COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: POLITICS OF INEQUALITY

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 317	C	5	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)	Dr. Endrit Shabani eshabani@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Endrit Shabani eshabani@epoka.edu.al , Friday, 09:00 - 09:40
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Elective
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:	104
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:
Course Description:	This course takes a cross-national comparative approach, and therefore it relies on political science literature. However, references are made to crucial texts from other disciplines, such as economics, sociology and psychology. Over the course of the module students will examine inequality at three levels, at the global level, among social groups at the national level, and at a personal level. Firstly, at the international level, this course explores the level of economic inequality between regions and nations, drawing a comparison between the world's wealthy democracies of America and the poor dictatorships of Africa. Empirical case studies will be discussed to look for explanations on historical, cultural, economic and social elements that might have contributed to the creation of the centre and the periphery of the world. Secondly, at the national level, the course explores the multidimensional nature of inequality, analysing the distribution of power in society, and analysing the relationship between economic power, political participation and access to the decisionmaking processes. The module will also consider the role of the welfare state and potential interventions that can be taken at the political level to have an equal society. Thirdly, at a personal level, the course focuses on people's behaviour within a particular political system and influenced by a certain ideology. Students will examine how inequality affects voter's behaviours and the impact it might have in deepening the divide between social groups. For their assignments, students will work with public data sets, in order to examine the inequality at the global level, and in particular countries.
Course Objectives:	This course strives to deepen students' comprehension of inequality and its associated discourse. It equips students with essential theoretical and methodological tools for studying inequality and its societal ramifications, addressing economic, political, and social facets. Through a comprehensive approach, it explores the root causes of inequality and examines the institutional and personal consequences of heightened inequality levels

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Critical thinking skills
2	Social, economic and political inequality
3	Inequality understood as a negative outcome

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	What is inequality, how to define and study it? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 1; Why Nations Fail, Chapter 2; Guns, Germs & Steel, Prologue & Chapter 4
2	Political, economic and social inequality. The Price of Inequality, Chapter 3; Why Nations Fail, Chapter 3; Guns, Germs & Steel, Chapter 9
3	Inequality and democracy: Why should we care about inequality? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 5; Why Nations Fail, Chapter 7
4	The psychology of inequality: The power of comparison and why feeling poor kills you? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 6; The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Chapter 8
5	Are we becoming unequal? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 2; The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Chapter 2; Guns, Germs & Steel, Chapter 18
6	How the world became unequal? Why Nations Fail, Chapter 9; The Price of Inequality, Chapter 4; Guns, Germs & Steel, Chapter 10
7	Why are some regions "meant to be" poor? Why Nations Fail, Chapter 12; Guns, Germs & Steel, Chapter 14
8	Gender inequality. Is it real and can it be changed? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 8; The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Chapter 10
9	Mid-term
10	Other forms of inequality (age discrimination, health inequality etc) The Price of Inequality, Chapter 10; The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Chapter 14
11	Generational inequality.The Price of Inequality, Chapter 7; Why Nations Fail, Chapter 5
12	Welfare system. How can states fight inequality? The Price of Inequality, Chapter 9; Bad Samaritans, Chapter 7
13	Project presentations
14	Final examination

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	Sitglitz, J. (2017). "Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump". W. W. Norton & Company Quinn, R. (2017). Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. Macat Library
Additional Literature:	Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2013). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. Broadway Business. Stiglitz, J. E. (2012). The price of inequality: How today's divided society endangers our future. WW Norton & Company. Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power". PublicAffairs Chang, H. J. (2008). Bad Samaritans: The guilty secrets of rich nations and the threat to global prosperity. Random House.
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Ability to understand the root causes of inequality at both international and national level
2	Improved critical thinking skills related to the politics of inequality
3	Ability to conduct research on the impact of inequality at both the institutional and personal level

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.	5
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.	5
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.	5
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.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	4
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	4
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	4
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	1
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	3
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	5
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	4

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	30
Presentation	1	10
Case Study	1	10
Final Exam	1	50
Attendance		0
	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)	16	3	48
Mid-terms	1	6	6
Assignments	3	5	15
Final examination	1	8	8
Other			0
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

This course is dependent on the student's participation and interest