SYLLABUS

SYLLABUS FOR SEMESTER 2 (H)

DISCIPLINE CORE 3: UNDERSTANDING POLITICAL THEORY

I. Introducing Political Theory(40 Lectures)

1. What is Politics: Theorizing the ' Political'

2. Traditions of political theory: Liberal, Marxist, Anarchist and Conservative

3. Approaches to Political Theory: Normative, Historical and Empirical

4. Critical and Contemporary Perspectives in Political Theory: Feminist and Postmodern

5. Concept of State Sovereignty: Monistic and Pluralistic Theories: Critiques of Theory of Sovereignty: Globalization and crisis of Sovereignty

6. Political Obligation- Rights of Resistance(Locke, Laski, Green and Barker's views)

II. Political Theory and Practice(30 lectures)

The Grammar of Democracy

1. Democracy: The history of an idea

2. Procedural Democracy and its critique

3. Deliberative Democracy

4. Participatory and Representative democracy

Discipline Core-4 : Political Theory- Concepts and Debates

Section A: Core Concepts

I. Importance of freedom (10 lectures)

a) Negative Freedom: Liberty

b) Positive Freedom: Freedom as Emancipation and development

Important Issue: Freedom of belied, expression and dissent

II. Significance of Equality (12 Lectures)

a) Formal Equality: Equality of opportunity

b) Political Equality

c) Egalitarianism: Background inequalities and differential treatment

Important Issue: Affirmative action

III. Indispensability of Justice (12 lectures)

a) Procedural Justice

b) Distributive Justice

c) Global Justice

Important Issue: Capital Punishment

IV. The Universality of Rights(13 Lectures)

a) Natural Rights

b) Moral and Legal Rights

c) Three Generations of Rights

d) Rights and Obligations

Important Issue: Rights of the Girl Child

Section B: Major Debates(20n Lectures)

I. Why should we obey the state? Issues of political obligation and civil disobedience

II. Are human rights universal? Issue of cultural relativism

III. How do we accommodate diversity in plural society? Issues of multiculturalism and toleration

IV. Major debates in Marxism: Lenin-Rosa Luxemburg debate on Party , Stalin - Trotsky debate on Socialism in One Country.