EUP412 Political Ideologies

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Stanislav Balík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Dufek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Jan Holzer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Petr Hušek (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Patrik Taufar, MA, E.MA, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
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 11:30–13:00 M117
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
Political ideologies are belief systems that shape our views on how the world is to be understood and explained and provide the cognitive and normative bases for political action. The goal of this course is to discuss 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, and environmentalism. The seminars will draw on the introductory analysis of the notion of ideology provided in the beginning of the course that will establish the necessary scholarly background for informed in-class discussions of particular ideologies. Upon completing the course, students will have acquired systematic understanding of the nature, development, main features, and major impacts of modern political ideologies. Based on the acquired knowledge, students will know how to identify and analyze the ideological background of various political movements and organizations, as well as interpret their stance towards the liberal democratic regime
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the Course
  • 2. The Concept of Ideology
  • 3. Liberalism
  • 4. Socialism, Communism and Social Democracy
  • 5. Conservatism
  • 6. Fascism and Nazism
  • 7. Antisemitism and Political Ideologies
  • 8. Reading Week
  • 9. Nationalism
  • 10. Anarchism and Libertarianism
  • 11. Feminism
  • 12. Environmentalism
  • 13. Final Test
Literature
  • The Oxford handbook of political ideologies. Edited by Lyman Tower Sargent - Marc Stears - Michael Freeden. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, xiii, 736. ISBN 9780199585977. info
  • VINCENT, Andrew. Modern political ideologies. 3rd ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, x, 382. ISBN 9781405154956. info
  • Reassessing political ideologies : the durability of dissent. Edited by Michael Freeden. 1st pub. London: Routledge, 2001, viii, 216. ISBN 0415255724. 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
  • Feminism in our time : the essential writings, world war II to the present. Edited by Miriam Schneir. 1st ed. New York: Vintage books, 1994, xvi, 503. ISBN 0679745084. info
Teaching methods
Sessions will combine lectures and in-class discussions. Students are expected to submit position papers dealing with the respective topics 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 (“core readings”). If there are two or more required readings, students should briefly summarise all of them and then proceed to discuss, criticize etc. only selected topics or issues (depending on one’s preferences). The optional texts are provided for those who have a special interest in the given topic.
Based on the readings, students are required to write no less than five short position papers (300-600 words each) on five different seminar topics. Students are thus encouraged to actively participate in the seminars, based on their preparation for the classes). To enable the flow of the discussion, papers thus should 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”.
We emphasise that the discussion section, linked, ideally, to the subsequent questions, should represent the most substantial part of the position paper – i.e. PPs that are merely summaries of core readings, or do not follow this structure, or contain different points scattered throughout the text, will be assessed accordingly or even rejected (in such a case they will not count towards the student’s overall grade). The questions asked shall relate to the readings or the topic as such; please do not inquire about things we cannot know :). Also, please avoid asking question which have been clearly answered by the authors of the assigned readings, or the answers to which are two Google clicks removed from you.
Each position paper 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 papers 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 2 p.m. of the day before the seminar for which the paper is written (i.e. Sunday afternoon). We advise students to submit their PPs before weekend days though, if possible.

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 8 (Friday), 2015.
Students will be awarded maximum 15 points for the submission of a final paper of good quality. The paper should focus on a comparison of two ideologies or thinkers with respect to a selected issue or problem. For example, students can compare the liberal understanding of the state with the feminist one; the conservative view on social revolutions with its socialist counterpart; or the environmentalist and understanding of the nature of man. 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. Students may also come up with topics that correspond with their wider study interests, however these shall stay within the topical bounds of the course.
We also encourage students to delve deeper and try to reflect critically upon the substantive problems or questions they encounter in their writing or the build-up to their writing, although this option presupposes adequate familiarity with the given topic.
Not least, the essays shall comply with common standards of academic writing, as regards e.g. sources and references, clear structure of the explication, solid linguistic and stylistic quality etc.

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). The first exam slot will take place on May 11th, the rest during the exam period.

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)
ca. 580 pages of required reading (approximately 58 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 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2016/EUP412