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

This course introduces you to the normative study of political institutions, principles, and ideologies. The course focuses on the normative assumptions and concepts built into political institutions (such as the state, parliament, citizenship, constitution, public sphere, rule of law, representation, etc.). This course begins with a consideration of these institutions and then studies the specific principles and ideas that structure these institutions, as well as the ideologies that animate them. It introduces you to the political theory that is actually realized or that is called for in contemporary political life. This course will enable you to explore and gain further understanding of the normative foundations of political institutions, political principles, and ideologies that orient political actors. It will enable you to gain an understanding of the importance of the normative and conceptual dimensions of politics.