VV019 Political Science II

Faculty of Informatics
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Recommended Type of Completion: z (credit). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ing. Miloslav Dokulil, DrSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. Ing. Václav Přenosil, CSc.
Department of Machine Learning and Data Processing – Faculty of Informatics
Contact Person: prof. PhDr. Ing. Miloslav Dokulil, DrSc.
Timetable
Wed 16:00–17:50 B007
Prerequisites
The course thematically follows VV015; its passing is not obligatory, but recomendable.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The story goes on from the beginning of the Enlightenment (as the commencement of political Modernity) and ends in our contemporaneity. Political terms/concepts are based in their historically given background (so as it has been the case with the initíal course).
Syllabus
  • The beginnings of political new ages.
  • The American experience (Madison, Hamilton, Jay, Paine and the American Constitution). Its resonance in the works by Tocqueville. The problems of "majority rule". The status of "federation" and the "suverenity" of the particular colonies (republics).
  • Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Great Britain and Central Europe under the influence of Enlightenment and in confrontation with the French Revolution. - Montesquieu. Burke. Tocqueville. - The "European balance of power".
  • The Congress of Vienna and Central Europe.
  • From conservatism via liberalism to Marxism? J. St. Mill, "On Liberty".
  • The re-grouping of forces after 1848. Imperialism?
  • WWI and the re-arrangement of Europe after the war. Political ideologies in between of the two world wars. - Toynbee, Sspengler. Fascism, nacism, communism.
  • The second global conflict of war in the 20-th century and its political and ideological outcome. The formation of the "Two Camps".
  • The way towards a United Europe? - Nationalism. The problem of toleration. The disintegration of the so-called Eastern Bloc. Terrorism.
  • Conclusion: New centres of power and new ideas? (Fukuyama, Huntington.)
Literature
  • Texty zadané během přednášek.
Assessment methods
3 credits after both regularly attending the classes, submitting 2 essays and a group discussion about the themes of those essays (2 to 3 students each time); (2 credits after both regularly attending the classes and submitting 1 essay)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2003, Spring 2005, Spring 2007, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2021, Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fi/spring2009/VV019