Political Science Analysis

The course is a compulsory course in the Master's Programme in Political Science and Master's Programme in Political Science: Environmental Governance and Behavior. The course is also given as a freestanding course. The course is a core course in the second cycle.

A minimum of 60 credits in first cycle Political Science (or equivalent) of which at least 30 credits from in depth courses in the first cycle (or equivalent). Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.

Political Science has developed into a mature academic subject, which has led to further specialization into various sub disciplines or research areas (e.g. Political Behavior, Comparative Politics, Public Administration, Political Theory and International Politics). At the same time there has been increased integration too between the sub disciplines, both theoretically and analytically as well as methodologically. The course aims to give the the students an overview of the subject. This aim will be achieved by guiding the students to research classics from the various research areas as well as to current research. The course will apply different analytical perspectives on the various research areas and make the students aware of different research strategies and research methods. Throughout the course, students will gain skills in critically reflected oral and written academic presentation through problem-based research overview assignments.

On successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

Have in-depth as well as broad knowledge of major Political Science research areas

Competence and skills

• Independently, at an in-depth level, organise, write and present orally short research overviews with topics from various Political Science research areas
• Independently produce text in accordance with good academic practice, including proper citation technique and use of references
• Communicate clearly and proficiently in English both orally and in writing 

Judgement and approach

• At an in-depth level understand and critically evaluate Political Science research

The course is an in-house course and combines lectures and seminars for five different research areas.

Language of instruction: English

The course is examined through five research overviews, one for each subfield included in the course. In addition to the research reports the student must make one oral presentation of their research report and actively participate in all five compulsory seminars.

Each of the five research seminar papers are graded Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with Distinction (VG) and awarded 3 credits each.

A student who is not able to attend a compulsory part of the course can do an alternative assignment. The assignment will be described in the course guide.

Completion of examined assignments are permitted in case of grade fail (U) and is specified by the responsible teacher. If the student does not submit the completion on time, the student will be failed on the assignment.

If a student, who has failed the same examined component twice, wishes to change examiner before the next examination, a written application shall be sent to the department responsible for the course and shall be granted unless there are special reasons to the contrary (Chapter 6, Section 22 of Higher Education Ordinance).

If a student has received a recommendation from the University of Gothenburg for special educational support, where it is compatible with the learning outcomes of the course and provided that no unreasonable resources are required, the examiner may decide to allow the student to sit an adjusted exam or alternative form of assessment.

At least five occasions shall be offered the students to pass a course or part of a course (Chapter 6, Section 21 of Higher Education Ordinance).

In cases where a course has been discontinued or has undergone major changes, the student shall normally be guaranteed at least three examination occasions (including the ordinary examination) during a period of at least one year from the last time the course was given.

The grading scale comprises: Pass with Distinction (VG), Pass (G) and Fail (U).

In order to pass the course (G), the student needs to pass all the assignments. In order to pass the course with distinction (VG), at least 3 of the reports must have the grade VG and the rest of the assignments have the grade G.

To obtain the Pass grade the student must fulfill all the learning outcomes. To obtain Pass with distinction the work of the student should show a very good ability to connect theoretical analyses to empirical outcomes, a good, independent analytical ability and that written assignments fulfill high academic standards in term of structure and language.

The student will be given the opportunity to do a course evaluation. The results of and possible changes to the course will be shared with students who participated in the evaluation and students who are starting the course.