Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

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French

This is an introductory course. It aims to introduce both to what are the current political phenomena and, especially, to the way political science deals with them in order to obtain general theories about them.

Given the limited number of hours, the course primarily aims to initiate the students to a fundamental political analysing framework, enabling them to understand the structural frameworks in which current political phenomena develop.

From a practical point of view, the aim is that by the end of the course, the students have acquired the intellectual mastery of a certain number of conceptual categories, reasoning modes and theoretical theses, which sustain this fundamental political analysing frame. At the examination (see “assessment”), the students will be asked to prove that they are able to put them into practice appropriately in a political analysis of political phenomena, which will not necessarily have been discussed in class.

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The course is divided into four main parts, each one corresponding to a classic, fundamental concept of current political science: Politics/Politicisation, Power, State, Democracy. In the analysis of each concept and the reality to which it refers, we will demonstrate, on the one hand, what makes the specificity of political phenomena in regards to other social phenomena and, on the other hand, what makes the specificity of Western contemporary political phenomena compared to political phenomena taking place in other geopolitical contexts or that occurred in earlier times.

The course will also provide the opportunity to specify the scope of other usual notions of political sciences, whether conventional (civil society, international organisation, political party, interest group, citizen, nation, supra-statism, federalism…) or new (governance, multiple-level governance…). It will also enable to study two reference theories of contemporary political science (that of Max Weber on political domination and that of Bernard Manin on representative democracy).
Finally it aims to initiate the students to a reflection on some major political stakes of our time (the role played by the approaches in the initiation and orientation of a public action, the relativisation of the centrality of the State in the contemporary organisation of the human government, the tension between the will of the people and reason in Western political regimes, etc.).
Throughout the course, many examples out of the news will be used to illustrate and help understand the theoretical elements, which are central to the mastery of the subject matter.

Ex cathedra presentations.

A syllabus including all the course notes of the previous year will be provided to the students at the beginning of the year to help them to take notes during this year's course. It is thus recommended that the students read beforehand the section of the syllabus referring to the subject matter of the upcoming course.

However, students should be aware of the fact that it is possible that some parts of the syllabus may not be studied during this academic year, that other parts may be studied more thoroughly in class this year and that other parts, not included in the syllabus of the previous year, are nevertheless studied in class this year.
Therefore, the subject matter to be studied for the examination is the subject matter seen in class even if it does not correspond completely to the subject matter of the syllabus.
Also, it should be noted that, with few exceptions, the syllabus does not include the development of examples used to illustrate and help understand the theoretical concepts of the course.

In class, slides will be projected to help students assimilate the subject matter correctly. These slides will include either simplified representations (outlines, tables, diagrams) of elements developed in a literary manner in the course notes, or supports to the development of general trends or examples presented in class (statistical data, extracts from official texts, etc.).
A copy of the slides used the previous year will be added to the syllabus.

Finally, the syllabus will also include, appended to the course notes, a series of questions and answers of examinations from previous years, as well as examples of possible formulations of examination questions, section by section.

The assessment is a written examination lasting 2 hours. It includes 4 questions, which will all be marked out of 10 points. The total points are then divided by 2, to obtain a final mark out of 20 points.

The examination will include a question for each of the 4 main parts of the course, the introduction is considered as included in the first part. All the questions will invite the students to analyse, in the correct manner from a political point of view, concrete cases, which will not necessarily have been studied in class, by using adequately the general elements of knowledge, which will have been developed in class. Of course, each question statement will include all the elements of factual knowledge of these concrete cases necessary to analyse it correctly.

The last session of the course will be devoted to providing the students with more precise information on the examination proceedings as well as on the most appropriate way to prepare for it.

The students who would like to benefit from a more traditional introduction to political sciences can read one of the following introductory works:
- Michel HASTINGS, Aborder la science politique, Paris, Seuil (Mémo, n°34), 1996, 96 p.
- Philippe BRAUD, La science politique, Paris, PUF (Que sais-je ?, n°909), 7è éd. refondue, 2000, 128 p.
- Jean-Marie DENQUIN, Introduction à la science politique, Paris, Hachette (Les Fondamentaux), 2è éd., 2001, 157 p.
- Jean BAUDOUIN, Introduction à la science politique, Paris, Dalloz (Mémentos), 6è éd., 2000, 171 p.
la science politique, Paris, Dalloz (Mémentos), 6Ë Èd., 2000, 171 p.

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