Introduction to Political Theory
Overview
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
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
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%
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.
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 | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CRN
13164
|
Wed | Instructor last name
Nesbitt
Instructor first name
Darin
|
Course status
Open
|