Australian Politics in Global Context
UndergraduateMAQ-POIX1012019
Course information for 2019 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Stare down the barrel of Australian political history. Learn about the Dismissal and the Great Depression. Investigate the two-party system and other political institutions. Take on debated hot topics such as globalisation, climate change and war.
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- -
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Australian Politics in Global Context
About this subject
At the completion of this subject students will be able to:
- identify the key issues regarding the relationship between globalisation and Australia's domestic politics
- describe the central features of Australia's main political institutions - including the Constitution, Federalism, the High Court, Parliament, elections and the two party system - and to understand the ways in which globalisation constrains and influences them
- distinguish between, and articulate the strengths and weaknesses of, the key ideologies that have informed political discourse in this country
- give an articulate account of at least one contemporary political issue in this country, and say how it has been influenced, if at all, by intensified globalisation.
- Part One (weeks 1-3) covers important political developments in Australian since Federation
- Part 1: WWI, the Great Depression, WWII
- Part 1: The Dismissal, and politics since the neo-liberal era of the late-1970s onwards
- Part Two (weeks 4-9) explores Australia's institutions
- Part 2: The Australian Constitution, the High Court, and Federalism
- Part 2: The Executive and Parliament
- Part 2: Australia's political parties
- Part 2: Ideas and ideologies supporting and sustaining these institutions
- Part Three (weeks 10-13) critically evaluates the major debates, issues, and interests of Australian politics and society in a global context
- Part 3: The impacts of economic crisis
- Part 3: Neo-liberalism
- Part 3: Globalisation
- Part 3: Environmentalism
- Part 3: `Americanization'
This subject was previously known as PLT110 Australian Politics in Global Context.
In this subject, we critically assess Australian politics from the perspective of political and economic history, through the lens of social power and financial interests, and drilling down into contemporary debates about economic crisis, globalisation, nationalism, environmental catastrophe and war. With this approach in mind, we examine key Australian political institutions, ideologies, and issues. What is the nature of Australia’s key political institutions (the Constitution, the High Court, Federalism, Government and Parliament), and are they democratic and just? Could we live without them? What are some of the radical critiques of these institutions and the interests they serve? What is ‘Australia’, after all – a unified nation of peoples with shared identities and interests, or a construct that serves wealth and power by masking deep social fractures, or something else again? These questions should be seen as an entrée to Australian politics before embarking on the more in-depth companion subject, Contemporary Issues in Australian Politics, POIX201.
- Reading Critique (10%)
- Minor Essay (30%)
- Major Essay (45%)
- Participation (15%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-PLT110 (Not currently available)
Others
If you have no prior university experience, you should complete BAR100 Academic Learning Skills or COM10006 Academic Literacies: Learning and Communication Practice before starting this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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