Subject Area: Politics
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: Legal Studies

Without government there can be no society. Politics is the study of how people govern themselves and why they accept or not to be so governed. In this course you will examine the principles, concepts, and ideologies that are at work in the basic political institutions through which government is exercised and contested. You will examine the normative foundations of democracy, of parliamentarism, of the rule of law, and of the free-market economy and how these relate to democracy and other forms of government. You will study the political meaning of concepts like freedom, power, authority, legitimacy and representation among others. You will think about the political principles of equality, publicity, justice, dignity; as well as discuss prevailing and emerging ideologies, such as liberalism and neo-liberalism, republicanism, communism, anarchism, totalitarianism, and cosmopolitanism.