enable students to integrate a wide range of views from various sources and
to identify the philosophical schools to which they attach.
 To enable students to produce succinct, cogent arguments aware of the
philosophical assumptions and frameworks on which they depend.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Subject Specific LEARNING OUTCOMES
The successful student will, by the end of this module, be able to:
 Identify different approaches to politics in terms of the philosophical and
theoretical perspectives that underlie them.
 Understand and compare the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
to in politics and political philosophy.
 Identify the arguments of different thinkers in the history of political thought in

terms of how they inform current theory and debates.
Present an account of the implications for politics of different philosophical
approaches.
Generic LEARNING OUTCOMES
Cognitive skills
 To demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a wide range of political
concepts and principles in relation to the core themes studied.
 To understand the central arguments pertaining to each theme.
 To demonstrate historical knowledge of the core debates in relation to the five
themes studied.
Practical skills
 To use primary and secondary sources with reference to key political debates.
 To analyse key sources and reflect on their own learning.
 To engage in academic debate in a professional manner.
 To learn skills of oral presentation through seminars.
Transferable skills
 To communicate succinctly in written and oral forms.
 To read complex primary materials.
 To demonstrate proficiency in the use of word processing.
 To develop proficiency in the art of political debate.
MODULE CONTENT
Themes
1. Sovereignty
 Historical development of the concept.
 Essential aspects – legal; political; internal; external.
Thinkers
 Machiavelli; Hobbes; Locke; Rousseau.
2. Political Obligation
 Historical development of the concept: voluntaristic; teleological; other duty
theories.
 Limits to political obligation.
 General justification for political obligation.
Thinkers
 Hobbes; Locke; Rousseau.
3. Liberty
 Historical development of the concept: different traditions of interpreting liberty.
 Negative liberty in the history of political thought.
 Positive liberty in the history of political thought.
Thinkers

Locke; Rousseau; John Stuart Mill; T.H.Green; I. Berlin.
4. Rights
 Historical development of the concept of rights.
 Natural rights: pros and cons.
 20th century developments in rights theory.
 Problems associated with human rights concept.
Thinkers
 Locke; Burke; Bentham; Paine.
5. Equality
 Formal or foundational.
 Equality of opportunity.
 Equality of outcome.
Thinkers
Rousseau; Wollstonecraft; John Stuart Mill; Marx.
METHODS OF TEACHING/LEARNING
Lectures, seminars, independent reading and essay preparation.
SELECTED TEXTS/JOURNALS
Jones, T. (2002) Modern Political Thinkers and Ideas: An Historical Introduction.
London: Routledge.
Bartelson, J, A Genealogy of Sovereignty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lyons, G. and Mastandumo, M. (eds.) (1995) Beyond Westphalia? Sovereignty and
International Intervention. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Horton, J. (1992) Political Obligation. London: Macmillan.
Lessnof, M. (1986) Social Contract. London: Macmillan.
Dunn, J. (2002) Political Obligation in its Historical Context. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Berlin, I. (1969) Two Concepts of Liberty. In: Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
MacCallum, G. C. (1991) Negative and Positive Freedom. In: Miller, D. (ed.) Liberty.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 100-122.
MacIntyre, A. (1981) After Virtue. London: Duckworth.
Miller, D. (1981) Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carter, A. (1988) The Politics of Women’s Rights. London: Longman.
Waldron, J, (ed.) (1985) Theories of Rights. Oxford: Blackwell.
Waldron, J. (1987) Nonsense Upon Stilts: Burke, Bentham and Marx on Rights of
Man. London: Methuen.
Barker, J. (1987) Arguing for Equality. London: Verso.
Campbell, T. (1998) Justice. London: Macmillan.
Letwin, W. (1983) Against Equality. London: Macmillan.
Miller, D. (1976) Social Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wolff, J. (1991) Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.