PS2204: Modern Western Political Thought

Sem: AY18/19 Semester 2

Lecturer: Dr. Matthew Aaron Lepori

Overview: Needed to clear my PT requirement and this seemed like the most painless way to do so. Content-wise, I got a rather broad overview of important political ideas and concepts from some of the most notable contemporary thinkers (think Hobbes, John Locke and Karl Marx), and learnt a bit of modern history along the way. This makes sense, as you can’t really understand the ideas without delving deeper into the context in which these ideas were formulated. Issues such as power, inequalities, rights (of marginalised groups) and exploitation were also covered, and it was quite interesting to see how some of these centuries-old debates are still very much relevant in the present-day.

I would say that this mod was really chill as Dr. Lepori basically sieved out the main points for the readings during lectures so you just have to write down what he says word for word. His explanations were clear and easy to follow. Note that I said ‘write’, as Dr. Lepori doesn’t allow laptops to be used during class (save for the last few rows) so you really have to handwrite everything down, though I’m not sure how this works over Zoom. While some might see this mod as simply clearing a PS major requirement (not everyone loves theory), a number of ideas covered in this mod will resurface in subsequent PS mods. For instance, Hobbesian ideas of the state of anarchy form a significant part of Realist theories in international relations (IR), and I was glad I knew what Hobbes was talking about when I began taking IR mods. Overall, would recommend this mod if you are just looking for a mod to clear your PT requirement, as it offers you a good and relatively painless crash course into modern political ideas.

Assessment:

Tutorial Participation (20%): Before each tutorial, one is expected to send in two questions in response to the readings from the previous 2 weeks. Part of your grade for this component is based on the quality of the questions you send in (Dr Lepori will explain in further detail) and it’s quite easy to score so just do this properly. The other part is essentially the quality of student participation in tutorial discussions which is pretty standard stuff.

Take-home Midterm (40%): Dr Lepori gives you about 1 week to do your midterm, which covers content from the first half of the sem. IIRC there are 3C2 (or 4C2) essay questions which require you to explain what a certain thinker says about a certain idea within a specified word limit. The questions are very similar to what was covered during lectures, so it’s really important that you take diligent lecture notes. Also note that Dr Lepori adopts point-based marking (you get a mark if your answer contains a relevant point, no point = no mark), so you need to be succinct in order to get as many points in as possible. Not too difficult if you have been paying attention during class.

Take-home Finals (40%): Essentially the same format as the midterms, except that it covers content from the second half of the sem.