This course introduces students to the basic concepts and methods of moral and political philosophy. Its primary focus is on the development of moral reasoning skills and the application of those skills to contemporary social and political issues. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Discuss several major theories of justice and morality, including utilitarianism, libertarianism, social contract theory, deontology, and the ethics/politics of virtue; Demonstrate how moral and political dilemmas are handled differently by each set of theoretical principles; Develop their analytical skills through interpreting the consequences of various moral principles and revising principles to correspond with their own conceptions of justice; Discuss the relationship between morality and politics; Formulate their own positions concerning moral and political principles, especially in regards to particular issues discussed in this course; Discuss the origins of western democratic politics and constitutional government; Address a range of difficult and controversial moral and political issues, including murder, the income tax, corporate cost-benefit analysis, lying, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. (Philosophy 103)

Dr Vanessa Pupavac defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on disaster politics as a political concept.

Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.

May 2010

Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education

Dr Vanessa Pupavac, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Vanessa Pupavac is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Nottingham. She has previously worked for the UN Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and other international organisations. Dr Vanessa Pupavac's research encompasses international human rights, children's rights, linguistic rights, humanitarian and development politics. In recent years she has been examining the international politics of trauma, that is, the influence of Western therapy culture on international aid policy and the rise of international psychosocial programmes. She is also currently examining international language rights and language politics. Her research is underpinned by an interest in contemporary subjectivity and the crisis of meaning in international politics.

This survey course can be used by students who are looking to take just one general overview course or by those who want to go on to more advanced study in any of the subfields that comprise the political science discipline, such as American politics, comparative politics, international politics, or political theory. The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the discipline's concepts, terminology, and methods and to explore instances of applied political science through real world examples. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Describe and evaluate the concepts of power, legitimacy, and authority; Discuss the origins and developments of the nation-state; Distinguish between traditional and behavioral approaches to the study of politics; Discuss general approaches to the study of politics, such as political philosophy, political systems theory, and political economy; Describe and discuss the political socialization process; Examine the nature of political participation from a comparative perspective; Discuss the nature of public opinion from a comparative perspective; Identify the different types of electoral systems and be able to assess the implications of those systems; Identify the role and functions of political parties; Identify the different types of party systems from a comparative perspective; Describe and evaluate the general principles of presidential and parliamentary political systems; Describe and compare the essential features of at least three governments of Western Europe; Identify and evaluate the principles of authoritarian and totalitarian governments; Discuss the concepts of political development and problems facing developing nations; Discuss and explain the origins and principles of democratic capitalism, democratic socialism, Marxist socialism, national socialism, fascism, and third world ideologies; Describe the origins, development, and principles of international law; Identify and assess the influence of major international organizations; Describe and analyze the causes of international conflict; Analyze current critical issues in international relationships. (Political Science 101)

This graduate-level course focuses on mass political behavior within the American political system. The goal of this course is to give an introduction to some of the major questions in the study of American political behavior, and how people have gone about answering them. The background goal is to help students practice reading work critically, and thinking through the difficulties of social science research, in preparation for individual research projects. The course examines political ideology, public opinion, voting behavior, media effects, racial attitudes, mass-elite relations, and opinion-policy linkages.

We will explore the changing political choices and ethical dilemmas of American scientists from the atomic scientists of World War II to biologists in the present wrestling with the questions raised by cloning and other biotechnologies. As well as asking how we would behave if confronted with the same choices, we will try to understand the choices scientists have made by seeing them in their historical and political contexts. Some of the topics covered include: the original development of nuclear weapons and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the effects of the Cold War on American science; the space shuttle disasters; debates on the use of nuclear power, wind power, and biofuels; abuse of human subjects in psychological and other experiments; deliberations on genetically modified food, the human genome project, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research; and the ethics of archaeological science in light of controversies over museum collections.

As this resource has been one of my best teaching tools, I adapted Enterline’s guide to directly meet the needs of my undergraduate students. This guide identifies the necessary components of a research project, and then breaks them into smaller, more easily accomplished tasks. It provides definitions for key concepts, examples of various components of a project, and suggestions for how to complete the components of a research project. Checklists for each section intended to help students assess their own work are also provided. This guide should be read and referred to repeatedly by students as they engage in political science research for the first time.

This course provides a substantive overview of U.S. politics and an introduction to the discipline of political science. It surveys the institutional foundations of U.S. politics as well as the activities of political elites, organizations, and ordinary citizens. It also explores the application of general political science concepts and analytic frameworks to specific episodes and phenomena in U.S. politics.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.

This module will introduce students to key debates in the study of political behaviour. The module will focus specifically on the core ‘pillars’ of political behaviour (elections, voting, political participation and, to a lesser extent, public opinion). Through the module students will explore theories and methodologies used by political scientists to study these key aspects of political behaviour. Voters, political parties, party members and activists, and forms of political participation more generally will be addressed.

The module will build on the knowledge students might have gained during their undergraduate degrees while introducing them to new debates and literatures. Students will be introduced to, and encouraged to critically assess, major approaches to studying these political phenomena and will gain a firm understanding of the interplay between theory and empirical research.

Module Code: M13128

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 3

Credits:20

Dr Matthew Goodwin, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Matthew Goodwin obtained his BA (First Class Hons) in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford and MA in Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his PhD at the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages at the University of Bath, under the supervision of Professor Roger Eatwell and Professor Anna Cento Bull. Before being appointed Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, Dr Goodwin was Temporary Lecturer at the University of Bath, Research Associate at the University of Manchester and an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Manchester).

At broad level Dr Goddwin's research clusters around electoral behaviour and, to a lesser extent, public policy. His research interests are mainly in extremist political parties and the roots of their support, especially extreme right-wing parties. He also has a strong interest in party membership and activism, and the study of political participation more generally. This research has been published in journals including the European Journal of Political Research, Political Studies and the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (JEPOP), among others. Dr Goodwin has also recently co-edited a volume - The New Extremism in 21st Century Britain (Routledge) which explores support for alternative forms of extremism and implications for public policy, police and practice.

This course is premised on the belief that emotions are a fundamental part of human nature. Accordingly, understanding emotions and incorporating emotions into our research can help us better explain variation in important political phenomena. Research on emotions and how emotions can influence decision-making has dramatically increased over the past two decades. This class aims to pick up on new findings from psychology and other disciplines and marshal this knowledge toward the most important issues of political science.

Political thought, otherwise known as political theory or philosophy, is the study of questions concerning power, justice, rights, law, and other issues pertaining to governance. This course examines major texts in the history of political thought and asks how different views on human nature inform the design of government. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: summarize the passage of political thought through the classical, Renaissance, and Enlightenment periods and based on the works of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and Marx; compare and contrast the differences between Plato and Aristotle with regard to their understandings of the nature of the person, ethics, society, citizenship, and governance; explain the historical and intellectual context in which the political thought that helped to develop the modern state came to be; compare and contrast the concepts of justice, freedom, equality, citizenship, and sovereignty in the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau; explain the different versions of, and importance of, 'the state of nature' to political thought; identify the influences of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on the development of the United States Constitution; summarize the thoughts of Alexis de Tocqueville on the American political landscape, particularly with regard to religion and equality, and why this has importance beyond the American context; explain Karl Marx's world view, with particular regard to his critique of democracy and the modern, politically liberal, state; how it came to be; and its fundamental link to capitalism. (Political Science 201)

This assignment is designed to introduce quantitative reasoning and critical thinking in viewing documentary videos on the issues of development. Students will write a review essay about one of three designated documentaries for the course.

This graduate reading seminar explores the role of religious groups, institutions, and ideas in politics using social science theories. It is open to advanced undergraduate students with permission of the instructor.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.

This module explores and analyses democratic politics in Latin America since the third wave of democratization in the 1980s. It is divided into three parts:

1. Conceptualising democracy in the region with a focus on the debate between those who argue that liberal democracy and liberal markets are necessary and desirable and those who argue that only experiments that go beyond both will truly democratise the region.

2. Explaining problems in democratic development such as lack of participation, representation and citizenship with reference to the political economy of neoliberalism, dependent development and political culture, amongst other theories.

3. Asking the question: who are the actors who will democratise democracy in Latin America, with a focus on political parties, social movements, elites/technocrats and NGOs. All discussions will be contextualised with reference to particular case studies.

Module Code: M13098

Credits: 20

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 3

Dr Sara Motta, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Sara Motta obtained her BA in Philosophy and MSc in The Politics of Development (Latin America) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She completed her PhD at the Department of Government, LSE under the supervision of Dr Francisco Panizza and Professor Rodney Barker in 2005. She was appointed as a three year Tutorial Fellow in Comparative and Latin American Politics in the Government Department, LSE before being appointed to lectureship in Politics at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham in 2007.

Dr Motta's teaching interests are in the broad themes of comparative political economy of the Global South, popular politics and social movements in Latin America, comparative political analysis of democracy and development in Latin America and the politics of knowledge.

Dr Motta's research focus is the politics of subaltern resistance, with particular reference to Latin America.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.

This module introduces students to the intellectual and practical skills they will need for the successful study of politics.

Module Code: M11014

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 1

Credits:10

Professor Philip Cowley, School of Politics and International Relations

Professor Cowley's research interests are primarily in British politics, especially political parties, voting and Parliament.

He has three future projects, one major, two more minor. The first is to write the next volume in the British General Election of xxxx series, with Dennis Kavanagh, taking over from David Butler, after his 50+ years involved in the project. As two side-lines, he is also interested in issues to do with political engagement, and especially the disconnection between politicians and public (although, unlike many who write on this subject, he doesn't assume that this is always the fault of the politicians), as well as ideas for parliamentary reform imported from outside the UK.

Past Research includes moral debates in British politics and the British Conservative Party; study of the behaviour of British MP's since the election of Tony Blair as Prime Minister.

This course examines similarities and differences in politics and political economy in Britain, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. In particular, the course focuses on the structure of political power within the state, and on important institutions that form the link between state and society, especially political parties and interest organizations.

Political Economy I explores the major social science paradigms for analyzing relations among state, economy, and society. Through readings, lectures and discussion of original texts in political liberalism and individualism, neo-classical economics, Marxism, sociological and cultural theories, and neo-institutionalism, the seminar examines the fundamental assumptions on which our understanding of the social world and our research are based.

As taught Spring Semester 2011.

This module studies the implications of the growing use of illicit drugs for the political system from both a national and international perspective. It will examine the production, consumption and trade in drugs as an international problem. The development of, and the issues associated with, contemporary British drug policy will be explored, and policy success or failure will be evaluated. The theoretical/philosophical questions raised by drug control policy will also be explored.

Module Codes: M13035 (20 credits)

Suitable for study at: undergraduate Level

Dr Sue Pryce, School of Politics and International Relations

British and US politics; the premiership, politics and drugs. Modules taught: Power and Leadership; European Union Studies; American Government and Politics; Political Ideas in Revolution; Political Ideas in Conflict; Politics and Drugs (all undergraduate). Current research students: Sayaka Fukumi 'Anti-drug cooperation in Latin America'.