THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES

166-108
Introduction to Political Ideas
Subject Guide
Semester Two, 2009

The website for this subject is available through the Learning Management
System at: http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/login/

Weekly Lecture powerpoint notes, subject updates and bibliographies will be

available through the website. You will require a university email account
(username and password) to access the learning management system. You can
activate your university email account at:
http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/email/student/activating.html

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1.Subject Overview

Students who complete this subject should: have an appreciation of the range of political
ideas that have motivated and expressed the interests and needs of large groups of people
since Athenian democracy; be familiar with the development and principal arguments of
the major schools of political thought in the past 250 years; have a more detailed
knowledge of the development and principal arguments of one major school of political
thought since the Enlightenment; and have improved their critical and analytical skills in
the area of political theory and their ability to express their ideas in written form.

2.Learning Objectives

Students who complete this subject should: be able to conduct research through the
competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of
inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays; be able to conceptualise
theoretical problems, form judgements, present arguments and communicate critically
and creatively through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations.

3.Teaching Staff

Subject Coordinator/Lecturer: Professor Verity Burgmann

Office Location: Room 441 John Medley
Phone: 83447943
Fax: 83447906
Email: vnb@unimelb.edu.au
Consultation hours: Mondays 2.15-3.15, Wednesdays 12-1, or by appointment.

Head Tutor/Assistant Coordinator: Chris Coney coney@unimelb.edu.au

Tutors: Chris Coney, Justin George, Felicity Grey, Jack Roberts, Sharif Shuja.
Office Locations: Rooms 406 or 422 John Medley
Fax: 83447906
Consultation hours: indicated on their office doors.

Enquiries and concerns should normally be addressed to your tutor or Chris Coney.

3.Subject Structure

Students are expected to attend twelve 2-hour lectures and eleven 1-hour tutorials during
the semester. Tutorials commence in Week 2. You will be assigned a tutorial time
through Alloc8. A week by week timetable of the lectures and tutorials is in this subject
guide. The lectures are on Wednesdays 10.00 to 12.00 in the Spot Basement Theatre.
There will be a short break around 11.

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4.Attendance and Participation Requirements

Attendance at all lectures and tutorials is expected. Apologies for absence from tutorials
are also expected.

The School’s policy on tutorial attendance is that 1st year students must attend a minimum
of 75% of tutorials.

5.Assessment

1.Short Reflective Essay of 500 words, worth 12.5%, due on Wednesday 19 August

There is no need to provide references for this essay. It is like writing an essay in an
exam, but not under exam conditions. You should write it on the basis of information you
have gained from the lectures and from wider reading. The essay topic is:

‘It is pointless to study political ideas developed in societies so far removed in time as
those of the ancient, medieval and early modern worlds. Nothing of any value can be
gleaned from the writings of political philosophers from Confucius and the classical
Greeks through to the end of the seventeenth century.’ Discuss.

In addition to the general textbooks listed under Readings, the following books are useful
for this task:

Bruce Haddock, A History of Political Thought. From Antiquity to the Present, Polity,
Cambridge, 2008.
Murray Forsyth and Maurice Keens-Soper, A Guide to the Political Classics. Plato to
Rousseau, Oxford University Press, 1988.
David Muschamp (ed.), Political Thinkers, Macmillan, Melbourne,1986.
Jene M. Porter (ed.), Classics in Political Philosophy, Prentice-Hall Canada, Scarborough
Ont., 1989.
George H. Sabine, A History of Political Theory, 3rd edition, George G. Harrap, London,
1963.
Walter Ullmann, A History of Political Thought: The Middle Ages, Penguin,
Harmondsworth, 1965.

2.Research Essay of 1,500 words, worth 37.5%, due on Wednesday 16 September.

This essay should involve analysis of both primary sources and secondary literature
pertaining to the school(s) of political theory relevant to the question. The essay questions
are on the last page of this subject guide, and relevant Further Readings, mainly book
titles of both primary and secondary sources, are on the subject website under Resources.
These lists are lengthy so you should exercise discernment in assessing which titles are
likely to be helpful in answering your chosen question and also use your library skills to
pursue additional material especially relevant to the question, such as journal articles.

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3.Examination of 2 Hours, worth 50%, during Examination Period.

There will be one question on each of the eleven documents in the Reading Pack and you
will be required to answer eight questions. These questions will primarily test your
familiarity with these documents but also your understanding of how these documents
relate to the school of thought of which they are a part. Each of the eight questions you
will answer is worth 5% and should be answered in about 250 words, so the questions
will be simple and straightforward. The best way to prepare is to attend lectures and
tutorials, and make notes on the documents in the Reading Pack.

4.Tutorial Attendance: attendance of at least 75% of tutorials is a hurdle

requirement for passing this subject.

6.Submitting Assessment

Assignments must be submitted through the designated assignment slot at the School
Office (John Medley West Tower Level 4). A completed and signed cover sheet must be
attached to all submitted assignments. This is available from the office counters and at
http://www.politics.unimelb.edu.au/courses/forms.html.

In accordance with School policy, assignments will not be accepted via fax or email.

You are expected to retain a copy of all work submitted for assessment.

7.Late Assignments

The official School policy on the submission of late work without being granted a formal
extension, states that you will have 2 percentage marks deducted, from that piece of
assessment, per working day up to a maximum of 5 working days after which the piece of
assessment will be marked on a pass/fail basis only, which means the highest mark you
can obtain is 50%.

The final deadline for submission of all work to be assessed is the last day of the
examination period for that particular semester, in which the piece of assessment will be
marked on a pass/fail basis only. After this date, work will not be accepted or assessed.

8.Extensions

Extensions are only granted in circumstances clearly beyond your control, such as
accident, illness, bereavement, flood, fire and pestilence etc. Lack of planning is not an
acceptable reason.

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Students may request a short-term extension for written work (ie. less than one week)
with tutors. Longer-term extensions must be approved by the Head Tutor, Chris Coney.
Extensions are not normally granted after due dates have passed. An extension of time
beyond a deadline will be given only for a reason that falls within the guidelines for
Special Consideration. A specific date will then be agreed upon and enforced unless
evidence for additional Special Consideration is produced.

To apply for an extension, students must complete an Extension Application Form

available from the School office and submit it there (along with any supporting
documentation where possible) prior to the submission date. Students will then be
notified of the outcome of the application.

Please refer to the Student Information System for further information about Special
Consideration.

9.Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s work (or a resubmitted version of one’s own
work) without due acknowledgment. Plagiarism includes: direct copying from a book
article, web site, or another student's assignment; paraphrasing another person’s work
with minor changes, but keeping the meaning, form and/or progression of ideas of the
original; piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole; submitting an
assignment that has already been submitted for assessment in another subject; and
presenting an assignment as independent work when it has been produced in whole or
part in collusion with other people, for example, another student or a tutor.

Plagiarism is academic misconduct, and is taken very seriously by the University and
the School of Social and Political Sciences. Any acts of suspected plagiarism detected by
your assessors will be followed up, and any students involved will be required to respond
via the Faculty and/or University procedures for handling suspected plagiarism. For more
information and advice about how to avoid plagiarism, see the University’s Academic
Honesty page at http://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au/advice.html.

If you have any concerns about how to appropriately acknowledge sources in your
assignments, please see the School’s Guide to the Writing and Presentation of Essays at
http://www.politics.unimelb.edu.au/courses/undergraduate/Essaywri.doc

This document is also available in the reading pack.

10.Readings

All required readings for this subject are included in the subject reading pack,
which is available for purchase from the University Bookshop. Required readings
represent the minimum expected for you to participate effectively in class.

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The required readings in this reading pack are the primary source documents
discussed in the tutorial program, which are also the basis for the examination. It is
essential for this course that you buy this from the Bookshop.

In addition, you should buy the recommended textbook, from the Bookshop or elsewhere.

Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies. An Introduction, 4th edition, Palgrave

Macmillan, London, 2007.

Also of great value is:

Matthew Festenstein and Michael Kenny (eds), Political Ideologies. A Reader and
Guide, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.

Festenstein and Kenny contains a collection of primary source documents for most of the
schools of thought studied in the course, plus a useful introductory essay on each.
Heywood does not contain primary source materials, but has a more extensive essay
about each school of thought.

Also extremely useful are:

Terence Ball and Richard Dagger, Ideals and Ideologies, Pearson Longman, New York,
7th edition, 2008.
Ian Adams, Political Ideology Today, Manchester University Press, 1993.
Leon P. Baradat, Political Ideologies. Their Origins and Impact, 10th edition, Pearson
Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2009.
David Ingersoll et al, The Philosophic Roots of Modern Ideology, Prentice Hall, New
jersey, 2001.
Roy C Macridis and Mark Hulliung, Contemporary Political Ideologies. Movements and
Regimes, 6th edition, Harper Collins, 1996.
L.T.Sargent, Contemporary Political Ideologies. A Comparative Analysis, 14th edition,
Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.
John Morrow, History of Political Thought, Macmillan, 1998.
Andrew Vincent, Modern Political Ideologies, 3rd edition, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester,
2010.
Robert Eccleshall et al, Political Ideologies. An Introduction, 2nd edition, Routledge,
London and New York, 1994.
Max J. Skidmore, Ideologies. Politics in Action, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego,
1989
M.A. Riff (ed.), Dictionary of Modern Political Ideologies, Manchester Uni. Press, 1987.

Other textbooks that deal with individual political thinkers are:

Iain Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought. Major Political Thinkers

from Hobbes to Marx, Blackwell, Oxford, 1992.
David Thomson (ed.), Political Ideas, Penguin Books, 1966.

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Further readings relevant to each of the schools of thought are listed in the bibliographies
on the subject website. These will assist you in your research essay. The bibliographies
are general ones for each school of thought, so you should use your academic judgement
in selecting appropriate titles to assist you in answering the question. You should also
endeavour to find titles not listed, especially academic journal articles, because the
literature available is vast and cannot possibly be listed adequately.

Some of the most useful journals are History of Political Thought, Journal of Theoretical
Politics and Political Theory.

It is expected that you will develop your own learning and knowledge through wider
reading and research, particularly with regard to completion of assessment items.

11.Learning Management System

The website for this subject is available through the Learning Management
System at: http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/login/

Weekly Lecture notes, subject updates and bibliographies will be available

through the website. You will require a university email account (username
and password) to access the learning management system. You can activate
your university email account at:
http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/email/student/activating.html

The LMS is your online portal into this subject. It is an important source of information,
including lecture powerpoint notes, useful resources and links. It is also the main source
of communication outside class hours for this subject. Important announcements and
updates about the subject will be made through the LMS.

It is your responsibility to regularly check in with the LMS for subject

announcements and updates.

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Lecture Program

The two-hour lecture is 10-12.00 on Wednesdays, with a five-minute break halfway,

in the Spot Basement Theatre in Economics and Commerce Building, 198 Berkeley St.

Week One (29 July)

CLASSICAL & MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

Week Two (5 August)

EARLY MODERN & ENLIGHTENMENT POLITICAL THOUGHT

Week Three (12 August)

LIBERALISM AND ITS CRITICS

Week Four (19 August)

MARXISM

Week Five (26 August)

ANARCHISM & SYNDICALISM

Week Six (2 September)

NATIONALISM & POSTCOLONIALISM

Week Seven (9 September)

COMMUNISM

Week Eight (16 September)

FASCISM

Week Nine (21 – 27 September)

NON-TEACHING PERIOD
Week Ten (28 September – 4 October)
NON-TEACHING PERIOD

Week Eleven (7 October)

SOCIALISM & SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

Week Twelve (14 October)

FEMINISM

Week Thirteen (21 October)

CONSERVATISM, NEO-LIBERALISM & NEO-CONSERVATISM

Week Fourteen (28 October)

GREEN POLITICAL THEORY

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Tutorial Program
The tutorials will discuss a ‘primary source’—a complete work or extract from a
longer work—representative of a major school of thought. The readings are in the
Reading Pack available from the Bookshop. Tutorials commence in Week Two.

Week Two (3 – 7 August) THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Week Three (10 – 14 August) LIBERALISM

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Week Four (17 – 21 August) CLASSICAL MARXISM

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto

Week Five (24 – 28 August) ANARCHISM & SYNDICALISM

Michael Bakunin, State and Society

Week Six (31 Aug – 3 September) NATIONALISM & POSTCOLONIALISM

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

Week Seven (7 – 11 September) COMMUNISM

V.I.Lenin, The State and Revolution

Week Eight (14 – 18 September) FASCISM

Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism

Week Nine (21 – 27 September) NON-TEACHING PERIOD

Week Ten (28 September – 1 October) NON-TEACHING PERIOD

Week Eleven (5 – 9 October) SOCIALISM

Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

Week Twelve (12 – 16 October) FEMINISM

Juliet Mitchell, Women: The Longest Revolution

Week Thirteen (19 – 23 October) CONSERVATISM, NEO-LIBERALISM & NEO-

CONSERVATISM
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom

Week Fourteen (26-30 October) GREEN POLITICAL THEORY

Rachel Carson, Ernst Schumacher, Donella Meadows et al, Arne Naess, Murray
Bookchin, Jonathan Porritt, Vandana Shiva, extracted in Ch. 7 ‘Ecologism’ in
Matthew Festenstein and Michael Kenny (eds), Political Ideologies. A Reader and
Guide, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005, pp. 327-352.

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Essay Questions
The essay is due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday 16 September and is worth 37.5% of your
overall mark. See instructions earlier in this subject guide about how to submit your
essay and other information about writing the essay.

Bibliographies relevant to each of these questions are on the subject website.

Answer any one of the following questions.

1.Is there a conflict within liberal theory between a desire for liberty and a desire
for equality?

2.To what extent and in what ways was Karl Marx critical of capitalism?

3.‘Whoever denies authority and fights against it is an anarchist.’ (Sebastian Faure,

quoted in George Woodcock, Anarchism, 1st edition, p.7) Is this an adequate
definition of an anarchist?

4.Is nationalism necessarily a potential source of aggression towards other nations?

5.Has the term ‘communism’ become so discredited by its alleged practice in the
former Soviet Union and China under Mao that it should be abandoned by
revolutionaries inspired by Marxist ideas?

6.Is fascism a coherent political ideology or simply a reactionary mood and

movement?

7.Is socialism still a relevant political ideology?

8.Is feminism primarily a doctrine of equal rights for women within the capitalist
system or an ideology that wishes fundamentally to transform the capitalist system?

9.Is neo-liberalism the solution to the world’s problems or is it largely responsible

for the world’s problems?

10. Is there a coherent body of political thought that can be characterised as

‘environmentalism’, ‘ecologism’ or ‘green political thought’, or do environmentalist
thinkers merely add ecological consciousness onto pre-existing political ideologies?

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