Contemporary political theories

Sodobne politične teorije

Course credits:

6.00 ECTS / 60 (30 hours of lectures, 0 hours of exercises, 30 hours of seminars, 0 hours other forms of work)

Course holder:

izr. prof. dr. Andrej Lukšič

Type:

Required

Language:

Slovenian

Semester:

First semester

Study degree

1. level

Course execution:

• Undergraduate Programme of Political Science - Studies of Politics and the State

Prerequisits:

Students are allowed to participate in the course provided that they have completed the enrolment procedure.

Objectives and competences

The basic objective of the course is to establish a baseline of political science imagery in a systematic but content fragmentary way, so that it contains on the one hand the basic theoretical notions and the basic political concepts written by important selected authors, and on the other the specifics and the elements of differenca specifica that characterize the theoretical production in political science in relation to those produced outside (political philosophy, political anthropology, ethics, theory of public law, etc.). Students will be guided to: - question the dominant and common sense understandings of political theories - get familiar with fragments of the contemporary concept of political science - develop a fragmentary analytical framework through which they can be abel to identify and reflecte at least some of the fenomenon - use the analytical framework to analyse the other teoretical texts - develop their ability to present their results of reading in both written and spoken form.

Content (Syllabus outline)

The course introduces students to various definitions of role of political science in contemporary society, in a way that -elaborates its connection to maintenance and alteration of the democratic order, -divides political science with other social sciences, -introduces the understanding of theoretical concepts in a historical context -analyzes the basic theoretical concepts such as democracy , freedom, the rule of law, the will of the people, sovereignty, private property, social and political power, bureaucracy, -explains importance of bureaucracy training and its democratic supervising, etc.. In addition, it discusses the role and importance of political theory in political science, the role of political science in political practice, different conceptual understanding of the relationship state (policy) - science (profession) - public (civil society actors) as well as the ethical dimension of politics.

Intended learning outcomes:

Knowledge and understanding: With analitical reading of selected literatur students will create an image of the subject which will be upgraded through studies in a comprehensive and systematic knowledge and therefore they will be able to understand political theories in different cognitive levels,

Learning and teaching methods:

Teaching methods are based on the concept of "ignorant teacher", and therefore the emphasis is on the individual and individualized study: management of individual study, studies of texts, guided debates, oral presentation, active (reflective) teaching, lectures, seminars.

Assessment

Written exam 90 %, short seminar paper 10 %

Obligatory literature

Additional literature