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POLITICS 109: Foundations of Western Politics and Law

SEMESTER 1, 2018

15 points

 
Course Convenor and principal lecturer

Associate Professor Kathy Smits k.smits@auckland.ac.nz

Office:  HSB room 506

Lecturer

Professor John Morrow j.morrow@auckland.ac.nz

Tutors

Nicolas Pirsoul npir278@aucklanduni.ac.nz (Tuesday 12-1;1-2; Thursday 9-10; 10-11; 1-2; 2-3; 3-4)

Laura Bunting l.bunting@auckland.ac.nz (Friday 11-12; 12-1; 1-2)

Luke Oldfield luke.oldfield@gmail.com (Tuesday 11-12; 3-4; Wednesday 9-10)

Bronwyn Tilney bronwyn.tilney@gmail.com (Tuesday 4-5; Wednesday 10-11; 11-12; 5-6)

Emma Morris emmamorris56@gmail.com (Wednesday 12-1; 1-2)

 

 Summary of Course Description:              

When we think about political issues, either in the classroom or the wider public world, we are using and referring to a range of ideas about politics, which have been developed in the western political tradition since the ancient Greeks.  The fundamental questions we ask about politics – how should society be governed, what is justice and how should it be implemented between individuals, groups and states, where should the distinction between public and private life fall – are all questions which have been defined for us by thinkers in a historical tradition in which we are the latest participants.  The ways in which we ask and answer these questions, and what counts as relevant and important to us in doing so depend upon our own social and historical position as readers and thinkers, as well as on the ways in which these concepts have been discussed in the past.  In this course, we will focus on the relationship between individuals and the state, the meanings of justice, liberty and equality, the basis of democracy, the rights of women, and the limits to political authority and rights of resistance.

Course outcomes:

This course has 5 principal objectives.  By the end of the course, you should:

  1. Be familiar with the main patterns in the development of western political thinking up until the 20th century
  2. Have the skills required to read and understand texts in political philosophy written in different historical periods, and in different styles
  3. Understand the major political ideas of the thinkers we have studied
  4. Understand the relationship between these ideas and the contexts in which they were produced
  5. Be able to reflect critically upon your own social and political views, by recognizing the historical paradigms from which these are derived.

 Assessment Summary:

Essay:  20%

In-class test:  15%

In-class quizzes:  15%

Final exam:  50%

 Essay Late Submission Policy - in cases where you have NOT been granted an extension in advance:

  1. Essays submitted up until two days after the deadline will still be graded, but will lose 5 percentage points available for this assignment
  2. Essays submitted between two days and one week late will still be graded, but will lose 10 percentage points available for this assignment
  3. Essays submitted between one week and two weeks late will still be graded, but will lose 25 percentage points available for this assignment
  4. Essays submitted more than two weeks past the due submission date will not be graded and will result in a mark of 0.

 

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due