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International Politics: Basic Theories and Conceptions
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:1.00
Study Course Accepted:22.02.2024 16:27:57
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | SZF_014 | LQF level: | Level 6 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 2.67 | ECTS: | 4.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Politics | Target Audience: | Political Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Elīna Vrobļevska | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 11 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 22 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 9 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 18 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 40 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Basic knowledge on political and international relations processes in the scope of the 1st year of studies of the programme. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To help students learn the theoretical foundations of international politics, to provide basic knowledge of the main theoretical directions and their characteristic concepts, which would allow students to find their way in the theoretical context of international relations and use theories to address specific issues of international politics. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Course settings and requirements. Significance of international political theories and need to study international relations. The most important theoretical traditions, actors, structures. Great debates. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Tradition of realism: classical realism, neorealism and neoclassical realism. | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Liberal tradition of international relations. Tradition of international society. Security communities. Securitisation | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Constructivism. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Institutionalism. Global administration theories and formation of norms. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Feminism and green theory. Postcolonialism. | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Test | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Analysis of events in international politics | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Development of an “ideal” theory. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | Defence of the abstracts of course papers. | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Exam | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Students must learn the readings specified for each class independently, as well as prepare for each seminar class. During the study course, students should write and submit 6 essays, as well as at the end of the course – an independently drawn report. To assess the overall quality of the study course, the student must complete the course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Students’ independent work will be assessed throughout the course, assessing essays, student activity and the level of knowledge at seminars: - understanding basic theoretical settings, ability to find “key” elements of the theory, brief and concentrated description of the essence of the theory; - to explain and anticipate the development of the specified situation according to one specific theoretical school/theory/approach (chosen by the student). The final grade on a 10-point grading system is the sum of all grades consisting of: activity and quality of answers in seminars 30%; test 30%; summaries 20%; exam grade 20%. | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | At the end of the course, students should have basic knowledge of the main theories and concepts of international politics. Student should be able: • to explain the main theoretical trend, the principles of individual theories learned in the course, as well as the nature of the main concepts; • to explain basic differences in methodological principles of theories of international relations (differences between positivism and postpositivism, explanatory and interpretive theories); • to evaluate differences between different theories; • to assess the suitability of individual theories to address specific international political problems. | ||||||||
| Skills: | The following skills will be acquired in the study course: • to find one’s way in academic literature, to understand the theoretical orientation of authors and methods used; • to choose an appropriate theory or concept for research on a particular topic; • to use concepts and terms; • to explain and substantiate the nature and applicability of concepts and theories to solve certain problems. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | • Application of theoretical knowledge to the analysis of international politics in essays. • Ability to substantiate and defend own views in seminar classes. • Skill to find one’s way in literature and analyse in a concentrated way a particular problem in the report. • To develop theoretical aspects of academic work (course paper, Bachelor’s thesis). | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Visa literatūra ir angļu valodā un piemērota gan latviešu, gan angļu plūsmas studentiem | ||||||||
| 2 | Burchill, S., Linklater, A., Devetak, R., Donnelly, J., Paterson, M., Reus-Smit, C., True, J. 2022. Theories of International Relations. Houndmills, New York. Palgrave Macmillan. | ||||||||
| 3 | Jorgensen, Knud E. 2018. International Relations Theory – A New Introduction. 2nd edition. Palgrave. | ||||||||
| 4 | Carlsnaes, W., Risse, T., Simmons, B. 2013. Handbook of International Relations. SAGE Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
| 5 | Karns, Margaret P., and Karen A. Mingst. 2023. International Organizations: The Politics and Processes of Global Governance. 4th edition. Boulder, London: Lynne Rienner Publishers. | ||||||||
| 6 | Finnemore, Martha, and Kathryn Sikkink. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” In Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics. 1999. eds. Peter J. Katzenstein, Robert O. Keohane, et all. | ||||||||
| 7 | Buzan, B., Hansen, L. 2009. The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge University Press. | ||||||||
| 8 | Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics”. International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2. Spring, 1992. 391-425. | ||||||||
| 9 | Bull, H. The Anarchical Society. London: Palgrave, 2002. | ||||||||
| 10 | Doyle, M. Liberal Peace - Selected Essays. Routledge, 2011. 13-80. | ||||||||
| 11 | Lobell, S., et al. Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy. 2009.Cambridge: Cmbridge University Press. | ||||||||
| 12 | Waltz, K. N. Summer 2000. “Structural Realism after the Cold War,” International Security, Vol. 25, No. 1. 5- 41 | ||||||||
| 13 | Wendt, A. Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1-47. | ||||||||
