POL490H1S L5101

Graduate Course Code: POL2102H1S L5101

Topics in Canadian Politics I

Ideas and Ideologies

Themes

This course examines the concepts and origins of political ideas and ideologies, with a particular focus on how these concepts and major social science theories surrounding them illuminate aspects of Canadian politics. By the end of this course, students should be familiar with the epistemological, conceptual, theoretical, and methodological challenges that emerge from a nuanced understanding of ideational contestation.

Texts

Doxiadis, Apostolos, and Christos H. Papadimitriou. 2009. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. (Bookstore)

Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, NY: Harper.

Freeden, Michael. 1998. Ideologies and Political Theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Haidt, Jonathan. 2012. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. New York, NY: Random House. (Bookstore)

Kahneman, Daniel. 2011. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York, NY: Random House. (Bookstore)

Lakeoff, George. 2009. The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientist’s Guide to Your Brain and its Politics. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckmann. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Scott, W. Richard. 2013. Institutions and Organizations: Ideas, Interests, and Identities, 4th Ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Format and Requirements

Seminar and discussion classes. Assignments and weighting: two essays on weekly readings (25% each); research paper (40%); participation (10%).

Prerequisites

POL214H1 or POL214Y1 or POL215H5 or POL216H5 or POL224H1 or POL224Y1 orPOLB50Y3; 1.0 other POL credit in Canadian politics. See the Department's website http://politics.utoronto.ca/undergraduate/courses/fallwinter-timetable/ for POL courses by area group.