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Unit of study_
GOVT2117: Comparative Politics
2025 unit information
This unit deepens students' understanding of major concepts and theories of comparative politics. Drawing on examples from various world regions and employing a variety of theoretical perspectives, this unit examines big issues such as democratisation, development, electoral systems, and ethnic conflict. Students will learn about key political science concepts such as the state, regimes, institutional design, and civil society, and will develop basic skills in comparative analysis.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | Government and International Relations |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 1000 level in Politics or 12 credit points at 1000 level in International Relations or 12 senior credit points from Government and International Relations |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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GOVT1107 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. demonstrate a deep understanding of the subfield of comparative politics
- LO2. see the world through a "comparativist’s eyes", i.e., to ask why countries vary in crucial ways, despite sharing other important background similarities
- LO3. use the basic tools of comparative analysis, and learn how to frame puzzles in terms of dependent and independent variables
- LO4. demonstrate familiarity with key concepts and major theories in comparative politics
- LO5. demonstrate empirical knowledge about a range of historical and contemporary cases.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
There are no availabilities for this year.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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There are no availabilities for previous years.
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
