After this course, the student will have a basic knowledge and understanding of theories and methods about the historical origins and development of political institutions; in particular, students will
1. be able to interpret and analyze problems and challenges for political institutions;
2. have insight in the mechanisms of politicization and depoliticization that contribute to the changing nature of the political;
3. be able to analyze such developments from a long-term and comparative perspective, on the basis of primary sources and secondary literature;
4. be able to interpret contemporary political problems from the perspective of the historically changing form and content of the political;
5. have the ability to communicate historical insight in political problems and institutional responses to these problems with professionals from various backgrounds;
6. have the ability to reflect upon the norms of professional integrity.
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This course addresses the variety of forms that politics has taken in the last four centuries. It starts from the assumption that the form and content of politics has changed considerably over time, and that political struggles always also deal with the question what can be considered political. It focuses on the changing institutional forms of political organization, the varieties of political action, and the different ways the boundaries of the political are drawn. We discuss the relation of politics to power, authority and violence; the development of the state, as the most important form of political organization; the changing repertoires of political action; the nature of political leadership; and the territorial boundaries of the political community. The course aims to clarify these transformations as processes of politicization and depoliticization, in which the political is defined and redefined. The course offers both a thematic and chronological overview of these issues, and links long-term transformations of the political to a practical understanding of contemporary political issues.
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