COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 103	B	1	3	0	0	3	5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	NA
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Reina Shehi rzenelaj@epoka.edu.al , Monday 10:30-12:30
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:	D202_ Tuesday 09:40- 12:30
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:	75% of attendance is mandatory
Course Description:	This course discusses the study of power and politics from sociological perspective. It introduces students with macro-concepts such as formation of nation states, political institutions and sources of political and social change. From a micro perspective, it examines how social identities and groups influence individual political behavior, such as voting, attitudes, and political participation. The end goal is to study the political system less mechanically and focus more on its underlying social forces.
Course Objectives:	The course aims to teach students about societies and major dynamics and issues in the social sciences. To enable them to learn about different societal structures, the formation of states, the impact of national identity, and how do they all interplay with political-economic systems. Furthermore, it introduces students to the types and magnitudes of crises in the modern world. Throughout the course, the main objective is to invite students to get critical and ask how independent and interdependent are we in a global world.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Society
2	Politics
3	Power
4	Democracy
5	Globalization

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction: Key Concepts in Political Sociology
2	Social identity and socialization/ Weekly Readings Randall Collins, “The Rise of the Social Sciences” (pp. 3-4). Mills, C. Wright, “The Promise” in The Sociological Imagination (pp. 3-24). Michael Mann, “Societies as Organized Power Networks” in Sources of Social Power: Volume 1, p.1-33.
3	Classical Theories of Political Sociology / Weekly Readings Karl Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach” and “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” pp. 143-5; pp. 469-500. Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation,” and “Class, Status, Party,” in From Max Weber, pp. 77-87; pp. 180-195. Max Weber, “Domination and Legitimacy” in Economy and Society (3rd edition), pp. 941-955. Georg Simmel, “Domination” in On Individuality and Social Forms, pp. 96-120. Emile Durkheim, “Forms of Social Solidarity” in Selected Writings, pp. 123-140.
4	Political Ordering/ Weekly Readings Emile Durkheim, “The Division of Labour and Social Differentiation” pp. 141-154. Charles Tilly, “How War Made States and Vice-Versa” in Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1990, pp. 67-95. Michael Mann, “The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms, and Results” in States in History, pp.109-36. James C. Scott, “Cities, People and Language” in Seeing Like a State, pp. 53-85.
5	Nations, Nationalism, Race & Ethnicity/ Weekly Readings Max Weber, “The Nation” in From Max Weber, pp. 171-9. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, pp. 1-36. Frederickson, Racism: A Short Introduction, “Climax and Retreat,” pp.99-138. Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper, "Beyond ‘Identity’" in Theory and Society 29 (1), pp. 1-21.
6	Welfare States, Migration and social integration / Weekly Readings Gosta Esping-Anderson, “Introduction” and “Three Political Economies of the Welfare State” in Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, pp. 1-34. Massey, D.S., 2003, June. Patterns and processes of international migration in the 21st century. In Conference on African Migration in Comparative Perspective, Johannesburg, South Africa (Vol. 4, No. 7), pp. 1-28. Gibney, M.J. 2006. “’A Thousand Little Guantanamos’: Western States and Measures to Prevent the Arrival of Refugees” in Displacement, Asylum, Migration, pp.139 -169.
7	Social Movements / Weekly Readings Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper (eds.), “When and Why do Social Movements Occur?” in The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts (2nd Edition), pp. 9-42. Eric Hobsbawm, “The Social Bandit” and “City Mob” in Social Bandits and Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms of Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries, pp. 13-29, pp.108-125. Viterna, J., 2014, “Regulating Romance and Reproduction” in Women in War: The Micro-Processes of Mobilization in El Salvador, pp. 151-171.
8	Midterm Week
9	Making of Society and Politics: The Power of Economy / Weekly Readings Karl Polanyi, “Societies and Economic Systems” and “The Self-Regulating Market and the Fictitious Commodities: Labor, Land and Money” in The Great Transformation, pp. 43-56; pp. 68-76. Thorstein Veblen, “The Theory of the Leisure Class” in Social Stratification (3rd Edition), pp. 862-870.
10	Stratification, Discrimination and Exclusion/ Weekly Readings C.W. Mills, “The Power Elite” in The Power Elite (NewEdition), pp.269-298. Gaetano Mosca, “The Ruling Class” in Social Stratification (3rd Edition), pp. 268-275. Anthony Giddens, “Elites and Power” in Social Stratification (3rd Edition), pp. 285-289. Annette Lareau, “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life” in Social Stratification (3rd Edition), pp. 926-936. Shamus Rahman Khan, 2011, “Gender and the Performance of Privilege” in Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School, pp.114-151.
11	Authority and Power in International Affairs/ Weekly Readings: Christopher Chase-Dunn and Thomas D. Hall, “Introduction” and “Part 1” in Rise and Demise: Comparing World Systems, pp. 1-59.
12	Living in a Global Village /Weekly Readings Frank Lechner and John Boli, The Globalization Reader, pp. 9-50
13	Practice Session : Governing Problems: How are Public Matters Governed
14	Concluding Remark/ Weekly Reading Bromley S., Clarke J., Hinchliffe s., & Taylor S., (2009) Exploring Social Lives: Introducing the Social Sciences, The Open University, UK, Conclusion Chapter, pages 437-442

Prerequisite(s):	N/A
Textbook(s):	1. Janoski, T., Alford, R. R., Hicks, A. M., & Schwartz, M. A. (Eds.). (2005). The handbook of political sociology: states, civil societies, and globalization. Cambridge University Press. 2. Stanbridge, K., & Ramos, H. (2012). Seeing Politics Differently: A Brief Introduction to Political Sociology. Oxford University Press. 3. Basaran, T., Bigo, D., Guittet, E. P., & Walker, R. B. (Eds.). (2016). International political sociology: Transversal lines. Routledge.
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:	N.A
Computer Usage:	N.A
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	To describe major features of contemporary societies that is relevant to politics.
2	To identify the political implications of social phenomenon such as class, race and ethnicity, religion and nationality.
3	To analyze what makes social values and attitudes change.
4	To apply theoretical understanding to empirical data and analyses in the field of political sociology.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	3
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	4
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	3
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	4
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	4
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	3
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	3
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	2
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	2
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	4
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	4
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	3

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	25
Presentation	1	25
Case Study	1	15
Term Paper	1	15
Attendance		20
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	2	16	32
Mid-terms	1	16	16
Assignments	1	12	12
Final examination	1	17	17
Other			0
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

N/A