PLM4370

Citizenship and Democracy in Australian Politics ( 12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL)

Leader: Jennifer Curtin

Offered:
Clayton First semester 2005 (Day)

Synopsis: This unit seeks to explore how the meanings of citizenship and democracy have been contested in Australia over time through an examination of debates about community and the individual, norms and realities, belonging and exclusion, and the various successes and failures of a liberal egalitarian politics. It engages with a range of case studies which allow for students to investigate the development of citizenship and democracy in Australia and how issues of race, gender, ethnicity, class, age and culture have intersected and fractured this development.

Objectives: Upon completing this subject students should be able to: 1.Understand, identify and critically evaluate different debates about citizenship and democracy as expressed through scholarly, political and popular discourse. 2. Develop a critical awareness of how race, gender, class, age and culture have had an impact on the formation and contemporary understandings of citizenship and democracy in Australia. 3. Appreciate the importance of how factors such as belonging, exclusion, and representation impact on interpretations of liberal democratic practice in Australia. 4. Demonstrate an understanding of the complex relationship between the global, national and local political contexts that frame particular citizenship claims within the Australian polity. 5. Develop skills to read various forms of text critically (scholarly literature, internet sources, parliamentary debates) and incorporate them in their assessed work.

Assessment: One 5,000 word essay: 50% + Seminar presentation and participation (equivalent of 1,000 words): 10% + Three hour examination (equivalent of 3,000 words): 40%

Contact Hours: 2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

Prohibitions: PLT4379, PLM5370