Analysis of Democracy, 7.5 ECTS
Second levelFacts
No available factsDescription
The aim of this course is to provide students with deepened knowledge and understanding of the concept of democracy in both theoretical and practical circumstances to increase their ability to judge the quality and significance of democracy in different political contexts. Particular emphasis is placed on the study of democracy in non-traditional contexts such as international politics, public administration and social movements. In the analysis of the quality and value of democracy students are trained in the application of a range of democratic-theoretical concepts such as political equality, freedom, non-domination, deliberation, collective self-determination and the so-called demos-problem, i.e. the delimitation of the people (demos) itself. The course will train participants in how to judge the quality of democracy using both qualitative and quantitative measures, such as indexes, and how to evaluate such measures.
Area of interests: Human, Social and Political Sciences, and Law
Are you interested in human beings and society? How we function individually and together, what drives us, our learning processes, how rules and laws have been established, and how we interact with each other? If that is the case we have a lot to offer. This area of interest covers anything from Pedagogy, Psychology and Gender Studies, to Statistics, Political Science, Law and many other subjects. Their common denominator is the relation between human beings and society, independent analytical thinking and often an international perspective.
Subject
Political Science
When living together in society, people are faced with the challenge of organising themselves in order to solve common problems in the best way possible. Today the democratic “national state” is the predominant way of organising political life, but it is also being challenged as the best form of political community. Development tendencies such as globalisation, European integration and a new ethnic and cultural variety have stimulated a comprehensive discussion about the need of more developed political institutions at, below and above the national state level. Political science, as a research and a teaching subject, is in the middle of this intense debate.
Many subjects within the humanities and social sciences treat different aspects of political life and its institutions. The characterising feature of political science is its focus on this area. Political scientists describe, explain and evaluate the political institutions. Division of power is particularly studied, as well as the question of how and to what extent the democratic institutions and processes function. The main themes are political theory, Swedish politics, comparative politics and international politics.
As a student you will gain basic knowledge of the political conditions of society, train your ability to critically judge them and to present practical insights in the working methods of the public sector. This knowledge is useful and applicable both in general terms as a citizen of society, and in more specific, professional contexts where knowledge of politics and public administration is valuable.