Disciplines and areas of study
Politics
Program Coordinator: Professor Dennis Altman.
By its nature, politics is an argumentative discipline. Students of politics look at how power is used in different systems of government, at the way states relate to one another in the international system and at the relationships between local, national and global institutions.
Politics compares the various institutions, processes, beliefs and cultures that societies have developed for settling conflict, ordering priorities and distributing wealth. Students must weigh up competing accounts of what actually happens as well as competing accounts of what ought to happen. The study of politics may be illuminated by knowledge drawn from other disciplines such as anthropology, economics, history, sociology, law, psychology and philosophy.
Politics units are available to students enrolled in any faculty. The number of units that may be taken depends on the rules of the degree for which a student is enrolled.
Programs of study
Students who wish to satisfy the degree requirements by taking a major in politics must take 130 credit points of politics, of which at least 60 credit points must be at third year level. Potential honours students must include POL3POK Politics of Knowledge and/or POL3HON Politics of the Twentieth Century and must have passed 130 credit points of politics or other appropriate units. Potential honours students are also strongly encouraged to take POL2HMP/POL3HMP History of Modern Political Thought.
All units are offered subject to the availability of appropriate staffing and minimum enrolments.
| Teaching period | Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|---|
| First year units (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Australian Politics: government and society | POL1AUP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to Asia: Japan and Indonesia | AST1IJI |
| TE-SEM-1 | States, Nations and Security: world in transition | POL1SNS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Economy, Environment and Human Rights: world in transition | POL1EEH |
| TE-SEM-2 | Introduction to Asia: China and India | AST1ICI |
| TE-SEM-2 | Representation and Participation in Australian Politics | POL1RAP |
| Teaching period | Second year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | International Public Policy2 | POL2IPP |
| Teaching period | Second or third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Contemporary Australian Politics | POL2CAP/POL3CAP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Crises in South Asia: Weapons, Women, Well-being | POL2CSA/POL3CSA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Critical Social Policy1 | SOC2CSP/SOC3CSP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Discover Australia: current issues and debates | SOC2DAU/SOC3DAU |
| TE-SEM-1 | Ethics and International Relations1 | POL2EIR/POL3EIR |
| TE-SEM-1 | The European Union | HIS2EUU/HIS3EUU |
| TE-SEM-1 | International Law and International Organisation | POL2ILO/POL3ILO |
| TE-SEM-1 | International Relations: the Cold War and the great powers | POL2INR/POL3INR |
| TE-SEM-1 | Introduction to American Politics | POL2IAP/POL3IAP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Political Change and Development in the Third World | POL2DDA/POL3DDA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Reconciliation | POL2REC/POL3REC |
| TE-SEM-1 | Sociology of the Environment | SOC2SOE/SOC3SOE |
| TE-SEM-2 | Australian Foreign Policy | POL2AAW/POL3AAW |
| TE-SEM-2 | Australian Political Culture | POL2APC/POL3APC |
| TE-SEM-2 | Ethnicity and Identity: social and political approaches | SOC2EAI/SOC3EAI |
| TE-SEM-2 | History of Modern Political Thought | POL2HMP/POL3HMP |
| TE-SEM-2 | International Relations of the Middle East1 | POL2IME/POL3IME |
| TE-SEM-2 | Liberalism and its Critics1 | POL2LAC/POL3LAC |
| TE-SEM-2 | Nations and States | POL2NAS/POL3NAS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Peace and Change | POL2PAC/POL3PAC |
| TE-SEM-2 | Politics and the Economy | POL2PAE/POL3PAE |
| TE-SEM-2 | The Politics of Economic Regions | POL2PER/POL3PER |
| TE-SEM-2 | Politics of Non-violent Activism | POL2PNV/POL3PNV |
| TE-SEM-2 | Postcolonial Perspectives | ANT2PCP/ANT3PCP |
| TE-SEM-2 | Quantitative Methods in Social Research | SOC2MTB/SOC3MTB |
| TE-SEM-2 | Revolutions in Central Europe3 | POL2RCE/POL3RCE |
| TE-SEM-2 | Social Policy, Welfare and the State | SOC2SWS/SOC3SWS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Society and State in Japan and China | AST2EAS/AST3EAS |
| TE-SEM-2 | South-East Asian Politics: change and conflict | POL2SEA/POL3SEA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Theories of World Politics | POL2TWP/POL3TWP |
| Teaching period | Third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Free Reading A | POL3FRA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Politics of Knowledge1 | POL3POK |
| TE-SEM-2 | Free Reading B | POL3FRB |
| TE-SEM-2 | Politics of the Twentieth Century | POL3HON |
| TE-SEM-2 | Professional Competence – transition to the workplace2 | POL3PCW |
- Key: 1 Not available in 2008.
- 2 Available only to Bachelor of International Relations students.
- 3 New unit.
Specialised politics streams
Students wishing to construct a major around a particular interest or focus should consider the lists of units in the entries on Australian studies, the Bachelor of International Relations, the Bachelor of Social Sciences and the Bachelor of International Development elsewhere in this Handbook.
In choosing from politics units offered at second and third year level, students are recommended to attempt the following units at second year level, before other, more specialised units.
| Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|
| Australian Political Culture | POL2APC/POL3APC |
| Introduction to American Politics | POL2IAP/POL3IAP |
| International Relations: the Cold War and the great powers | POL2INR/POL3INR |
| Australian Foreign Policy | POL2AAW/POL3AAW |
| Nations and States | POL2NAS/POL3NAS |
Honours
The School welcomes enquiries about honours. These may be directed to the Program Convenor or the Honours Coordinator. Honours students normally take at least 100 credit points in politics at second and third year levels, of which at least 60 credit points must be taken at third year level. In the third year, their enrolment must include POL3POK Politics of Knowledge and/or POL3HON Politics in the Twentieth Century, with admission to these units dependent on the achievement of good results in first and second years. Students who achieve sufficiently high results during their first three years and who have completed the requirements for a pass degree may be admitted to the fourth or honours year. The fourth year is intended to give students the opportunity to pursue their interests more deeply, through both unit work and a research thesis.
A list of fourth year units with full descriptions is available from the Politics Office; not all units are necessarily available every year. It should be noted that while these are semester-length units and taught in first semester, the commitment for honours students is for the full year, with their theses being researched and written throughout the year. Students must take two units from the list supplied or from seminars offered in sociology and anthropology. The fourth year thesis should be 12000 to 15000 words in length. Topics are to be approved after consultation with members of the Politics Program.
A full description of these units (including the unit name, unit code, credit points, campus/location, unit coordinator, class requirements, assessment, prerequisites and readings) appears at the end of each discipline entry. A full description of POL units appears below. For the most recent descriptions of all units, please access the unit database at www.latrobe.edu.au/udb_public.