Modern Political Thought

• • A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials.

Equivalent subjects

You cannot enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:

• MAQ-POIX206

Others

NCCW (pre-2020 units) PLT220, POL206, POL264, POIX206 Pre-requisite 40cp at 1000 level or above OR (10cp in HIST or MHIS or POL or POIR or MHIX or POIX units) NCCW (2020 and onwards) POIR2060 Modern Political Thought

Special requirements

• OtherDetails -

  Students who have an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion under Macquarie University's Academic Progression Policy are not permitted to enrol in OUA units offered by Macquarie University. Students with an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion who have enrolled in units through OUA will be withdrawn.

What are the limits of the legitimate use of force by political authorities? How should the power of government be limited? When is a government or political regime legitimate? These and related questions have been the subject of a continuous debate in political theory since the sixteenth century. This unit examines the various theories of human rights and of social contract as well as theories which reject the liberal/democratic approach to the question of legitimacy. Among the authors to be read are Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Burke, Marx, Rawls, Schmitt, and Foucault.

• Essay (40%)
• Literature review (20%)
• Online test (40%)