Political Science

In this course students analyze key social problems such as worklessness, poverty, homelessness, and ill health, and how they have been addressed by public policy. Students examine the historical origins and evolution of the welfare state and engage with challenging debates about the government's current role in welfare.

This module evaluates global political questions emanating from the Coronavirus pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the response to climate change. These crises paradigmatically shift the political agenda; alter the reception to dominant political ideologies; modify the behavior of political actors; challenge political governance; and oppose the credibility of abstract theoretical concepts. Additionally, the response to crisis events provides the greatest challenge to the resilience of the global political system. Students explore these questions from the perspective of Political Science and Political Theory, understand the implications of the Politics of Crisis, and attempt to articulate viable responses to these problems.

The course provides students with an understanding of the key issues in the historical, philosophical, ethical, and sociological approaches to the study of war and the military. It develops students’ understanding of the relationship between armed forces and the societies they protect, and it engages with war as a moral problem and the tools that philosophers have created to limit its brutality and guide belligerents. It explores why, in spite of these tools, wars can descend into barbarity, crime, and genocide, making a special case study of the Holocaust in the Second World War. It looks at dynamics of protest against war and then goes on to interrogate the intellectual, economic, and financial factors that drive outcomes and shape war as a social dynamic. The term concludes with explorations of what war teaches us about human nature and the social contract, humans’ relationship with their environment and national identity.

This course examines how global supply chains are impacted by international political factors and how companies can adjust their strategies to respond to both international and domestic political pressures. The focus is on how firms can manage these influences on their operations and assess their strengths and weaknesses to make the best adjustments. In addition to providing a political analysis framework for understanding global supply chains, the course uses case studies to help students comprehend strategic and behavioral options companies have in responding to domestic and international political pressures. Through real-case analysis, the course provides insights into empirical applications of these strategies and behaviors. 

This course explores how different kinds of outposts became key sites for directing and negotiating the different forms of US empire, from the early days of colonization to the recent past. Each week students explore a different kind of outpost, often focusing on one particular beachhead of American power. Likewise, they analyze the outsized influence of Americans abroad and assess how the creation and maintenance of different kinds of outposts helped form the structure and sinews of the US empire. This course combines different strands of transnational history, particularly the histories of empire, capitalism, and ecology. 

This course examines the study of ethical considerations and issues in public policy making and implementation. The course addresses the question of how (best) to design and implement ethical public policy within a certain societal context? Students examine the different ethical perspectives, issues as well as tensions/dilemmas that arise during the public policy making and implementation phases in key policy sectors primarily, but not exclusively, within the Asia-Pacific region. These policy sectors are prominent sectors that are seen in many Asia-pacific societies, including the education, economic, housing, social and environmental sectors. Lectures focus on delivery of relevant concepts and perspectives relating to ethics in public policy making and implementation. Lectures in the first part of the course center around concepts and perspectives on ethics in public policy making and implementation. Lectures in the second part of the course situate the concepts and perspectives covered in the first part of the course in specific case studies that reflect key policy sectors. Extending from these lectures, the tutorials provide students with the opportunity to apply what is learned in the lectures and to analyze and evaluate the ethical considerations, dilemmas and tensions that arise within the respective public policy sectors under study. This course has a pre-requisite of Introduction to Public Administration and Policy (HA1003). 

This course provides an introductory survey of post-war Japanese international relations, with particular emphasis on the development of the US-Japan alliance and the evolution of relations between Japan and neighboring Asian states. It begins with a study of the making of the San Francisco System, and then concentrates on the major events that shaped the history of Japan up to the years after the Cold War. Through the analysis and explanation of historical events, particular efforts are made to place those events that relate to Japan in the context of transformations in the structure of wider international relations. 

This course develops an increased knowledge and understanding of the nature of international politics in the Asia-Pacific, and the conceptual and theoretical issues relating to those politics. It equips students with basic skills to analyze foreign policy of major powers and explain the role of regional institutions. Students discuss central concepts relevant to international politics of the region, apply theories of international relations to analyze the dynamics of Asia Pacific politics, and analyze the foreign policy of major powers in the Asia-Pacific. Discussions include the roles of ASEAN and small states in shaping regional architecture and debate effectively as a team. This course has a pre-requisite of Introduction to Public Administration & Policy (HA1003).

This course examines concepts and perspectives in mental health and distress, including social perspectives and service-user-based knowledge, with regard to issues of human rights and social justice. This course includes historical perspectives; ideologies of institutional and community care; key concepts in mental health; social and intersectional perspectives; service-user/survivor knowledge; epistemic and social injustice; Mad studies; and human rights in mental health.

The course covers theoretical and comparative approaches to key topics including electoral and party systems, voter choice and turnout, models of voting behavior, public opinion, and political behavior through a gendered lens. Throughout the course, students identify and describe various types of electoral and party systems, distinguish between the different theoretical models of voting behavior, and relate those models of voting behavior to country case studies.