| CODE | PPL1937 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Political Sociology | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Policy, Politics and Governance | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit is a sociological inquiry in Politics, Power and the State. It encompasses the dynamics of power struggle and the organization of society. This forms a sociological knowledge platform for students who embark on the degree leading to a qualification in Governance and Politics This study-unit adopts both a theoretical and empirical approach in the study of power, authority and the state. To this effect, students are orientated to differing political ideologies as well as to the democratic ideal. Furthermore, the study-unit embraces other related sociological themes including political participation, political parties and social movements. Study-Unit Aims: - Provide a sociological perspective to political thought. Every political ideology is rooted in sociological and cultural setting which affect and is in turn affected by political action; - Apply theoretical frameworks involving the interaction among society, power, authority and the state. These are the fundamental elements constituting public life in the context of a nation state; - Analyse the democratic praxis in terms of political and civic engagement. This entails as exposition of political parties and civil society. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Analyse critically the concept of power and its manifestations; - Examine power constellations rules and political as well as leadership; - Discuss the concept of state building; - Differentiate among such terms as the nation-state, welfare-state and totalitarian-state and democratic state; - Debate the role and functions of political parties, social movements; - Discuss the consequences of globalisation on domestic politics and the state; - Map out political ideologies and their influence on policy; - Critically appraise the political issues of 'post-modern' society. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Engage in critical analysis comprising sociological issues; - Compare and contrast different political ideologies and state formations; - Introduce sociological outlook into their political thinking. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Ball, Terrence, Dagger, Richard et al. (2025) Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 12th edition, Routledge. - Dobratz, B.A. et al. (2019), Power, Politics and Society: An Introduction to Political Sociology, second edition, Routledge, London. Supplementary Readings: - Ball, Terrence, Dagger, Richard et al. (2019) Ideals and Ideologies: A reader , eleventh edition, Routledge. - Baradat Leon P. (2019), Political Ideologies: Their Origins and Impact, thirteenth edition, Routledge. - Fukuyama, Francis (1994)- The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. - Fukuyama, Francis (2014) Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. - Fukuyama, Francis (2022) - Liberalism and Its Discontents, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. - Horowitz, I.L. (2017), Foundations of Political Sociology, Routledge, London. - Janoski, T., et al. (2020) The New Handbook of Political Sociology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Clyde Michael Onor MP Puli |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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