GV4H4      Half Unit
Foundations of Political Theory

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This course provides an introduction to the philosophical and methodological foundations of political theory. It aims to give participants a conceptual toolbox that can be brought to bear on many different substantive problems and research questions in political theory and neighbouring fields. The course introduces some central methodological debates in contemporary political theory, explores the links between political theory and related disciplines, and familiarises students with different approaches to political theorising.

15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.
1.5 hours of lectures in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT.

David Leopold and Marc Stears (eds.) (2008) Political Theory: Methods and Approaches (Oxford: Oxford University Press); Adrian Blau (ed.) (2017) Methods in Analytical Political Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press); John S. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig and Anne Phillips (eds.) (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press); Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit (eds.) (1993) A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (Oxford: Blackwell); Keith Dowding (2015) The Philosophy and Methods of Political Science (London: Palgrave).

Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period