Disciplines and areas of study
Politics
Program Coordinator: Dr Nick Bisley
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 and how they operate.
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 subjects are available to students enrolled in any faculty. The number of subjects that may be taken depends on the rules of the degree for which a student is enrolled.
Programs of study
Politics Major
To complete a major in politics students must complete:
- a politics core subject at each year level of their degree,
- 30 credit points at first year level,
- 40 credit points at second-year level and
- at least 60 credit points at third year level of subjects from the list below.
Potential honours students must include POL3HON Politics of the Twentieth Century and must have passed 130 credit points of politics or other appropriate subjects. Potential honours students are also strongly encouraged to take POL2HMP/POL3HMP History of Modern Political Thought.
All subjects are offered subject to the availability of appropriate staffing and minimum enrolments.
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| First year core subjects (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Australian Politics: government and society | POL1AUP |
| OR | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | States, Nations and Security: world in transition | POL1SNS |
| Second year core subject (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Political Ideas and Ideologies | POL2PID |
| Third year core subject (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-2 | Doing Politics | POL3DOP |
| Teaching period | Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|---|
| First year subjects (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 |
| Second year subjects (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | International Public Policy 2 | POL2IPP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Political Ideas and Ideologies | POL2PID |
| Second or third year subjects (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | American Politics | POL2IAP/POL3IAP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Anthropology of Popular Culture | ANT2PCP/ANT3PCP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Contemporary Australian Politics | POL2CAP/POL3CAP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Contemporary Politics of the Asia Pacific Region | POL2CPA/POL3CPA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Discover Australia: current issues and debates | SOC2DAU/SOC3DAU |
| TE-SEM-1 | The European Union | HIS2EUU/HIS3EUU |
| TE-SEM-1 | International Relations: the Cold War and the great powers | POL2INR/POL3INR |
| TE-SEM-1 | Nature, Conservation and Society: the human impact | SOC2SOE/SOC3SOE |
| TE-SEM-1 | Peace and Change | POL2PAC/POL3PAC |
| TE-SEM-1 | Political Change and Development in the Third World | POL2DDA/POL3DDA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Politics of Nonviolent Activism | POL2PNV/POL3PNV |
| TE-SEM-1 | Society and State in Japan and China | POL2EAS/POL3EAS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Crises in South Asia: weapons, women, well-being | POL2CSA/POL3CSA |
| TE-SEM-2 | History of Modern Political Thought | POL2HMP/POL3HMP |
| TE-SEM-2 | International Law and International Organisation | POL2ILO/POL3ILO |
| TE-SEM-2 | Migration, States and Societies | POL2MSS/POL3MSS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Nations and States | POL2NAS/POL3NAS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Quantitative Methods in Social Research | SOC2MTB/SOC3MTB |
| TE-SEM-2 | South-East Asian Politics: change and conflict | POL2SEA/POL3SEA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Theories of World Politics | POL2TWP/POL3TWP |
| TE-SEM-2 | The World since 1945: historical justice in the modern world | HIS2WOR/HIS3WOR |
| TE-SEM-2 | Twentieth Century Europe: politics, ideologies and stories | POL2TCE/POL3TCE |
| Third year subjects (20 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Free Reading A | POL3FRA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Free Reading B | POL3FRB |
| TE-SEM-2 | Politics of the Twentieth Century | POL3HON |
| TE-SEM-2 | Professional Competence – transition to the workplace 2 | POL3PCW |
Key: 2 Available only to Bachelor of International Relations students.
| Subject title | Subject code |
|---|---|
| Second or third year subjects (20 credit points) | |
| Australian Foreign Policy | POL2AAW/POL3AAW |
| Australian Political Culture | POL2APC/POL3APC |
| Doing Politics | POL3DOP |
| Ethnicity and Identity: social and political approaches | SOC2EAI/SOC3EAI |
| International Relations of the Middle East | POL2IME/POL3IME |
| Liberalism and its Critics | POL2LAC/POL3LAC |
| Politics and the Economy | POL2PAE/POL3PAE |
| Revolutions in Central Europe | POL2RCE/POL3RCE |
| Social Policy, Welfare and the State | SOC2SWS/SOC3SWS |
| The Politics of Economic Regions | POL2PER/POL3PER |
Specialised politics streams
Students wishing to construct a major around a particular interest or focus should consider the lists of subjects 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.
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 POL3HON Politics in the Twentieth Century, with admission to this subject 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 subject work and a research thesis.
A list of fourth year subjects with full descriptions is available from the Politics Office; not all subjects are necessarily available every year. It should be noted that while these are semester-length subjects 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 subjects from the list supplied or from seminars offered in the School of Social Sciences. The fourth year thesis should be 12,000 to 15,000 words in length. Topics are to be approved after consultation with members of the Politics Program.