Political Ideas and Ideologies
UndergraduateLTU-POL2PID2025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Political Ideas and Ideologies
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Explain and interpret key concepts in modern political thought.
- Understand the major political ideologies and apply them to contemporary political issues and events.
- Analyse and evaluate key issues in contemporary political theory.
- Write well researched and clearly structured essays that show the ability to engage in key debates over political ideas and ideologies.
- Social Contract Theory
- Liberalism
- Conservatism
- Socialism
- Feminism
- Race
- Distributive Justice
This subject aims to introduce you to some of the most interesting and important ideas and debates in modern politics. Covering a wide range of topics and engaging with the work of leading political thinkers (past and present), the subject examines topics such as individual freedom and the limits to state authority, freedom of speech and its limits, whether democracy is the best form of government, whether inequality in the distribution of resources is unjust, how ideas about gender and race have shaped modern politics, and what obligations humans have towards non-human animals. In addressing these questions we examine major ideologies such as liberalism, neo-liberalism, conservatism, socialism, green ideology, and fascism; and central concepts and values such as democracy, equality, social justice, individual liberty, and the social contract. By the end of the subject, you should have a strong understanding of the foundational debates shaping modern politics, the ability to identify how different ideological traditions have responded to these debates, and the ability to analyse and evaluate the major arguments put forward.
This is a level 2 subject. The subject includes a pre-recorded lecture each week along with a synchronous (i.e. "live") tutorial with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- Essay (equivalent to 1400 words) (35%)
- Essay (equivalent to 2000 words) (50%)
- In-class and online activities (equivalent to 400 words). Four of these assessments will occur during the first four weeks of semester. (15%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed POL3PID (Political Ideas and Ideologies) are ineligible to enrol in this subject
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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