COURSE OUTLINE AND
READING LIST: POLI 112/102 (POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS)
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON
POLI 102/112: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
SECOND SEMESTER, 2014 / 2015 ACADEMIC YEAR
LECTURERS:
·
DR. RANSFORD GYAMPO
·
DR. SEIDU ALIDU
·
MR. KWAME ASAH-ASANTE
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The Course, Political
Institutions is designed to introduce First Year Political Science Students to
the nature, scope and role of African Traditional Political Institutions and
Modern Political Institutions including the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary,
Bureaucracy, Forms of Representation and Electoral Process, Pressure Groups,
Political Parties, etc. In the conduct of lectures and tutorials, examples will
be drawn from the global setting with emphasis on Ghana. At the end of the
Course, students should be able to:
a.
Define Political
Institutions
b.
Outline the Role of
Political Institutions in Democratic Dispensations
c.
Identify Traditional
Political Institutions
d.
Outline the functions
of key Traditional Political Institutions such as Chieftaincy
e.
Identify key Modern
Political Institutions such as the legislature, executive, judiciary,
bureaucracy etc
f.
Outline the role and
functions of Modern Political Institutions
g.
Suggest how Weak
Political Institutions can be made effective
COURSE OUTLINE
|
WEEK
|
DATE
|
LECTURE
COURSE/ TOPIC
|
TUTORIALS
|
VENUE
|
ASSESSMENT
|
|
1-2
|
28thJanuary-8th Feb
2013
|
Political Institutions:
Definition, Nature and Scope
|
Defining Institutions, types,
functions etc
|
Lectures: JQB 9 ( GROUP A ON MONDAYS)
JQB 24 (GROUP B ON WEDNESDAYS)
JQB 14 (GROUP C ON THURSDAYS)
Tutorials:
|
|
|
3-4
|
11th-22ndFebruary
|
Traditional Political
Institutions: Chieftaincy in Ghana
|
The mode of selection, role, and
relevance of chieftaincy
|
Lectures: Same venue
Tutorials:
|
|
|
5-7
|
25thFebruary-8th March
|
Modern Political Institutions: The
Three arms of Government
|
The role, powers, functions and
challenges of the arms of government
|
Lectures: Same venue
Tutorials:
|
|
|
8-9
|
11th-22ndMarch
|
The Civil Bureaucracy
|
The Weberian Ideal-Type
Bureaucracy, Importance and Criticisms
|
Lectures: Same venue
Tutorials:
|
|
|
10-11
|
25thMarch-5thApril
|
Political Parties and Interest
Groups
|
Distinguishing between Political
Parties and Interest Groups. The Role and Challenges of Political Opposition,
Functions and Problems of Interest Groups, etc
|
Lectures: Same venue
Tutorials:
|
|
|
12-13
|
8th-19thApril
|
Representation, Elections and
Voting
|
Theories of Representation, Models
of Voting. Electoral Systems, Making elections Free and Fair, etc
|
Lectures: Same venue
Tutorials:
|
|
|
14
|
Revision
|
SUGGESTED READINGS
Rhodes, R.AW. et al., The
Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2008).
Diamond Larry, Promoting Democracy in the 1990s: Actors
and Institutions, Issues andImperatives. Report to the Carnegie Commission
on Preventing Deadly Conflict. New York: Carnegie Corporation, 1995.
North, Douglas, Institutions,
Institutional Change and Economic Performance,(Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1990).
Gyampo, R.E.V. The
State of Political Institutions in Ghana (Saarbrucken, Germany:
Lambert Academic Publishing Limited, 2013).
Gyampo, R.E.V. The
Concept of Politics and Power (Accra: GSGL, 2011).
Gyampo, R.E.V. “The
Youth and Political Ideology in Ghanaian Politics: The Case of the Fourth
Republic”, African Development (CODESRIA), Vol. XXXVII, No.
2 (2012), pp 135-163.
Republic of Ghana, Report
of the Constitutional Review Commission (Accra: GPC, 2012). Also
available @ www.crc.gov.gh
Republic of Ghana, White
Paper on the Report of the Constitutional Review Commission(Accra: GPC,
2012).
Republic of Ghana, Constitution
of the Republic of Ghana, 1992 (Accra: GPC, 1993).
The Institute of
Economic Affairs, Democracy Consolidation Strategy Paper (Accra:
IEA-Ghana, 2008).
Global Commission on
Elections, Democracy and Security, Deepening Democracy: A Strategy
for Improving the Integrity of Elections Worldwide (Stockholm:
International IDEA, 2012).
Gyimah-Boadi E. ‘Representative
Institutions’ in Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Progress and Pitfalls,
Conference Report. Johannesburg: Centre for Policy Studies, (1998:10)
Ellen Grigsby, Analyzing
Politics: An Introduction to Political Science, Third Edition(Belmont: Thomson
Wadsworth, 2005)
Ball, Alan and Peters,
Guy, Modern Politics and Government, (New York: Palgrave
McMillan, 2005).
Rathbone, Richard,
Nkrumah and the Chiefs: The Politics of Chieftaincy in Ghana 1951-60, (Oxford:
Ohio University Press, 2000).
Boafo-Arthur, Kwame,
“Chieftaincy in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects in the 21stCentury” African
and Asian Studies, Vol. 2 No. 2 (January 2003).
Dyck, Rand “Studying
Politics” in Rand Dyck (ed.) Studying Politics: An Introduction to
Political Science, (Toronto: Thomson Canada Ltd, 2006).
Finer, S.E. Pressure
Groups. Accessed on 16th June 2009 from Web
site:http://www.abdn.ac.uk/pir/notes05/Level2/PI2501/PGroupsOHPs.DOC.
Hague Rod and Harrop
Martin, Political Science: A Comparative Introduction, (New
York: Palgrave, 2001).
Jackson, R. and
Jackson, D., A Comparative Introduction to Political Science (New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2003)
Jacobsohn, John, An
Introduction to Political Science, (New York: Wadsworth Publishing
Company, 1998).
Kettl, Donald “Public
Bureaucracies” in R.A.W. Rhodes, Sarah Binder and Bert Rockman (eds.) The
Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions, (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2008).
March, James and
Olsen, Johan “Elaborating the New Institutionalism” in R.A.W. Rhodes, Sarah
Binder and Bert Rockman (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political
Institutions, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008)
McLean, Iain and
McMillan, Alistair, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics,
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).
McIvor, Heather,
“Political Parties: Imperfect but Essential” in Rand Dyck (ed.) Studying
Politics: An Introduction to Political Science, (Toronto: Thomson
Canada Ltd, 2006).
Heywood, Andrew, Politics, (New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).
O’Neill, Brenda,
“Democracy in Action, Political Participation and Citizens’ Power” in Rand Dyck
(ed.) Studying Politics: An Introduction to Political Science,
(Toronto: Thomson Canada Ltd, 2006).
Appadorai, A. (1974) The
Substance of Politics (New York: Oxford University Press).
Philips, Stephen “The
Political Executive and Bureaucracy: On Top and on Tap” in Rand Dyck (ed.) Studying
Politics: An Introduction to Political Science, (Toronto: Thomson
Canada Ltd, 2006).
Sartori, Giovanni, Parties
and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis (Colchester: ECPR
Press, 2005) pp 1-29
Shively, W.P., Power and
Choice: An Introduction to Political Science, Fifth Edition, (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1991).
REQUIREMENTS
1.
Students of Political
Institutions are required to consult at least 70% of the
relevant reading materials on the suggested reading list above. Extensive
Reading is aMUST for the course
2.
Students are also required
to regularly attend Tutorials and make meaningful contributions to discussions
as this would count towards their grading in the end of semester examination.
3.
There would be 13
weeks of Lectures and students must endeavor to attend lectures regularly. The
course is not done by correspondence.
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