Department of Politics and Public Administration

The University of Hong Kong

POLI1003 Making Sense of Politics
First semester, 2013-2014
Monday 12:30-2:20pm., CPD-LG.18
Lecturer/ Tutor: Dr. Chan Wing Ching Elton
Jockey Club Building 961
Email: eltonra@hku.hk
Office hours: by appointment.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
This is an introductory course for students without previous training in political science. It aims to
introduce the basic concepts, components and theories of political inquiry, political processes and
institutions in the study of politics. It also aims to show the ways politics affect us in everyday life. The
course is organized into five units starting from explaining conventional components of politics such as
the state to the normative questions that guide politics in the world. The units include: (I) politics and the
state, (II) democracy and democratization, (III) politics and institutions, (IV) politics and us, and (V)
Other issues in politicst.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, students will be able to
(1) Understand what politics is and how it affects our everyday life
(2) Identity and analyze the main components of political processes and institutions
(3) Use the concepts and knowledge in analyzing current affairs
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE
(1) Lectures: Once a week; two hours; attendance and participation essential
(2) Tutorials: 8 meetings including the first one on housekeeping; each lasts 50 minutes; preparation,
attendance, presentation and participation essential.
READING MATERIALS
For your convenience, a master copy of the essential and supplementary readings will be deposited at
a local photocopy shop ( opposite the East Gate on Bonham Road) for your purchase.
OTHER REFERENCES on reserve (1/F Main Library)
(1) Danziger, James N. 2012. Understanding the Political World: A Comparative Introduction to
Political Science. 11th ed. (or other editions) New York: Pearson Longman.
(2) Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2011. Political Science: An Introduction. 12th ed. (or other editions) Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
(3) Hague, Rod. 2010. Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction. 8th ed. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
(4) Heywood, Andrew. 2007. Politics. 3rd ed. (or 4th ed. 2013) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
(5) Newton, Kenneth and Jan W. van Deth. 2005. Foundations of Comparative Politics: Democracies
of the Modern World. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
(6) Hoffman, John and Paul Graham. 2009. Introduction to Political Theory. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson
Longman.
(7) Heywood, Andrew. 2004. Political Theory: An Introduction. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
1

ENCYCLOPEDIA AND DICTIONARY

Worldmark encyclopedia of the nations
Encyclopedia of government and politics
Encyclopedia of political thought
International encyclopedia of government and politics
The Oxford companion to politics of the world
Survey of social science: Government & politics series
International relations: A political dictionary
The international directory of government
USEFUL WEBSITES
Hong Kong Government
Online Newspapers
WiseNews (local newspapers)
CIA - The World Factbook
CIA World Leaders

RLB 903 W92 (vol. 1-6)

R 320.03 E56 (vol. 1-2)
RLB 320.03 E56 S44
RLB 320.03 I6 (vol. 1-2)
R 320.03 O9
R 320.03 S96 (vol. 1-5)
R 327.03 Z8
RLB 351.00025 I6

www.gov.hk/en/residents
www.onlinenewspapers.com
(search via the HKU Library catalogue)
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.html

COURSE ASSESSMENT
(1) Coursework 50%
(a) Attendance, presentation and participation in tutorials (20%): Each student is expected to give
a 10-minutes presentation on the assigned question of any one of the tutorial sessions. You are
also expected to come prepared and participate in the discussion in each tutorial session. This
means that you are expected to finish the essential readings on the related topics before
attending the sessions.
(b)
One short paper (1,500-2,000 words) (30%): Choose any one of the tutorial questions. The
paper should be written in your own words and properly referenced. It can be submitted
anytime during the term but no later than May 11, 2015 (Monday) 6pm. Please submit your
paper to Turnitin (http://lib.hku.hk/turnitin) at HKU only. You must also submit a hard copy to the
department general office.
(c)
Citation system: Familiarize yourself with the use of academic citation. Choose one
citation system and use it consistently throughout the paper. Refer to Learning Resources Essay Writing and Plagiarism at http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk for examples.
(d)
Penalty for late submission: Deduction of one sub-grade per day, up to seven days,
thereafter zero mark will be given.
(e)
Academic misconduct warning: The Department of Politics and Public Administration
expects that all students work will conform to the highest standards of academic integrity.
Students work will be scrutinized for academic misconduct, which includes plagiarism of
others words and/or ideas, falsification, fabrication, and misuse of data. Students submitted
work will be scrutinized for plagiarism through use of Turnitin. In the event a student submits
work that appears to be plagiarizedwhether essays, presentations, or other course material
they will be asked to explain themselves to the lecturer. The Department does not tolerate
plagiarism, whether direct, indirect, or self plagiarism. Direct plagiarism is intentionally and
completely lifting the words, equations, charts, graphs or artistic material of another author or
authors. Indirect plagiarism is failing to cite completely or accurately, and/or copying themes,
ideas, or sources the student has not read from another author or authors. Self plagiarism is
recycling papers, documents, equations, and so forth from a document previously submitted by
the student without quotation, citation, or attribution of the previous work. Acts of plagiarism
could result in heavy penalties, including disciplinary action. For more information about the
2

policy on plagiarism at HKU, please visit: http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism.

(2) Closed book final examination 50%: Answer two essay-type questions in two hours. You will be
given a choice of four questions.
LECTURE SCHEDULE
(1) January 19 (Introduction)
(2) January 26 (Topic 1)
(3) February 2 (Topic 2)
* Tutorials begin in the week of February 9 on the selected dates.
(4) February 9 (Topic 3)
(5) February 16 (Topic 4)
February 23 (NO CLASS Chinese New Year)
(6) March 2 (Topic 5)
March 9 (NO CLASS READING WEEK)
March 16 (NO CLASS UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY)
(7) March 23 (Topic 6)
(8) March 30 (Topic 7)
April 6 (NO CLASS PUBLIC HOLIDAY)
(9) April 13 (Topic 8)
(10) April 20 (Topic 9)
(11) April 27 (Topic 10)
(12) May 4 (Conclusion and Revision)
* Paper due on May 11, 2015 (Monday) 6pm
LECTURE TOPICS AND READINGS
Introduction: What is politics?
Essential readings:
Heywood, Andrew. 2013. Politics. 4th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-12 (part of ch. 1
What is Politics?).
Unit I: Politics and the State
Topic 1
(a)
(b)
(c)

State and nation

What is a state? Concept of sovereignty
Notion of a nation
Challenges to the state (e.g., globalization) and failed states

Essential readings:
(1) Newton, Kenneth and Jan W. van Deth. 2005. Foundations of Comparative Politics. Cambridge and
New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-20 (part of ch. 1 The State: Origins and Development)
and 329-345 (part of ch. 17 The Future of the Democratic States and Sovereignty).
(2) Fukuyama, Francis. 2004. The Imperatives of State-Building. Journal of Democracy 15 (2), April,
pp.17-31.
Topic 2 Politics and government
(a) Power and legitimacy
(b) How much government and forms of government
3

(c)

Totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and ideologies of our day

Essential readings:
(1) Ball, Alan and B. Guy Peters. 2005. Modern Politics and Government. 7th ed. Basingstoke, England
and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 25-37 (part of ch. 2 Politics, Power and Authority).
(2) Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2008. Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 6-7 (Legitimacy, Sovereignty, and Authority) and 46-49 (part of ch. 3 Nation, States,
and Government).
(3) Magstadt, Thomas. 2003. Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions and Issues. 6th ed. USA:
Wadsworth, pp. 72-91 (ch. 4 Authoritarian States: Traditional Rule).
Supplementary readings:
Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2008. Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 83-87 (part of ch. 5 Democracy, Totalitarianism, and Authoritarianism) and 94-115
(ch. 6 Political Ideologies).
Unit II: Democracy and Democratization
Topic 3
(a)
(b)
(c)

Democracy and democratization

What is it? Its virtues and vices
Constitutions
Democratization, conditions for successful democratic transition and obstacles

Essential readings:
(1) Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2008. Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 56-63 (part of ch. 4 Individuals and Constitutions) and 74-82 (part of ch. 5
Democracy, Totalitarianism, and Authoritarianism).
(2) Huggins, Richard. 2002. Democracy and Democratisation. In Barrie Axford et al. (eds.). Politics:
An Introduction. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 170-176 (part of the chapter).
(3) Sen, Amartya. 2001. Development as Freedom. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
pp.146-159 (ch. 6 The Importance of Democracy).
Supplementary readings:
(1) Tocqueville, Alexis de. 2000. Democracy in America. Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop
(eds.). London: The University of Chicago Press, pp.235-249.
(2) Varshney, Ashutosh. 1998. India Defies the Odds: Why Democracy Survives. Journal of
Democracy 9 (3), July, pp.36-50.
Unit III: Politics and Institutions
Topic 4
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Political parties and election

Functions and types of political parties
Party systems
Functions of elections
Electoral systems: Majoritarian versus proportional

Essential readings:
(1) Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2008. Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 195-211 (ch. 11 Political Parties and Party Systems).
4

(2) International IDEA. 2005. Electoral System Design, Sweden: The United Nations, pp. 1-16 (ch. 1
Overview).
Supplementary readings:
Heywood, Andrew. 2007. Politics. 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 254-263 (part of ch. 12
Representation, Elections and Voting)
Topic 5 Political executives
(a) Head of state versus head of government
(b) Presidential versus parliamentary executive
Essential readings:
(1) Mahler, Gregory S. 2008. Comparative Politics: An Institutional and Cross-National Approach. 5th ed.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 104-118 and 123-127 (part of ch. 5 The Executive).
(2) Lijphart, Arend. 1996. Constitutional Choices for New Democracies. In Larry Diamond and Marc F.
Plattner (eds.) The Global Resurgence of Democracy. Baltimore, Md.: John Hopkins University Press,
pp.162-173.
Supplementary readings:
(1) Li, Pang-kwong. 2012. The Executive. In Lam, Wai-man et al. (eds.). Contemporary Hong Kong
Government and Politics. Expanded second edition. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
(2)
Browse
relevant
sections
of
the
Basic
Law
(available
online
at
www.info.gov.hk/basic_law/fulltext/index.htm)
Topic 6 Legislatures
(a) Unicameral versus bicameral
(b) Functions of legislatures
Essential readings:
(1) Mahler, Gregory S. 2008. Comparative Politics: An Institutional and Cross-National Approach. 5th ed.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 74- 84 and 89-98 (part of ch. 4 Legislatures and Legislative
Structures).
(2) Loh, Christine and Civic Exchange (eds.). 2006. Functional Constituencies: A Unique Feature of the
Hong Kong Legislative Council. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 311-323 (ch. 10 One
Person One Vote: The US Electoral System and the Functional Constituencies).
(3) Hague, Rod. 2010. Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction. 8th ed. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 295-317 (ch. 15 Legislatures).
Supplementary readings:
Loh, Christine and Civic Exchange (eds.). 2006. Functional Constituencies: A Unique Feature of the
Hong Kong Legislative Council. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 325-339 (Conclusion).
Unit IV: Politics and Us
Topic 7
(a)
(b)
(c)

Political identity and political culture

Political identity, political socialization
Political culture, Almond and Verbas civic culture
Asian values

Essential readings:
(1) Rosamond, Ben. 2002. Political Culture. In Barrie Axford et al. (eds.). Politics: An Introduction. 2nd
ed. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 82-91 and 100-115.
(2) Roskin, Michael G. et al. 2008. Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 120-132 (part of ch. 7 Political Culture).
Topic 8 Political participation and civil society
(a) Forms of political participation (including civil disobedience)
(b) Social capital and civil society
Essential readings:
(1) Wilson, Frank. 2002. Concepts and Issues in Comparative Politics. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, pp. 57-77 (ch. 4 The Citizens in Politics).
(2) Putnam, Robert. 1995. Bowling Alone: Americas Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy 6,
January, pp. 65-78.
Supplementary readings:
(1) Lam, Wai-man. 2004. Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong. Armonk, N.Y. and London:
M.E. Sharpe, pp. 28-43 (ch. 2 An Alternative Understanding of Political Participation).
(2) Berman, Sheri. 1997. Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic. World Politics 49 (3),
April, pp.401-439.
Unit V: Other Issues in Politics
Topic 9 Economic development, the classic approaches and their critics
(a) Defining economic development
(b) Modernization theory and its critics
Essential readings:
(1) Magstadt, Thomas. 2003. Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions and Issues. 6th ed. USA:
Wadsworth, pp. 219-226 (part of ch. 8 Developing Countries).
(2) Rostow, W. W. 1960. The Stages of Economic Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
pp.1-12.
(3) Inkeles, Alex. 1966. The Modernization of Man. In Myron Weiner (ed.). Modernization: The
Dynamics of Growth. New York: Basic Books, pp.138-150.
Topic 10
(a)
(b)
(c)

What are the normative questions in politics? Why are they important?
Normative questions: what is the field consist of?
An example: Why should we obey?
Conclusion

Essential readings:
(1) Miller, David. 2003. Very Short Introduction to Political Philosophy. 1 st ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, pp. 1-36 (chapter 1 and 2)
(2) Wolff, Johnathan. 1996. Introduction to Political Philosophy. 1 st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
pp. 37- 67 (chapter 3)

TUTORIALS
(1) Tutorials begin in the week of February 9 on the selected dates.
(2) Please bring one passport size photo to your first meeting.
(3) Sign up at the site http://signup.ppa.hku.hk. Please remember to delete your entry if you decide
to drop the course. Your cooperation is much appreciated.
(4) Schedule of tutorial sessions:
(1) Week of February 9

Housekeeping; remember to bring one passport size photo

(2) Week of February 16

1. Some argue that the state as a political institution (and authority)

will be fundamentally weakened by globalization. Do you agree?
Why?
2. Choose an example of a failed state and identify the major
causes of its problems. How could we solve these problems?

(state and nation)

(3) Week of March 2

(politics and government)

1. How much government is preferred in your view? Why?

2. Does authoritarianism help or hinder economic development? Or
does it depend? Why?

Week of March 9

READING WEEK

(4) Week of March 23

1. What are the factors conducive to and hinder democratization?

(democracy and democratization) Discuss with real life examples.
2. How important and effective is a constitution in sustaining
democratic rule?
3. Are rich countries today likely to be more democratic than poor
countries? And why?
(5) Week of March 30

(parties and election)

(6) Week of April 13

(executive and legislature)

(7) Week of April 20

(politics and us)

1. Why are political parties important for a democratic society?

What are the different political consequences of one party system,
two-party system and multi-party system?
2. What are the popular electoral systems? How effective is
electoral design and arrangements in promoting democratic rule?
3. What would be the best electoral system for a society which is
highly unequal and divided, and has multiple parties? Why?
1. What are presidentialism and parliamentarism? What are their
virtues and vices? Which system is more suitable to new
democracies, and why? Any universal answer for all countries?
2. Explain the differences between unicameral and bicameral
legislatures. What are their virtues and vices?
3. What are the characteristics of Hong Kongs executive model?
How would you compare it with the presidential and parliamentary
executive frameworks? What improvements would you like to see
with reference to these executive frameworks?
1. To what extent do you agree with Almond and Verbas civic
culture theory? Why?
2. What are social capital and civil society? Are they important for a
7

democratic society to work according to Putnam? Why and how?

3. To what extent are the definitions and forms of political
participation applicable to analyzing public participation today?
(8) Week of April 27

(politics and development)

1. What are the different approaches used by scholars in explaining

economic development? How are they different from one another?
2. Do you agree with the modernization theorys assumptions and
predictions of economic and political development across the
world? Why?