Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

~ ~ 2 0 0 Advanced Australian Politics
(Not offered 1995)
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or approved equivalent. A background in
Australian Politicsandlor social and political
theory is desirable.
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
In this subject an analysis of power structure in Australia is
attempted.
There are four main sections:
Section 1
The Condition of the People. This section surveys distribution
of wealth, distribution of income, aspects of poverty, and
p social mobility.
-. <
Section 2
The Will of the People. This section analyses the social policy
of the Whitlam Government 1972-75, and the electorate's
response.
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r.
3 Section 3
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2.
The Consciousness of the People. This section looks at
theories of hegemony and class consciousness in Australia.
Section 4
The Rule of the People? This section considers the question:
-t who rules?
Reading guides are distributed.
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8. ~ ~ 2 0 1 Political Sociology
No. of hours oer week: three hours
prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or an approved equivalent
~ssessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
In this subject, key aspects of the relationships between
politics and society are examined. It is an introduction to the
theme of power and its exercise. Its main objective is to
provide students with the basic skills necessary to identify
and understand major forms of power, which they can apply
to their immediate environment or to the broader dimensions
of society.
Topics to be considered include the historical background to
political sociology; classic views about the nature of human
beings and society; an analysis of the concepts of power,
authority and influence, with reference to Max Weber; the
problem of locating power in modern society and an
examination of three theories of power and society, namely
Marxist, elitist and pluralist theories; the definition of
democracy and the debate about its various models.
Preliminary reading
Dowse, R.E. and Hughes, J.A. PoliticalSociology. London, Wiley,
1972, ch. 1
~ ~ 2 0 2 Europe, Capitalism and The Third
World
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or approved equivalent
Assessment: by essays and tutorial participation
Subject aims and description
This subject relates the shaping of today's Third World to the
emergence of capitalism in Western Europe.
It examines the forces that have produced the uneven
development where some parts of the world are
industrialised and rich and other parts still technically
primitive and poor.
The broad themes of the subject are the social origins of
capitalism and the process of proletarianisation, the Industrial
Revolution, European colonisation and the making of a
world economy.
Preliminary reading
Hill, C. Reformation to lndustrial Revolution 1530-1 780.
Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1969
Textbook
Wolf, E. Europe and the People Without History. Berkeley, University
of California, 1982
~ ~ 2 0 4 Modern Japan
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or an approved equivalent
Assessment: essays andlor exam
Subject aims and description
Discussion centres around the problems of Japanese
nationalism reflected in the nature of Japan's modernisation,
the consequences of her emergence as a world power, her
defeat, and re-emergence as an economic power. An
examination of the social configuration of Japanese society
will shed light on what are claimed to be the characteristic
features which distinguish contemporary Japan from other
industrialised societies, especially in politics, education,
business operations and employer-employee relations.
Preliminary reading
Storry, R. A History of Modern Japan. 2nd edn. Harmondsworth,
Penguin, 1969
AP206
Politics of China A
(This subject cannot be taken by students who
have passed AP305 Comparative Politics: China
A or AP309 Chinese Politics A)
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: one stage one political studies
subject
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
In 1949 the Chinese Communist Partv came to Dower after
the defeat of the Nationalists. This subject investigates the
development of 'New China' through an examination of the
political system, different models for economic growth,
social restructuring, mass campaigns and the place given to
dissent. Through an examination of these issues, an
understanding of the factors that have made China the
nation it is today, its political culture, shifting ideological