DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
FIRST
SEMESTER, 2016/2017
COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST
LECTURERS: Alex K.D.
Frempong & Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh
EMAILS: akdfrempong@ug.edu.gh & aggreydarkoh@ug.edu.gh,
COURSE
OUTLINE AND READINGS
|
COURSE
TITLE
|
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL
THOUGHT
|
||||
|
COURSE
CODE
|
POLI 341
|
||||
|
CREDITS
|
3
|
||||
|
PURPOSE
AND OBJECTIVES
|
Political
theory is the study of political ideas and values like justice, power and
democracy that we use to describe, understand and assess political practices
and institutions. The course introduces students to the historical tradition
of political theory as they relate to contemporary political theory.
Specifically,
the course provides a historical and analytical study of political thought
among the Ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire and within the established church-
the Holy Catholic Church up to the Reformation. It ends with the rise of the
modern nation-state with Machiavelli as the prime thinker. At the end of the
course, students should have critical understanding of the main texts and
ideas of classical and medieval political theory, and the controversies
surrounding them. Though some historical context is provided, this is not a
course in history, but in political theory.
|
||||
|
DATE
|
LECTURE
TOPIC
|
TUTORIALS
|
VENUE
|
ASSESSMENT
|
|
|
1
|
A-22/8/2016
B-24/8/2016
|
General Overview
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
2
|
A-29/8/2016
B-31/8/2016
|
The Nature and Scope
of Political Theory
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
3
|
A-05/9/2016
B-07/9/2016
|
Greek Political
Institutions
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
4
|
A-12/9/2016
B-14/9/2016
|
Plato
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
5
|
A-19/9/2016
B-21/9/2016
|
Plato
|
|
JQB 14
JQB 14
|
|
|
6
|
A-26/9/2016
B-28/9/2016
|
Aristotle
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
7
|
A-03/10/2016
B-05/10/2016
|
Aristotle
|
|
JQB 14
|
Interim Assessment
(30%)
|
|
8
|
A-10/10/2016
B-12/10/2016
|
Cicero
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
9
|
A-17/10/2016
B-19/10/2016
|
St. Augustine
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
10
|
A-24/10/2016
B-26/10/2016
|
St. Augustine
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
11
|
A-07/11/2016
B-09/11/2016
|
St. Aquinas
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
12
|
A-14/11/2016
B-16/11/2016
|
Machiavelli
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
13
|
A-21/11/2016
B-23/11/2016
|
Machiavelli
|
|
JQB 14
|
|
|
14
|
REVISION
|
||||
|
15-17
|
EXAMINATION (70%)
|
||||
COURSE READINGS
J.S
McClelland, A History of Western
Political Thought, (London: Routledge, 2002)
George
H. Sabine, A History of Political Theory,
4th edition, (New Delhi: Oxford& IBN Publishing Co.PVT Ltd.,
1973)
Mitchell
Cohen and Nicole Fermon (eds.), Princeton
readings in political Thought: Essential Text since Plato, (New Jersey:
Princeton University press 1996)
Prangobinda
Das, History of Political Thought,
(Calcutta: Central, 2001)
Thucydides,
History of Peloponnesian war,
Translated by Rex Warner, (New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1972), Book II,
sections 33-66, Books III, sections 36-50, 69-85; Book V, sections 48-116)
Plato,
The Republic, A New Translation Robin
Waterfield,(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993)
McDonald
L. Cameron, Western Political Thought,
Part 1 Ancient and Medieval, (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1968)
Forsters
M.B, Masters of Political Thought Plato to Machiavelli, (New York: the
Riverside Press 1941)
Aristotle,
The Politics, Translated by T. A
Sinclair, (London Penguin Books, 1962)
Aristotle,
The Politics, Translated by Lord
Carnes, (Chicago: The Chicago University
Press, 1984)
Aquinas:
Selected Political Writings, edited
with Introduction by A.P D’ entreves, (Oxford Basil Blackwell Publishers Ltd,
1959)
Niccolo
Machiavelli, The Prince, Translated
by George Bull, (New York: Penguin Books, 2003
John
Plamenatz, Man and Society, (New
York: Longman Group Ltd., 1963)
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, University of Ghana.
4.
It
is imperative for students to read the literature much more intently in order
to identify the hidden truths (read with understanding).
5. There will be mid-term
and final examinations. The distribution of the marks is as follows:
Mid-term Assessment = 30%
Final Examination = 70%
Total =100%
No comments:
Post a Comment