Overview

This Unit is an introduction to the comparative study of politics. It provides an overview of the world’s political systems. It develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of political systems, and introduces students to the use of case studies to test hypotheses.

Requisites

Prerequisites
POL20009 Dictators and Democrats: Comparative Politics

Rule

50 credit points

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
04-November-2024
09-February-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-November-2024
Census date
29-November-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
27-December-2024
Results released date
04-March-2025
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
03-November-2025
08-February-2026
Last self-enrolment date
16-November-2025
Census date
28-November-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
02-January-2026
Results released date

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Understand key concepts of political science
  • Critically differentiate types of political systems
  • Demonstrate critical understanding of the political systems of at least two case study countries
  • Coherently articulate general claims through the use of case-studies and focused comparisons

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Lecture
1.00 12 weeks 12
On-campus
Class
2.00 12 weeks 24
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning
9.50 12 weeks 114
TOTAL150

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Class
1.00 4 weeks 4
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning
12.17 12 weeks 146
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
EssayIndividual 30% 1,2,3,4 
Group DiscussionsIndividual 20% 1,2,3,4 
Tutorial PaperIndividual 50% 1,2,3,4 

Content

This unit provides an introduction to the comparative study of politics. It provides an overview of the world's political systems and a conceptual framework which enables systematic analysis and comparison. The emphasis in the delivery of the unit of study is on concepts and theory, but it relates these to real-world situations through a variety of case studies

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.