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Unit of study_

GOVT6156: Strategy and Civil Society

2025 unit information

This unit provides an overview of contemporary debates about policy making in democratic states, such as Australia. It examines how governance is constituted by the interaction between the state and civil society. Governance is an emerging area of interest for both government and non-government organisations, and this unit analyses the way these social, economic and political organisations interact to both create public policy agendas and lead to social and political change. The unit covers the configurations of policy communities, political networks and social movements which shape both representative and participatory democratic practice. There is a particular emphasis on understanding the strategies that different political actors adopt.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Arts and Social Sciences

Study level Postgraduate
Academic unit Government and International Relations
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Understand the typology and complexity of relations between state and civil society actors considering context and political actors involved.
  • LO2. Critically evaluate and apply scholarly and non-scholarly sources to analysing the role of civil society actors in public policy making.
  • LO3. Demonstrate critical awareness and systematic understanding of strategies employed by civil society actors to influence public policy.
  • LO4. Discuss and debate the connection between civil society and democracy.

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.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2025
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2023
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

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