Module POC1028 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC1028: Modern Political Theory
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
The module aims to provide you with an introduction to key topics in modern political theory by presenting major concepts, theoretical debates, historical events and cultural and academic texts. It aims to allow you to interpret and analyse historical arguments by placing them in their context and drawing connections between historical debates and contemporary political issues. The course will provide you with an understanding of core concepts in politics such as the state, rights, power, obligation, citizenship and property.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary political theory ; 2. Demonstrate knowledge of the major historical trends in political theory from the social contract tradition to republicanism, feminism, post-colonialism; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Assimilate taught materials and utilise them to analyse different forms of political contestation; 4. Demonstrate knowledge of major political theories and understand them in their historical context; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Research and write analytical essays; 6. Formulate critical arguments; and 7. Communicate arguments effectively through written submissions. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Political Theory: Ancient and Modern
- Machiavelli Power Politics
- Hobbes: A New Science of Politics
- Locke: Consent and Limited Government
- Rousseau: The Social Contract
- Rousseau and The French Revolution
- The American Revolution and the Federalists
- Radicalising Revolution: Feminism and Slavery
- Marx’s Critique of Alienation
- Marx: The Communist Manifesto
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 27.5 | 122.5 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 11 | 11 x 1 hour tutorials |
| Guided Independent Study | 45 | directed reading |
| Guided Independent Study | 6 | completing the formative research outline |
| Guided Independent Study | 26.5 | completing the essay |
| Guided Independent Study | 45 | studying for the exam |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
John Locke, Two Treatises on Government
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
Maximilien Robespierre, The Justification of the Use of Terror
Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Christopher Rose, The Haitian Revolution
Anthony Bogues, The Dual Haitian Revolution and the Making of Freedom in Modernity
Leslie Thiele, Theory and Politics
Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future
Karl Marx , The Communist Manifesto
