NationalResearchUniversity
“Higher School of Economics”
International College of Economics and Finance
Syllabus of the course
“POLITICAL SCIENCE”
Author Valeri Ledyaev
Moscow, 2013
POLITICAL SCIENCE
1. Lecturer: Valeri Ledyaev
Class teacher:Valeri Ledyaev.
2. Course description:
Political science is an optional one semester course for the second year students (HSE program). Prerequisites: students are supposed to be familiar with Intellectualhistory of Europeand World history.The course is taught in Russian and in English.
The aim of the course is to give students basic knowledge of politics and government. In the first section of the course we will analyse basic political concepts. In the second section of the course we will focus on political values and ideologies. Topics covered in the third part of the course include major political institutions (state, political parties, preassure groups, elections, etc.). The last section examines political regimes and transition to democracy. Throughout the course we will discuss major themes and issues in Russian politics.
3. Teaching objectives:
By the end of this course the students will have learned about
- basic political concepts (politics, power, authority, state, government, political regime, democracy, political culture etc.)
- major theories of politics and ideologies (Marxism, elitism, pluralism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism)
- political values (freedom, equality, justice, etc.)
- contemporary political systems
- political process in modern RussiaThe course is part of the program of HSE and is taught in Russian and English.
4. Teaching methods:
The following methods of teaching will be used:
- lectures (2 hours a week)
- classes (2 hours a week)
- participant presentation
- teacher’s consultations
- small group work
- essay writing
- self-study
5. Distribution of hours:
No / Topic titles / Total hours / Contact hours / Self studyLectures / Seminars
1. / Politics as a subject of study / 8 / 2 / 2 / 4
2. / Terms of political discourse / 8 / 2 / 2 / 4
3. / Power / 8 / 4 / 2 / 4
4. / State / 12 / 2 / 4
5. / Political authority and domination / 4 / 2 / 4
6. / Human nature and politics / 4 / 2 / 4
7. / Freedom / 4 / 2 / 4
8. / Equality / 4 / 2 / 4
9. / Justice / 4 / 2 / 4
10. / Political ideologies / 12 / 6 / 4
11. / The Constitution of the Russian Federation / 4 / 2 / 4
12. / Political parties, pressure groups and social movements / 14 / 4 / 2 / 6
13. / Political culture / 12 / 4 / 2 / 6
14. / Political participation / 12 / 4 / 2 / 6
15. / Political regimes / 12 / 4 / 4 / 6
Total: / 128 / 30 / 30 / 68
6. Assessment:
Current control on seminars
Individualtesting
Presentation
Essay
Written exam (180 minutes)
7. Grade determination:
Course grade consists of three parts:
final exam (40 %)
classes(35 %)
essay(25 %)
8. Main reading:
Birch A.H. The Concepts and Theories of Modern Democracy. L., 2007 (В).
Heywood A. Political Theory. An Introduction. Basingstoke, 2004 (H).
Tansey S. Politics: The Basics. 2nded. L., 2008 (T).
Политический процесс: основные аспекты и способы анализа /Под ред. Мелешкиной Е.Ю. М., 2001 (М).
Политология /Под ред. В.И. Буренко. М., 2012 (Б)
Политология: учебник /Под ред. М.А. Василика. М., 2003 (П).
9. Additional reading:
Comparative Politics Today /Ed. by Gabriel Almond and G. Bingham Powell Jr. NY, 2004. Hoffman J., Graham P. Introduction to Political Theory. L., 2009.
Orum A.M., Dale J.G. Political Sociology. Power and Political Participation in the Modern World. NY, 2009.
The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology /Ed. by Kate Nash and Alan Scott. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004.
The Handbook of Political Sociology. States, Civil Societies, and Globalisation /Ed. by Thomas Janoski, Robert R. Alford, Alexander M. Hicks and Mildred A. Schwartz. Cambridge, 2005.
Thomas G. Introduction to Political Philosophy. L., 2000.
Vincent A. The Nature of Political Theory.Oxford, 2008.
Алексеева Т.А. Политическая философия. М., 2007.
Антология мировой политической мысли. В 5-ти тт. М., 1997.
Категории политической науки. М., 2002.
Крыштановская О.А. Анатомия российской элиты. М., 2005.
Ледяев В.Г. Власть: концептуальный анализ. М., 2001.
ЯсинЕ. ПриживетсялидемократиявРоссии. М., 2012.
Reader and Electronic Reader contend most of the recommended texts. Main texts are also available on ICEF-online.
10. Internet resources:
11. Course outline:
1. Politics as a subject of study
Politics as a subject of study. Origin of political science. History of the discipline. Political science in Russia. Structure and methods of political science. Political science and other social sciences. Reasons for studying politics in universities. Major themes and issues in the study of Russian politics. Perspectives in political science. Different approaches in the study of politics.
П (6-40).
2. Terms of political discourse
Conceptual framework. Basic problems in defining political concepts. Idea of essential contestedness of political concepts. Basic political concepts. Politics. Policy. Polity. Political actor. Political institutions. Political system. Political process. Government. Politicalvalues.
Б (75-83); Ледяев В.Г. О сущностной оспариваемости политических понятий // Полис. 2003. № 2.
3. Power
Power as essentially contested concept. Basic problems in defining power. Forms, bases and uses of power. Force, coercion, inducement, persuasion, manipulation, authority. Hidden forms of power. Main traditions in defining power. Multidimensional conceptions of power. “Power” in a normative discourse.Power and domination. Political power. Forms, manifestations and indicators of political power. Theories of political power. Marxist theories of political power. Elitism. Pluralism.
ЛедяевВ.Г. Власть: концептуальныйанализ. М., 2001 (25-58); Б (83-98).
4. State
Concept of state. Defining features of the state. Sovereignty. State authority. Territory of the state. Compulsory and universal jurisdiction of the state. Rule of law. State and government. Theories of the state. Role and functions of the state. Types of states. Monarchy. Republic. Presidential, parliamentary and mixed systems of government. Unitary states and federations. Welfare state. State and government in Russia.
П (298-336).
5. Political authority and domination
Concept of authority. Main traditions in defining authority. De jure authority and de facto authority. In authority and an authority. Authority and coercion. Authority and persuasion. Authority and power. Forms of authority. Personal authority. Traditional authority. Legal authority. Institutionalisation of authority. Political authority. Political authority and political power. Authority and legitimacy. The ground of political authority. The basis of political authority: divine right, knowledge, and consent-based theories.Rejection of political authority. Anarchism. Domination. Types of domination.
Thomas G. Introduction to Political Philosophy. L., 2000. (63-77); ЛедяевВ.Г. Власть: концептуальныйанализ. М., 2001 (295-303); Ледяев В.Г. Господство // Большая российская энциклопедия. Т. 7 (508-509).
6. Humannatureandpolitics
Concept of human nature. Man as a political animal (Aristotle). Man in a “natural” state (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau). Man as a set of social relations (Marx). “Pessimistic” vs “optimistic” view of human nature. Nature versus nurture. Intellect versus instinct. Competition vs cooperation. Individualism vs collectivism. Modern explanations of human nature: psychoanalyst tradition (S. Freud, G. Marcuse, E. Fromm) and existentialism (J.P. Sartre). Human nature and political arguments.
H (15-50).
7. Freedom
Conceptions of freedom in the history of political thought. “Freedom” in different political ideologies. Liberalism and freedom. Negative vs positive freedom. Types and sources of constraints. Freedom and necessity. Types and sources of constraints. Freedom and responsibility. Freedom and equality. Freedom and democracy. Personal freedom and free society. Conditions of freedom. Freedom and law. Political rights and liberties. Political freedom and political regime.
В (159-176).
8. Equality
Conceptions of equality in the history of political thought. Forms of equality and inequality. Egalitarianism. Human nature and equality. Formal equality. Foundational equality. “All men are created equal”. Left and right interpretations of equality. Equality of outcome. Equality of opportunity. Social equality. Natural inequalities and social inequality. Economic equality. Political equality and political inequality. Liberal equality. Democratic equality. Decentralisation of political and economic power and equality. Gender inequality. Racial inequality. Reverse discrimination. For and against equality.
H (285-293); Gutmann A. Equality // Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Blackwell, 1995 (136-139).
9. Justice
Concept of justice. Legal justice. Social justice. Distributive justice. Procedural justice. Principles of justice. ‘To each according to his needs’. ‘To each according to his rights’. ‘To each according to his deserts’.Utilitarianism and justice. Rawls’ theory of justice. Justice as fairness. Communitarianism, libertarianism and anarchism against Rawls’ theory of justice. Theory of minimal state (R. Nozick).
H (294-302).
10. Political ideologies
Concept of ideology. Basic theories of ideology (K. Marx, K. Mannheim, K. Popper). Ideology and political theory. Functions of political ideologies. Classification of ideologies. The future state of ideologies. Liberalism. Classical and modern liberalism. Variations in modern liberalism. Libertarianism. Conservatism. Traditionalism and fundamentalism. Thatcherism. Christian democracy. New Right. Socialism and communism. Classical and modern Marxism. Leninism. “Command socialism”. Revisionism. Social democracy. Market socialism. Ethical socialism. Communitarianism. Fascism and right-wing ideologies. Italian fascism and German national-socialism. Modern fascism and nazism. Islamic fundamentalism. Left radicalism. Feminism. Ecology as political radicalism. Anarchism.
П( 406-447); T (67-101).
11. The Constitution of the Russian Federation
Concept of Constitution. Role and functions of constitutions. Types of constitutions. Constitutions in the USSR and the Russian Federation. Constitution of 1993. The Fundamentals of the Constitutional System.Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen.The Federal Structure.The President of the Russian Federation.The Federal Assembly. Separation of powers. Checks and balances. Constitution and political regime in Russia.
П (329-336); Конституция РФ. М., 2011; Хейвуд А. Политология. М., 2005. С. 358-373.
12. Political parties, pressure groups and social movements
Articulation and aggregation of interests. Representation in politics. Models of political representation. Basic representative institutions. The nature of modern political parties.Party systems. Variations in modern political parties and party systems. Parties and party system in Russia. Pressure groups. Types of pressure groups. Social movements. “Newsocialmovements”. PressuregroupsandsocialmovementsinRussia.
П (336-362); Гельман В.Я. Политические партии в России: от конкуренции – к иерархии // Полис. 2008. № 5. С.135-152.
13. Political culture
Political culture as a subject of study. The structure of political culture. Procedural and substantial aspects of political culture. Political attitudes and orientations. Political socialisation. Political culture and political institutions. Political culture and political change. Types of political culture. Parochial culture, subject culture, participant culture and their combinations. Civic culture. Dominant culture and subcultures. Homogeneous and fragmented political cultures. Western and oriental political culture. “Clash of civilisations”.Dominant political culture in Russia: continuity and change. Historical, geographical, religious and other factors of Russian politics and culture.Political culture and perspectives of liberal democracy in Russia.
П (363-386); МалиноваО.Ю. Исследованияполитическойкультуры. М., 2002 (55-74);ЯсинЕ. ПриживетсялидемократиявРоссии. М., 2012 (521-530).
14. Politicalparticipation
Conceptofpoliticalparticipation. Typesofpoliticalparticipation. Democratictheoryandparticipation. Participation in different political regimes. Problems of collective action. Absenteeism.Political participation and social cleavages.Voting behaviour. Rational and irrational in voting behaviour. Sociological theories of voting behaviour. Party identification theory. Theories of rational voting behaviour. Ideology and voting behaviour. Issue voting. Retrospective voting. Voting behaviour in Russia.
Б (203-213); M (152-190).
15. Political regimes
Concept of political regime. Basic elements of political regime. Classifications of political regimes. Totalitarian regimes. Sources of totalitarianism. Origin of totalitarianism. Fascist and communist totalitarian regimes. Post-totalitarian regimes. Sovietological theories of political regime in the USSR. Authoritarian regimes. Types of authoritarianism. Absolute monarchy. Military regimes. Bureaucratic regimes. Oligarchy. Populist regimes. Sultanistic regimes. Defect democracies. Political regime in Russia.
П (231-271);МеркельВ., КруассанА. Формальныеинеформальныеинститутывдефектныхдемократиях // Полис. 2002. № 1-2; Демократия: развитиероссийскоймодели. М., 2008 (7-22, 70-73).
Syllabus is prepared by V. Ledyaev05.07.2013
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