Political Science (POLI) 278

Overview

POLI 278 is the second half of AU's introduction to politics course. It can be taken alone for students requiring 3 credits in political science, but not wishing to take both introductory courses. For students desiring a thorough introduction to political science, those intending to do other political science courses, both introductory courses are recommended. Together with POLI 277, POLI 278 is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in politics and government to enable them to proceed to other courses in political science.

The course introduces students to the basic concepts, and processes of political science--democracy, political culture and socialization, political participation, elections, parties, interest groups, and social movements.

Outline

Unit 1: Introduction

Unit 2: Ideas of Politics

Unit 3: Culture and Community

Unit 4: Representation and Electoral Systems

Unit 5: Political Parties and Elections

Unit 6: Media, Interest Groups, and Social Movements

Unit 7: Political Conflict and Violence

Unit 8: Regimes

Unit 9: Globalizing Justice

Unit 10: Governing the World Community

Evaluation

To receive credit for POLI 278, you must complete the following assignments and achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of 50 percent or better on the final examination. The weighting of the assignments is as follows:

Assignment 1 Minor Writing Assignment	Assignment 2 Annotated Bibliography	Assignment 3 Major Research Essay	Final Exam	Total
10%	20%	30%	40%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Brodie, Janine and Sandra Rein, eds. 2009. Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics, 4th ed. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Mintz, Eric, David Close, and Osvaldo Croci. 2009. Politics, Power and the Common Good: An Introduction to Political Science, 2nd ed. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Other Materials

All other course materials will be accessed online.

Challenge for Credit Course Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.

Full information for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Policy
• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Procedures

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the POLI 278 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on the examination.

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form