GOVT1641: Semester 1, 2021

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Units GOVT1641 Semester 1 2021 [Normal day]

Unit of study_

GOVT1641: Introduction to Politics

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

What is politics? What is political science? How can we compare political systems? This unit introduces key political institutions, organisations, processes, activities and ideologies and how these differ between countries. It explains different approaches to political science, using examples from a range of countries, including Australia.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	GOVT1641
Academic unit	Government and International Relations
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Rodney Smith, rodney.smith@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Rodney Smith, rodney.smith@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Short Essay A short essay requiring students to apply liberalism to a policy measure.	30%	Week 04 Due date: 26 Mar 2021 at 23:59	1200 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Critical Research Exercise Exercise in locating, assessing and presenting varied research materials.	20%	Week 07 Due date: 23 Apr 2021 at 23:59	800 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research Essay Essay comparing a key aspect of two political systems.	50%	Week 13 Due date: 04 Jun 2021 at 23:59	2,500 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Short Essay: This assessment is designed to assess your understanding of the lecture and reading content for the first part of the unit of study on political theories.
Critical Research Exercise: This assessment is designed to develop your research, critical and analytical skills.
Major Essay: This assessment is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the second part of the unit of study on comparative politics.

More information can be found on the GOVT1641 Canvas site.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard.
Distinction	75 - 84	Demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard.
Credit	65 - 74	Demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard.
Pass	50 - 64	Demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard.
Fail	0 - 49	Fail to meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades

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.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Late penalties will be applied in line with University and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences policies.

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	The study of politics	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 01	The study of politics	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 02	Liberalism and its critics	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Liberalism and its critics	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 03	Justice, equality and rights	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	Justice, equality and rights	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 04	Authoritarianism and democracy	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 04	Authoritarianism and democracy	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 05	Legislatures	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Legislatures	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 06	Executive government	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Executive government	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 07	Constitutions and the judiciary	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	Constitutions and the judiciary	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 08	Elections and electioneering	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Elections and electioneering	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 09	Political parties and party systems	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Political parties and party systems	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 10	Interest groups and social movements	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 10	Interest groups and social movements	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 11	The media and politics	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	The media and politics	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 12	Public policy making	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Public policy making	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 13	What have we learned? Where to from here?	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 13	What have we learned? Where to from here?	Tutorial (1 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.

All readings will be available through the Library eReserve system, available on Canvas. Due to limited access to the main text via Library eReserve, it is highly recommended that students purchase a physical or electronic copy of the main text to be used: Rod Hague, Martin Harrop and John McCormick, Comparative Government and Politics, 11th edition, London: Palgrave, 2019. The cheapest and quickest way to do this is to buy an eTextbook copy of Comparative Government and Politics, 11th edition from Amazon (AUD50.93). Make sure you buy the 11th edition, as earlier editions cannot be used.

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
LO2. recognise foundational concepts, theories and methods used by political scientists to understand politics
LO3. identify similarities and differences between the political systems of countries
LO4. apply foundational political concepts and theories to specific examples of political phenomena
LO5. apply critical reading skills to sources in political theory and comparative politics
LO6. discuss fundamental issues in politics with others in a constructive and analytical way
LO7. find and draw information from a range of sources, including digital sources, to develop political analysis.

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.

The unit has had changes made to the delivery of teaching and to the assessment tasks since it was last taught in semester 2, 2021, in response to the ongoing impact of COVID19.

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

Disclaimer

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