Course

Introduction to Political Theory

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Political Science
Course Code
POLI 2201
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Typically Offered
Winter

Overview

Course Description
This course introduces students to selected great thinkers of Western political theory who inspired others to critically assess their political thinking and understanding of citizenship. Their ideas will serve as the starting point for appraising the relationship between politics and philosophy and the search for justice and the good life. What makes authority legitimate? What freedoms can citizens claim? What are rights? What does justice require? This course is intended for students without any formal background in political theory or philosophy.
Course Content

1. Philosophy and Politics

 

2. The Ancient Greeks: Plato and Aristotle

 

3. The Medieval Era: Aquinas and Machiavelli

 

4. The Early Moderns: Hobbes and Locke

 

5. The Moderns: Rousseau, Marx, and J. S. Mill

 

6.  Contemporaries: Rawls, Nozick, Taylor, Berlin, Nussbaum, Sandel, and Dworkin

Learning Activities

In this course, students will engage in a variety of learning activities such as attending lectures, participation in class discussions, debates, individual and group presentations, reflections, in class reading assignments, group assignments and take-home assignments

Means of Assessment

Course assessments will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

There will be at least three separate assessments, which may include a combination of exams, research projects, quizzes, in-class and online written assignments, seminar presentations, group and other creative projects, and class participation.

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research

The value of each assessment and evaluation, expressed as a percentage of the final grade, will be listed in the course outline distributed to students at the beginning of the term.

Example evaluation scheme:

 Article Critique                                15%

Participation                                    10%

Mid-term exam                               20%

Term essay                                    30%

Final exam                                     25%

                                Total:           100%

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

 

1. demonstrate how political thinking developed and evolved within the Western political tradition;

 

2. understand and analyze basic concepts and principles such as justice, equality, rights, obligation, power, authority, law, and freedom;

 

3. assess how these basic concepts and principles influenced the development of Western political thought, and consequently the evolution of political and social institutions, law, constitutions, and communities;

 

4. pursue advanced studies in political theory, political philosophy, and/or the history of political thought.

Textbook Materials

A list of required textbooks and materials will be provided to students at the beginning of the semester.  Textbooks and materials will be selected based on instructor expertise and preference, and in consultation with other members of the department.  There are a range of textbooks and materials that can fulfill course objectives. Some examples include:

Bird, Colin. An Introduction to Political Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, current edition.

Bourke, Richard and Raymond Geuss. Political Judgment: Essays for John Dunn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, current edition.

Christman, John Phillip. Social and Political Philosophy: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, current edition.

Heywood, Andrew. Political Theory: An Introduction. London: Palgrave, current edition.

Larmore, Charles. What is Political Philosophy? Princeton: Princeton University Press, current edition.

Pangle, Thomas L. and Timothy W. Burns. The Key Texts of Political Philosophy: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, current edition.

Swift, Adam. Political Philosophy: A Beginners’ Guide for Students and Politicians. Cambridge: Polity Press, current edition.

Zwolinski, Matt. Arguing About Political Philosophy.  New York: Routledge, current edition.

Requisites

Prerequisites

POLI 1101 or permission of instructor

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for POLI 2201
Athabasca University (AU) AU POLI 3XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO PSC 210 (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR POLI 2XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU POLI 2200 (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG POLI 2270 (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV GE 240 (3)
Okanagan College (OC) OC POLI 240 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU POL 210 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU POLI 2220 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU POLS 101 (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW POLI 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO POLI_O 240 (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV POLI_V 240 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC POLS 270 (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV POSC 120 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC POLI 202 (1.5)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU POLI 2nd (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN
13164
section details
CRN Days Instructor Status More details
Maximum Seats
35
Currently Enrolled
6
Remaining Seats:
29
On Waitlist
0
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3302
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20