EUP412 Political Ideologies

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2011
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ing. Ondřej Císař, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Dufek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Navrátil, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Pavel Pšeja, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Petr Suchý, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Timetable
Tue 12:00–13:30 Studio 527
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The goal of this course is to introduce the students to the political ideologies that have shaped our world and to determine which ideologies will be shaping it in the near future. In this course students will apprehend the philosophical and political bases of liberalism, conservatism, socialism and communism, social democracy, anarchism, libertarianism, nationalism, fascism, feminism, environmentalism, and the ideologies that shaped the processes of globalization and European integration at the end of the 20th century. At the end of the course the students will be able to analytically use the notion of ideology and become familiar with the scholarly background necessary for informed discussions of particular ideologies.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the Course
  • 2. The Concept of Ideology
  • 3. Liberalism
  • 4. Conservatism
  • 5. Nationalism
  • 6. Socialism and Communism
  • 7. Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism and the Third Way
  • 8. Anarchism and Libertarianism
  • 9. Fascism and Nazism
  • 10. Feminism
  • 11. Environmentalism
  • 12. Current Debates: Globalization and Europeanization
  • 13. Reading Week, Individual Consultations
  • 14. Final Test
Literature
  • Contemporary political ideologies. Edited by John Eatwell - Anthony Wright. 2nd ed. London: Pinter, 1999, viii, 296. ISBN 1-85567-606-0. info
  • GUIBERNAU, Montserrat and John REX. The ethnicity :reader : nationalism, multiculturalism and migration. 1st pub. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997, x, 336 s. ISBN 0-7456-1923-1. info
  • VINCENT, Andrew. Modern political ideologies. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995, x, 361 s. ISBN 0-631-19507-6. info
  • WOLFF, Robert Paul. In defense of anarchism. 1st ed. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1970, ix, 86. info
Teaching methods
Individual sessions are divided into the lectures and class discussions. The discussions rely upon the papers written by students, and based on the assigned readings.
Assessment methods
1. Students are expected to read the required reading(s) for each seminar. If there are two or three required readings rather than one, students are expected to read all of them. The optional reading is only for those who have special interest in the topic.
2. Students are encouraged to actively participate in the seminars by posing questions of clarification or bringing up problems for discussion.
3. Students are expected to write six short position papers (300-600 words each) on six different seminar topics. The papers should include a summary of the main points of the required reading(s), a critique of these readings, questions of clarification, and possible questions for discussion.
To enable the organization of the in-class discussion, papers must have three clearly identified sections:
1) a summary section entitled “Summary”;
2) a critique section entitled “Critique”;
3) a section containing questions for discussion entitled “Questions”.
Papers that do not have this structure and contain different points scattered throughout the text will be rejected and will not count towards the student’s grade. The position papers should be sent via e-mail to the lecturer responsible for the respective seminar. The papers should be submitted no later than 1 p. m. of the day before the seminar for which the paper is written.
4. At the end of the semester students should submit a 10-page long final paper on a topic relevant to the course. The final paper should be sent via e-mail to the contact person. The deadline is May 13, 2008.
5. There will be a final in-class written exam, consisting of five questions based on the required readings and the discussions in class.
Evaluation
The final grade will be calculated as a composite evaluation consisting of three parts:
1) Evaluation on the six position papers
2) Evaluation on the final paper
3) Evaluation on the final exam
Students will be awarded 6 points for the submission of six position papers of acceptable quality, in compliance with the required structure of position papers, and in the specified deadline. The points are awarded as a bulk evaluation for the submission of all papers; separate papers do not get points. This means that no points at all will be awarded for the submission of less than six position papers. Late submissions and submission of papers that do not meet the minimal requirements of quality and structure are not acceptable. Each final-exam question gets between 0 and 5 points (max. 25 points overall for the final exam).
Students will be awarded maximum 14 points for the submission of a final paper of acceptable quality. A good term paper would focus on a comparison of two ideologies or thinkers with respect to one selected problem. For example, students can compare the liberal understanding of the state with the conservative one or the conservative view on social revolutions with its socialist counterpart. Students can also opt for a ‘genealogical’ paper, i.e. the paper that will trace how one ideology influenced another one. It is also possible to depict their mutual influences. For example, students can try to sort out what is the relation between nationalism and fascism; social democracy and communism; liberalism and libertarianism. The grade will be calculated on the basis of the number of points collected. In order to complete the course, students must collect at least 27 points (60% of the max. points for all parts, i.e. 45 points).
Grading:
A: 45 - 42
B: 41 - 38
C: 37 - 33
D: 32 - 30
E: 29 - 27
F: 26 and less
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2011, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2011/EUP412