Introduction to Political Science
Overview
1. Introduction: basic concepts such as politics, government, power, influence, coercion, state, authority, civil society, and democracy, and the rudimentary methods of political science will be discussed.
2. Ideas and politics: great political thinkers will be explored in the context of the development of mass political ideas and ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism, socialism, environmentalism, and feminism.
3. State and government: the role and functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches will be explained, and various political regimes such as democratic and authoritarian governments will be explored.
4. Political processes: the role and evolution of electoral systems, interest groups, and political parties will be reviewed and assessed.
5. Governing and policy-making: the function of the civil service and the role of other decisional actors in terms of policy formulation and implementation will be explored.
In this course, students will engage in a variety of learning activities such as attending lectures, participation in class discussions, debates, individual and group presentations, reflections, in class reading assignments, group assignments and take-home assignments.
Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.
There will be at least three separate assessments, which may include a combination of exams, research projects, quizzes, in-class and online written assignments, seminar presentations, group and other creative projects, and class participation.
The value of each assessment and evaluation, expressed as a percentage of the final grade, will be listed in the course outline distributed to students at the beginning of the term. Specific evaluation criteria will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.
Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research
Example evaluation scheme:
Quizzes 10%
Participation 10%
Mid-term exam 25%
Term essay 30%
Final exam 25%
Total: 100%
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Identify various areas of specialization in political science and the general scope and methods of the discipline at an introductory level;
2. Define selected concepts such as government, law, power, democracy, state, society, freedom, and equality;
3. Explain the basic features of political ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism, and socialism;
4. Identify and describe the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government;
5. Appraise basic political processes such as elections and interest articulation, aggregation, and communication;
6. Pursue further studies in subfields such as political theory, Canadian government, international relations and world politics, comparative politics, and American government, among others.
Textbooks and materials are to be obtained by students. A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include:
Anderson, Cameron D. and Laura Beth Stephenson, eds. What is Democracy and How Do We Study It? Toronto: University of Toronto Press, current edition.
Atchison, Amy L., ed. Political Science is for Everybody: An Introduction to Political Science. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, current edition.
Brodie, Janine, Sandra Rein and Melinda S. Smith, eds. Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, current edition.
MacLean, George A., Duncan R. Wood and Lori Turnbull. Politics: An Introduction. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, current edition.
Magstadt, Thomas M. Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues. Boston: Cengage, current edition.
Mintz, Eric, David Close and Osvaldo Croci. Politics, Power, and the Common Good. Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson, current edition.
Requisites
Prerequisites
No prerequisite courses.
Corequisites
No corequisite courses.
Equivalencies
No equivalent courses.
Course Guidelines
Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
Course Transfers
These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca
| Institution | Transfer details for POLI 1101 |
|---|---|
| Athabasca University (AU) | AU POLI 2XX (3) |
| Camosun College (CAMO) | CAMO PSC 105 (3) |
| Capilano University (CAPU) | CAPU POL 100 (3) |
| Coast Mountain College (CMTN) | CMTN POLI 101 (3) |
| College of the Rockies (COTR) | COTR POLI 100 (3) |
| Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) | KPU POLI 1125 (3) |
| Langara College (LANG) | LANG POLI 1100 (3) |
| LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) | LCV GE 240 (3) |
| Okanagan College (OC) | OC POLI 101 (3) |
| Simon Fraser University (SFU) | SFU POL 100 (3) |
| Thompson Rivers University (TRU) | TRU POLI 1210 (3) |
| Trinity Western University (TWU) | TWU POLS 1XX (3) |
| University Canada West (UCW) | UCW POLI 102 (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) | UBCO POLI_O 100 (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) | UBCV POLI_V 100 (3) |
| University of Northern BC (UNBC) | UNBC POLS 100 (3) |
| University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) | UFV POSC 100 (3) |
| University of Victoria (UVIC) | UVIC POLI 103 (1.5) |
| Vancouver Island University (VIU) | VIU POLI 100 (3) |
Course Offerings
Summer 2025
| CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CRN
22079
|
Wed | Instructor last name
Evans
Instructor first name
Terri
|
Course status
Waitlist
|
| CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CRN
24650
|
Thu | Instructor last name
Evans
Instructor first name
Terri
|
Course status
Waitlist
|
This course will include synchronous on-line activities. Students should plan to be available on-line at scheduled course times.