EUP412 Political Ideologies

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2013
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Dufek, 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.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:30 U33
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. Socialism, Communism and Social Democracy
  • 6. Anarchism and Libertarianism
  • 7. Reading Week
  • 8. Nationalism
  • 9. Fascism and Nazism
  • 10. Feminism
  • 11. Environmentalism
  • 12. Current Debates: Globalization and Europeanization
  • 13. Final Test (first slot)
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 position papers written by students, and based on the assigned readings.
Assessment methods
Course Requirements and Evaluation:
There are three types of requirements for passing that are necessary to be fulfilled: (1) position papers; (2) final essay; (3) final exam. Students are awarded points for all of these, which then make up the final grade. Also, students are expected to attend the classes and discuss their position papers
1. Compulsory Readings and Position Papers
Students are expected to read the assigned reading(s) for each seminar. If there are two or more required readings, students should read and comment upon all of them. The optional texts are only for those who have a special interest in the given topic and will not be included.
Based on the readings, students are required to write no less than five short position papers (300-600 words each) on six different seminar topics. Students are thus encouraged to actively participate in the seminars, based on their preparation for the classes. To enable the organization of the discussion, papers thus must have three clearly identified sections (this is a strict requirement):
1) Summary of the main points of the assigned reading(s), entitled “Summary”;
2) Critical discussion of the most interesting or most questionable parts of the readings, entitled “Critique”;
3) Questions of clarification and/or questions for in-class 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. Each position paper will be assessed according to these criteria and will receive 0-2 points. Late submissions and submission of papers that do not meet the minimal requirements of quality and structure are not acceptable. Students are free to submit more than five position paper during the term; these extra ones will count towards the final grade.
Position papers have to be uploaded to the course’s Study Materials -> Position papers section in the Information System no later than 6 p.m. of the day before the seminar for which the paper is written (i.e. Monday)

2. Final Essay
At the end of the semester students should submit a 10-page long final paper on a topic relevant to the course (10 standard pages, i.e. 18 000 characters, or circa 2800 words). There is no possibility of re-submission once the paper is evaluated, so students are strongly advised not to underestimate this requirement. The final paper should be uploaded to the course’s Study Materials -> Final Essays section. The deadline is May 10 (Friday), 2013.
Students will be awarded maximum 15 points for the submission of a final paper of a good quality. The paper should focus on a comparison of two ideologies or thinkers with respect to one selected issue or 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 comparative aspect is a strict requirement and will be reflected in the point score awarded.

3. Written Exam
There will be a final in-class written exam, consisting of five questions based both on the required readings and the contents of the lectures and in-class discussions. Each answer will be awarded 0–5 points (i.e. max. 25 points overall).

Evaluation Summary
The final grade will be calculated as a composite evaluation consisting of three parts:
1) Evaluation of the position papers (0-10 points; 20 %)
2) Evaluation of the final paper (0-15 points; 30 %)
3) Evaluation of the final exam (0-25 points; 50 %)
The maximum is 50 points; in order to pass, students must collect at least 30 points (60% of the maximum). Keep in mind that in order to pass, all three types of requirement have to be fulfilled.

Grading scheme:
A (Excellent): 50–45 points
B (Very Good): 44–40 points
C (Good): 39–36 points
D (Satisfactory): 35–32 points
E (Sufficient): 31–29 points
F (Failed): 30 points and less

Workload
5 position papers (300-600 words each)
1 final paper (10 standard pages)
445 pages of required reading (app. 45 pages per week)
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 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2013, recent)
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