Outline

Overview

The unit introduces students to debates about the nature and limits of Australian democracy, to the major institutions of Australian politics, and to the distribution of power in Australian society. Major institutions and forces such as parliament, executive government, the federal system, political parties and the media are examined as arenas of power, conflict and consensus. Who rules How Which groups are excluded

Unit details and rules

Unit code	GOVT1102
Academic unit	Government and International Relations
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	GOVT1101
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Stewart Jackson, stewart.jackson@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Sian Perry, sian.perry@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	State election research task Short Research Task NSW election research task	20%	Week 06 Due date: 31 Mar 2023 at 23:59	900wds
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Literature Review Literature review of the relevant academic literature for the essay topic	30%	Week 09 Due date: 28 Apr 2023 at 23:59	1200wds
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Final Research Essay Summative research essay	50%	Week 13 Due date: 26 May 2023 at 23:59	2400wds
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ?

Assessment summary

Short Research Task: research an election related topic relevant to the final research essay

Literature Review: provide an analytical literature review of 10 (ten) articles (journals or book chapters) relevant to the final research essay topic

Final Research Essay: combine the previous research to present an argument with evidence on the final reseearch essay topic

Assessment criteria

Result code	Result name	Mark range	Description
HD	High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
DI	Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
CR	Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
PS	Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
FA	Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.
AF	Absent fail	0 - 49	When you haven’t completed all assessment tasks or met the attendance requirements.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction: Pre-history and invasion Brief intro to unit. Setting the scene - what came before and how this changed post-invasion.	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 02	The Colonial framework - governing firstly a colonial outpost, and then an early liberal democracy	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 03	Federalism and state politics: what role do states play in a federated structure, and why this is still important	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 04	Prime Ministers & the Executive: the role of ministers and the Prime Minister - but not a President?!	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 05	Australia's parliament's: how did they emerge and how have they changed - and why change happens	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 06	Elections: why we have them and why they are important (and what happens!)	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 07	Parties: how they evolved and what they are now - a system or a clique?	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 08	Issues that test federalism: a case study of COVID	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 09	State responses to non-state actors: social movements in Australlia	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 10	The Australian media and its role in Australian politics	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 11	Australian politics in the 21st century - more of the same?	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 12	Australia in the world: being a middling power in an uncertain world	Block teaching (3 hr)
Week 13	Conclusion and review	Block teaching (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences requires 90% attendance at their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold. If you have reasons for extended or repeated class absences, you should talk to your tutor so they can get supporting evidence from you and assist you with supplementary material.
Lecture recording: Lectures will be recorded and made available to students on Canvas. Unless you cannot attend lectures in person, you should not rely on lecture recordings as a substitute for your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Undertaking the prescribed readings each week is an essential part of the learning process for this unit of study, particularly in preparation for the tutorials and the assessment tasks.

Further details of the weekly readings can be found on Canvas.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Identify different approaches to defining the nature and scope of politics in Australia
LO2. Apply foundational political concepts and theories to specific examples of Australian politics
LO3. Apply critical reading skills to sources in political theory and recognise their application in an Australian context
LO4. Find and draw information from a range of sources, including digital sources, to develop political analysis
LO5. Discuss fundamental issues in Australian politics with others in a constructive and analytical way

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This is the first time this unit has been offered

Additional information

UNIT SCHEDULE

Week	Week beginning	Lecture [content]	Tutorial
1	20 February	Introduction: Pre-history and invasion
2	27 February	The colonial framework for governing	Governing a liberal democracy?
3	6 March	Federalism and State Politics	Role of states
4	13 March	Prime Ministers & power	Yes Prime Minister
5	20 March	Australia’s Parliaments	Experimentation and change
6	27 March	Elections	Elections
7	3 April	Political parties – now and then	Political parties
BREAK	10 April – 14 April	SESSION BREAK / EASTER
8	17 April*	A case in point: issues that test federalism	Case Study: COVID
9	24 April	Pressure from below and state responses	Social Movements & state resistance
10	01 May	Australian Media	Australian media
11	08 May	Australian politics in the 21st century	More of the same?
12	15 May	Australia in the world	Australia in the world
13	22 May	Conclusion and Course Review	Course review
STUVAC	29 May – 02 June	STUVAC
EXAMS	5 June	EXAM PERIOD commences

* NB: Public holidays on Friday 15 April, Monday 25 April, and Monday 13 June.

TUTORIAL AND READING SCHEDULE

Week beginning	Tutorial Topic	Readings (Chapters from Barry etal 2023)	Assessment
20 February	No tutorials
27 February	Governing a liberal democracy?	Intro / Short political history
06 March	Role of states	C’wealth / ACT-WA	State election research task allocation
13 March	Yes Prime Minister	Executive govt / Political leadership
20 March	Experimentation and change	Parliament’s of Australia
27 March	Elections	Electoral systems / Voter behaviour	State election research task due
03 April	Political parties	The Aust. party system
10 April – 14 April	SESSION BREAK / EASTER
17 April	Case study: COVID	Governance of the COVID 19 crisis
24 April	Social movements and state resistance	Pressure groups and social movements	Short Essay
01 May	Australian media	Media & democracy
08 May	More of the same?	Indigenous politics / Young people and politics
15 May	Australia in the world
22 May	Course Review		Long Essay Due
29 May - 02 June	STUVAC
05 June*	EXAM PERIOD commences

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

UNIT SCHEDULE

TUTORIAL AND READING SCHEDULE

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

GOVT1102: Introduction to Australian Politics

Semester 1, 2023 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

UNIT SCHEDULE

TUTORIAL AND READING SCHEDULE

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect