Course Syllabus
Athabasca University
Political Science (POLI) 383
Introduction to Canadian Political Economy (Revision 1)
POLI 383 closed March 7, 2008, replaced by current version.
Delivery mode: Individualized study.
Credits: 3 - Social Science
Prerequisite: Students who have taken a course in Canadian history, political science, economics, or sociology may find the material easier to master.
Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies
POLI 383 has a Challenge for Credit option.
Overview
POLI 383 studies the political economy tradition in Canada, and attempts to integrate an understanding of several different approaches to the study of political economy while endeavouring to examine the Canadian political economy tradition as a whole.
Outline
Unit 1: Introduction
Unit 2: Three Alternative Models of Political Economy
Unit 3: The Political Economy Tradition in Canada: The Staples Trade
Unit 4: The State and Economic Development in Canada
Unit 5: Import Substitution in Canada
Unit 6: Three Periods of Industrial Export Failure in Canada
Unit 7: From ISI to Continental Rationalization and Free Trade with the United States and Mexico
Unit 8: Uneven Development in Atlantic Canada and Alberta
Unit 9: Women, the Deficit, and Political Economy
Evaluation
To receive credit for POLI 383, you must achieve a composite course grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of 50 percent or better on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| 2 Telephone Quizzes (5% each) | 10% |
| Assignment 1 (Short Essay) | 10% |
| Assignment 2 (Take-home Test) | 15% |
| Assignment 3 (Essay) | 25% |
| Final Exam | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbooks
Barratt Brown, Michael. 1984. Models in Political Economy: A Guide to the Arguments. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.
Easterbrook, W. T., and M. H. Watckins, eds. 1984. Approaches to Canadian Economic History. Ottawa: Carleton University Press.
Leadbeater, David, ed. 1984. Essays on the Political Economy of Alberta. Toronto: New Hogtown Press.
Williams, Glen. 1994. Not For Export: Toward a Political Economy of Canada's Arrested Industrialization. 3d. ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd.
Other materials
The course materials include a study guide, student manual, and a reading file.