UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIESDEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS/ANALYSISGOVERNMENT 1000

COURSE SYLLABUS by Mikol A. Mortley

1. THE CHANGING DEFINITION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND POLITICS Politics

o Formal Politicso Informal Politicso State

Political Scienceo Two Fundamental

Questions of Political Science

Legitimacy Sovereignty Authority Power Political culture

o Participatoryo Subjective o Parochial o Factors that shape political

culture: I. Political history

II. Geopolitics III. Political

SocializationIV. EconomicsV. Institutions

o Factors that change political culture:

I. Rapid rise in the levels of education

II. Access to Information

III. Population Movements

IV. Rapid Urbanization

V. Opportunity Structure

VI. Political Socialization

2. MASS MEDIA AND POLITICS

Political Behaviouro Conventionalo Unconventional

Political Socializationo Agents of Socialization:

I. Primary agents of socialization

II. Secondary agents of socialization

Media o 4 Roles of the media o 6 major media players in

the USo Caribbean Media statistics

3. POLITICAL SYSTEM; DEMOCRACY Political System

o Elements of the Political System:

I. Units of power

II. Political behaviour and patterns of social groups

III. Population mindsets towards politics

IV. Institutions that shape political power

V. Relationships among political life, the state and individual citizens

o Types of political systems Democracy

o Representative o Participatory o Direct

Westminster parliamentary democracy

o British parliamentary system

I. Bicameral house of parliament

II. Legislature III. Uncodified

constitutionIV. Head of State and

Governmento Responsible governmento Elections

First past the post electoral system

United States Presidential Political System

o Constitution o Federalism o Separation of powers o Branches of Government

I. ExecutiveII. Legislature

III. Judiciary o Elections

Anglophone Caribbean governments

Liberal democracies o Civil liberties and political

freedomso Contradictions of modern

liberal democracies

4. THE ANGLOPHONE CARIBBEAN STATE: CONTEMPORARY CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES, ELECTORAL DISCONTENT AND VOTER APATHY Contemporary Caribbean

constitutional reform o Jamaican constitutional

reform : Stone Committee Contemporary Caribbean

constitutional issues Voter Apathy Statistics for Jamaica Attitudes towards elections for

Jamaicao Introduction of the Political

Ombudsman

5. CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN POLITICS Struggles of Caribbean leadership

o Jamaica 1970’s and 1980’s o IMF agreements and the

structural adjustment model

Globalization Caribbean Integration Movements

o West indies federationo CARIFTAo OECSo CARICOMo CSMEo CCJ

6. POLITICS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY TRANSITIONAL SOCIETIES Transitional Society

o Fundamental change or adjustment in :I. Politics

II. EconomicsIII. Demographics

o Statistics:I. Population

II. Economically active populationIII. Unemployment IV. GDP per capital V. GDP growth rate

VI. Health and EducationVII. Gini Coefficient

South Africa o History of colonization and apartheid o Movements towards democracyo Challenges of the democratic transition

India o Challenges of the transition in India

Chinao Challenges of the transition of China