Communist Regimes and their Societies POLITIC5106

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Social and Political Sciences
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course invites students to examine what makes single party communist regimes striking and distinct from other "authoritarian" political systems. The course will allow students to delve into the 'black box' politics of such regimes in the context of a rising world power-China-and other important examples, such as Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. It examines the internal workings of the Communist Party in these systems, and the Party's relationship with society, the media, law and human rights.

Timetable

Lecture: one hour per week x 10 weeks

Seminar: one hour per week x 10 weeks

Requirements of Entry

Open to postgraduate students only

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Group presentation (10%)

Report 1500 words (30%)

Essay 3000 words (60%)

Course Aims

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the characteristics and workings of contemporary communist one-party regimes and to how in these regimes the ruling party interacts with its society. This includes the institutions and ideologies of the ruling party, the theories and frameworks used to assess politics in such systems, and the relationships between the Party, government, and society. It provides participants with a framework for thinking critically about contemporary Communist Party-run regimes.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Recognize the key institutions, ideas and actors shaping and animating contemporary single party political systems;

■ Describe and critically evaluate elements of the workings of contemporary single party systems, such as the ruling party's strategies of control, co-optation and legitimacy building;

■ Critically assess dimensions of the relationship between the Party and society in a single party system;

■ Apply relevant concepts and theories on single party systems to evaluate different political and social phenomena across two such systems or within one such system over time.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.