COURSE MANUAL

POLITICAL SCIENCE I
B.A.LL.B.
SS1102
2019

Course Instructors
AMRITA SHARMA
YINGHONG HUANG
MADHUMITA DAS

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Table of Contents

I. COURSE INFORMATION 3

II. CURRICULUM 3
COURSE AIMS 3
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES 3

III. ASSESSMENT AND CLASS POLICIES 4

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS 4
CLASS FORMAT 4
CLASS POLICIES 4
ASSESSMENT 4
GRADING SCALES 5
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY 5
DISABILITY SUPPORT 6

IV. SYLLABUS AND READINGS 7

KEYWORDS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
WEEKLY LECTURE OUTLINE
PART I: POWER AND POLITICS
PART II: SPHERES OF POLITICS
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This course manual a general guide and may be revised during the course of the semester.
Students will be duly notified of any changes, well in advance.

I. COURSE INFORMATION

Course title Political Science I

Course Code SS1102
Course Duration One Semester
Credits 4
Level B.A.LL.B.
Hours of Instruction 5 Hours per Week
Medium of Instruction English
Pre-requisites None
Pre-cursors None
Equivalent courses None
Exclusive courses None

II. CURRICULUM

COURSE AIMS
This course aims to enable students to engage with foundational questions in the study of
politics: what is power, what are its sources, how, by whom, and to what effect is it exercised,
and what are the ways in which it is contested. Common-sense and hegemony, power and
patriarchy, the state, regimes, social movements, and revolutions, are all examined at length.
Furthermore, the course familiarizes students with elements of theoretically thinking about the
political sphere, i.e. with the basics of political theory.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this course, students can be expected to:

a. Understand the nature of power and how it structures, enables and constrains
human actions, including their own.
b. Understand the difference between empirical, theoretical and ethical/normative
claims and learn to critically evaluate and scrutinise a variety of such claims.
c. Develop a comfortable familiarity with the basic assumptions and vocabulary of a
social science vocabulary, not limited to the study of politics alone. For example,
that the critical social sciences seek historical and social explanations for social
phenomena, bracketing or eschewing divine or other meta-historical explanations.
d. Develop an acquaintance with major intellectual trends in the study of politics.
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 e. Test theoretical concepts and normative claims against concrete experiences.
Students will be encouraged to complete assignments that require a direct
application of concepts to contemporary politics as well as their own experience.
f. Think critically about the difficult and complex questions of privilege/dis-
privilege, as well as their own locations in structures of power.
g. Actively engage with the ethical imperatives generated by principles of and
struggles for justice, and think creatively about what contributions one can make.

III. ASSESSMENT AND CLASS POLICIES

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 50% in each of the coursework and
the examination elements of the assessment.

Coursework for this purpose means all assessment other than the end semester examination.

CLASS FORMAT
There will be five hours of class per week. All assigned readings must be completed before
each class. Course instructors will monitor class participation continuously and will also
explain the parameters on which students will be assessed.

CLASS POLICIES
Class policies may vary between course instructors. Students will be provided with detailed
guidelines on class policies relating to matters such as breaks, use of technology in the
classroom, tardiness and so on.

ASSESSMENT
The total assessment for the course is worth 100 marks.

Students will be required to write an end term examination worth 50 marks. This will be in
the form of a traditional 3-hour written examination. Students require a minimum of 30% in
the end semester examination, and 50 % in total, to qualify for passing.

Various assignments comprising internal assessment will be worth 50 marks. Details of

internal assessment may vary between course instructors. Details will be provided.

However, across all course instructors, class participation and class attendance components
together shall not exceed 10 marks out of the 50 reserved for internal assessment.

The respective course instructors will explain the details of assignments, parameters of
assessment, policies on extensions and deadlines.

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GRADING SCALES
Student assignments and examinations will be graded in accordance with the following scales:

Percentage Grade Grade Grade Description

of Marks Value

80 and above O 8 Outstanding – Exceptional knowledge of the subject

matter, thorough understanding of issues; ability to
synthesize ideas, rules and principles and extraordinary
critical and analytical ability

75 – 79 A+ 7.5 Excellent - Sound knowledge of the subject matter,

thorough understanding of issues; ability to synthesize ideas,
rules and principles and critical and analytical ability

70 – 74 A 7 Very Good - Sound knowledge of the subject matter,

excellent organizational capacity, ability to synthesize ideas,
rules and principles, critically analyse existing materials and
originality in thinking and presentation

65 – 69 A- 6 Good - Good understanding of the subject matter, ability to

identify issues and provide balanced solutions to problems
and good critical and analytical skills

60 – 64 B+ 5 Fair – Average understanding of the subject matter, limited

ability to identify issues and provide solutions to problems
and reasonable critical and analytical skills

55 – 59 B 4 Acceptable- Adequate knowledge of the subject matter to

go to the next level of study and reasonable critical and
analytical skills.

50 – 54 B- 3 Marginal- Limited knowledge of the subject matter and

irrelevant use of materials and, poor critical and analytical
skills

Below 50 F 0 Fail - Poor comprehension of the subject matter; poor

critical and analytical skills and marginal use of the relevant
materials. Will require repeating the course

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Learning and knowledge production of any kind is a collaborative process. Collaboration
demands an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we have learnt from, what we have
learned, and how reading and learning from others have helped us shape our own ideas. Even
our own ideas demand an acknowledgement of the sources and processes through which those
ideas have emerged. Thus, all ideas must be supported by citations. All ideas borrowed from
articles, books, journals, magazines, case laws, statutes, photographs, films, paintings, etc., in
print or online, must be credited with the original source. If the source or inspiration of your
idea is a friend, a casual chat, something that you overheard, or heard being discussed at a
conference or in class, even they must be duly credited. If you paraphrase or directly quote
from a web source in the examination, presentation or essays, the source must be

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acknowledged. The university has a framework to deal with cases of plagiarism. All form of
plagiarism will be taken seriously by the University and prescribed sanctions will be imposed
on those who commit plagiarism.

The course instructor will discuss plagiarism in detail in class and provide further resources to
aid students in understanding what plagiarism is and how it is to be avoided.

For a ready reckoner, go through these-

https://www.plagiarism.org/article/preventing-plagiarism-when-writing
https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism
https://ctl.yale.edu/writing/using-sources/understanding-and-avoiding-plagiarism

DISABILITY SUPPORT
JGU is committed to making all courses accessible to students. All students with a known
disability needing academic accommodations are required to register with the Disability
Support Committee dsc@jgu.edu.in. The Committee has so far identified the following
conditions that could possibly hinder student’s overall well-being. These include: physical
and mobility related difficulties; visual impairment; hearing impairment; medical conditions;
specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia; mental health.

The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality in its discussions. The
students should preferably register with the Committee in the month of June/January as
disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will approve and coordinate all the
disability related services such as appointment of academic mentors, specialized interventions
and course related requirements such as accessible classrooms for lectures, tutorials and
examinations. All faculty members are required to refer students with any of the above-
mentioned conditions to the Disability Support Committee for addressing disability-related
accommodation requirements.

SAFE SPACE PLEDGE

This course may discuss a range of issues and events that might result in distress for some
students. Discussions in the course might also provoke strong emotional responses. To make
sure that all students collectively benefit from the course, and do not feel disturbed due to
either the content of the course or the conduct of the discussions. Therefore, it is incumbent
upon all within the classroom to pledge to maintain respect towards our peers. This does not
mean that you need to feel restrained about what you feel and what you want to say.
Conversely, this is about creating a safe space where everyone can speak and learn without
inhibitions and fear. This responsibility lies not only with students, but also with the
instructor.

P.S. The course instructor, as part of introducing the course manual, will discuss the scope of
the Safe Space Pledge with the class.

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 IV. COURSE DESCRIPTION, KEY WORDS, WEEKLY OUTLINE,
READINGS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Recent developments worldwide have forced a rethink of the entrenched ways of approaching
and understanding politics- the crisis of neoliberalism, the rise of conservatism, the failing
promise of the state, the haphazard effects of globalization, and the devaluation of the human
being and citizen as a bearer of rights are all unfolding in our times. Accordingly, this course
attempts to familiarize students with widely accepted understandings of ‘political science’,
but also go beyond its confines of exclusively emphasising the public sphere, organized
collective politics and formal institutions.

Foregrounding with the core concerns of politics- power, political life, and political
behaviour, we will examine how the development of the modern state, and its various regime
types has gone hand in hand with the entrenchment of ideology. We study the apparent fixity
of states, and the nebulous power of revolutions and social movements. We employ insights
from Marxism and Feminism to explore connections between domains of social and personal
lives usually parcelled out between sociology, economics, and history. We explore the
contribution and the role of Liberal and Conservative strands of political thought informing
our world and times. Overall, we ask pressing questions of social justice as informed by all
these historical forces and perspectives.

KEYWORDS
Common sense, Structure, Agency, Power, Hegemony, State, Social Contract, Regimes,
Movements, Revolution, Sovereignty, Ideology, Rights, Liberties, Capitalism, Inequality,
Exploitation, Patriarchy.

WEEKLY COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 Interrogating Common sense

Week 2 The Realm of the Political

Week 3 On Power

Week 4 The State

Week 5 On Regimes: Democracy, Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism

Week 6 On Revolution

Week 7 Political Theory: Introduction- Ideology

Week 8 Political Theory: Liberalism

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Week 9 Political Theory: Marxism

Week 10 Political Theory: Marxism (contd.)

Week 11 Political Theory: Conservatism, and Fascism

Week 12 Political Theory: Feminism

Week 13 Social Movements

Week 14 Assessments

Week 15 Revision

SYLLABUS AND READINGS

NOTE- The readings listed are divided into compulsory and suggested. The course instructors
will, in accordance with the interest and abilities of the class, concentrate on some readings
more than others. Students will be informed of the specific readings for each topic before-
hand.

Week 1: INTRODUCTION- INTERROGATING COMMONSENSE

Compulsory Reading

Deshpande, Satish (2000) “Introduction: Squinting at Society” in Contemporary India: A

Sociological View, New Delhi: Penguin, pp. 1-8.

Bhargava, Rajeev (2008) “What is Political”, in Bhargava and Acharya (ed.) Introduction to
Political Theory, New Delhi: Pearson, pp. 14-16.

Week 2: THE REALM OF THE POLITICAL

Compulsory Reading

Leftwich, Adrian (2004) “Thinking Politically: On the Politics of Politics”, in What is

Politics: The Activity and Its Study, New York: Wiley, pp. 1-21.

Suggested Reading

Leftwich, Adrian (2012) “The Political Approach to Human Behaviour: People, Resources,
and Power”, in What is Politics: The Activity and Its Study, New York: Wiley, pp. 100-118.

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 Week 3: ON POWER

Compulsory Reading

Menon, Nivedita (2008) “Power” in B hargava and Acharya (ed.) Introduction to Political
Theory, New Delhi: Pearson. pp. 148-157.

Suggested Reading

Lukes, Steven (2005) “Three Conceptions of Power”, in Power: A Radical View, London:
Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 14-59. (excerpts).

Week 4: THE STATE

Compulsory Reading

Moriss, Christopher W (2004) “The Modern State”, in Kukathas, Chandra and Gaus, GF
(eds.) Handbook of Political Theory, New Delhi: Sage, pp.195-207.

Suggested Reading

Hall, Stuart (1984) “The State in Question”, in McLellan, Held, and Hall (eds.) The Idea of
the State, London: Open University Press, pp. 1-27.

Hislope, Robert and Anthony Mugham (2012), “The Modern State”, in Hislope and Mugham
(eds.) Introduction to Comparative Politics: The State and its Challenges, Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-26.

Week 5: ON REGIMES: DEMOCRACY, AUTHORIANISM, TOTALITARIANISM

Compulsory Reading

Hislope, Robert and Anthony Mugham (2012), “States, Regimes and Governments”, in
Hislope and Mugham (eds.) Introduction to Comparative Politics: The State and its
Challenges, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 39-55.

Suggested Reading

Aristotle, CDC Reeve (trans.) (1998) “Book III: Chapters 6-9”, Politics, Cambridge and
Illinois: Hackett Publishing, pp. 75-81.

Week 6: ON REVOLUTIONS

Compulsory Reading

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DeFronzo, James (2015) “Social Movements and Revolutions”, in Revolutions and
Revolutionary Movements”, New York: Routledge. pp. 9-25.

Suggested Reading

Skocpol, Theda (1979) “Agrarian Structures and Peasant Insurrections”, in States and Social
Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China, Harvard: Harvard
University Press. pp. 112-160.

Week 7: POLITICAL THEORY: INTRODUCTION- IDEOLOGY

Compulsory Reading

Freeden, Michael (2003) “Should Ideologies be Ill-Reputed ?”, in Ideologies: A Very Short
Introduction, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-11.

Suggested Reading

Freeden, Michael (2004) “Ideology, Political Theory, and Political Philosophy”, in Kukathas,
Chandra and Gaus, GF (eds.) Handbook of Political Theory, New Delhi: Sage, pp.3-9.

Eagleton, Terry (1991) “What is Ideology”, in Ideology: An Introduction, London: Verso. pp.
1-32.

Week 8: POLITICAL THEORY: LIBERALISM

Compulsory Reading

Acharya, Ashok (2008) “Liberalism” in Bhargava and Acharya (ed.) Introduction to Political
Theory, New Delhi: Pearson pp. 236-245.

Suggested Reading

Freeden, Michael and Marc Stears (2013) “Liberalism”, in Michael Freeden, Lyman Tower
Sargent, and Marc Stears (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies, Oxford: Oxford
University Press. pp. 329-347.

Week 9: POLITICAL THEORY: MARXISM

Compulsory Readings

Wright, Eric Olin (1997) excerpts from “Class Analysis” in Class Counts: Comparative
Studies in Class Analysis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-44.

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Wood, Ellen Meiksins (2011) “Capitalism”, in Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad Filho (eds.) The
Elgar Companion to Marxist Economics, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. pp.
34-39.

Suggested Reading

Marx, Karl and Freidrich Engels (2008) The Communist Manifesto, London: Pluto Press. pp.
31-84.

WEEK 10 : POLITICAL THEORY- MARXISM (CONT.)

Compulsory Reading

Callinicos, Alex (2012) “Marxism and Politics”, in What is Politics: The Activity and Its
Study, New York: Wiley, pp. 53-66.

Suggested Reading

Brown, Archie (2013) “Communism”, in in Michael Freeden, Lyman Tower Sargent, and
Marc Stears (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies, Oxford: Oxford University
Press. pp. 364-384.

Week 11: POLITICAL THEORY- CONSERVATISM, FASCISM

Compulsory Reading

Kekes, John (2004) “Conservative Theories”, in Kukathas, Chandra and Gaus, GF (eds.)
Handbook of Political Theory, New Delhi: Sage, pp. 131-140.

Mussolini, Benito (1933) “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism” in The Political
Quarterly, Vol 4(3): 341-356.

Suggested Reading

Heywood, Andrew (2002) “Conservatism”, in Politics (2nd Edition), New York: Palgrave
Macmillan. pp. 46-50.

Patnaik, Prabhat (2019) “Shadow of Fascism”, in The Frontline, April 19.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article26641337.ece

Noorani, AG (2019) “India’s Fascist Challenge”, in The Frontline, July 19.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article28259898.ece

Week 12: POLITICAL THEORY- FEMINISM

Compulsory Reading
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Squires, Judith (2012) “Politics Beyond Boundaries: A Feminist Perspective”, in What is
Politics: The Activity and Its Study, New York: Wiley, pp. 119-134.

Suggested Reading

Ehrenreich, Barbara (2005) “In the ruins of patriarchy”, in For Her Own Good: Two
Centuries of Expert Advice to Women, New York: Anchor Books. pp. 3-36.

Bryson Valerie (1992) “Modern radical feminism: Public and Private Patriarchy”, in
Feminist Political Theory, Palgrave: London. pp. 194-221.

Federici, Sylvia (1975) Wages Against Housework, Bristol: Falling Wall Press.

Week 13: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Compulsory Reading

Tilly, Charles and Sydney Tarrow (2009) “Contentious Politics and Social Movements”, in
Carles Boiz and Susan C. Stokes (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics,
Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 435-457.

Suggested Reading

Meyer, David S, and Daisy Verduzco Reyes (2010) “Social Movements and Contentious
Politics”, in Kevin T Leight and J Craig Jenkins (eds.) Handbook of Politics: State and
Society in Global Perspective, New York: Springer. pp. 217-230.

Week 14 : PRESENTATIONS/ ASSESSMENT

Week 15: REVISION

Possible Movies / Documentaries supplementing the course:

Che Guevara: Beyond the Myth (Revolution)

Modern Times/ Sorry to Bother You (Marxism)

Izzatnagri ki Asabhya Betiyan/ She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (Feminism)

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