COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST: POLI 342 (MODERN WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON

POLI 342: MODERN WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

       COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS: SECOND SEMESTER, 2013/2014

LECTURERS: KWESI JONAH AND DR. EVANS AGGREY-DARKOH

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:

The course provides historical and analytical study of the works of some selected Modern Western Political thinkers. The emphasis will be on the politics of enlightenment and the historical developments of the selected thinkers’ perceptions and thoughts on the significance of political philosophy as well as various forms of political issues such as political obligation, theories of the state, sovereignty, maintenance of political power, modern governance and civil disobedience etc.

At the end of the course students should be able to do the following:

·         Demonstrate a firm grasp of the main themes of the selected political thinkers.

·         Outline the main tenets of the enlightenment.

·         Appreciate the theoretical postulations and the controversies surrounding the western political thought.

·         Explain the implications of the ideas of these western political thinkers on current political behavior.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1.      There will be thirteen weeks of lectures. Full participation in the lectures is a prerequisite for admission into the final examinations.

2.      Each student must attend tutorials each week to be organized by tutorial assistants. Students are advised to effectively participate in the discussions. It must be emphasized that tutorials are not second lectures.

3.       Most of the reading materials exist in the Department of Political Science Library and the Balme Library. Some of the core readings are available in the General Office of the Department of the Political Science.  It imperative for students to read the materials much more intently in order to identify the hidden truths in the literature (read with understanding).

4.      The assessment of this course will be done in two phases: interim assessment (30%) and a final examination (70%).

   

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

1.      The Politics of Enlightenment

J. S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002.

Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds.), Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996.

2.      The Theory of the Social Contract- Thomas Hobbes (The Leviathan)

William Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers: Plato to Present, Dryden Press Illinois, 1989

J. S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002.

Forrest E. Baird and Walter Kaufman, Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Nietzsche, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997.  

W.T. Jones, Masters of Political Thought: Machiavelli to Bentham, George C. Harrap, London, 1963.

Patrick Riley, “Social Contract Theory and its Critics” in Mark Goldie and Robert Wokler (eds.), The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006.     

3.      The Theory of the Social Contract- John Locke (Two Treatises of Government)  

 William Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers: Plato to Present, Dryden Press Illinois, 1989

J. S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002.

George Sabine and Thomas L. Thorson, A History of Political Thought, 4^th edition, Harcourt Brace, New York, 1989.

4.      The Theory of the Social Contract- Jean Jacque Rousseau ( The Discourses on the Origin and foundation of inequality among men)

       

J. S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002.

George Sabine and Thomas L. Thorson, A History of Political Thought, 4^th edition, Harcourt Brace, New York, 1989.

John Gingell, Adrian Little and Christopher Winch, Modern Political Thought: A Reader, Routledge, London, 2000.

Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds.), Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996.

5.      John Stuart Mill (On Liberty and the Subjection of Women)

Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds.), Readings in Political Thought, Princeton    University Press, 1996.

Richard Bellamy and Angus Ross, A Textual Introduction to Social and Political Theory, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 1996.

Forrest E. Baird and Walter Kaufman, Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Nietzsche, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997.

6.      Martin Luther King Jnr. (Letter from Birmingham Jail) (Civil Disobedience)

World Book Vol. 4 (Chicago, 2006)

Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds.), Readings in Political Thought, Princeton    University Press, 1996.

Howard Zinn, “King Martin Luther Jnr”, in John A Garraty and Jerome L. Sternstein, (eds), Encyclopedia of America Biography 2^nd edition, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1996.