Course Synopses

PAS160            Introduction to African Politics and Administration

An overview of the basic concepts and principles of politics and administration-states, organizations, institutions, authority, legitimacy, and democracy. Developments in the study of politics and administration. An examination of administrative and political processes in Africa-legislatures, executives, bureaucracies, political parties, interest groups and the military.

PS260               Introduction to Political Science

Introduction to the basic theories of government and state. Introduction to basic concepts of political science and political economy. The subject matter and the nature of politics. The nature of politics, power, authority, ideology, legitimacy, classes and the state. Types of governmental systems, forms, structures and functions of government. The role of political parties and elections. Civil-Military relations.

PS262               Political Economy of Lesotho

State-formation and nation-building in pre-colonial Lesotho. Colonialism and capitalist penetration. Alien rule, the colonial state, and the rise of commodity production. Resurgent nationalist movements and the quest for independence. The post-colonial state and the contradictions of development. Governance and civil society, economic transformation, foreign relations.

PS 263 3           Political Systems

Equips political science students with the basic conceptual and analytic skill that is crucial in understanding systems and subsystems; definition, distinctive features and structure of a political system, methodologies in the study of political systems, classical approaches (Plato, Aristotle, etc), contractualism (Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke; Marxism (Marx); institutionalism (Weber). The course also covers typologies and classifications and their utility in studying political systems, the boundary problem, comparing political systems; assessing systemic difficulties and similarities; ideologies and ideological convergence (end of ideology thesis) debate; and political systems and the impact of globalisation.

PS360:              Comparative Politics

Issues of theory and comparative inquiry: paradigms, ideology, models, conceptualization. Methodologies of comparative politics. Issues and problems in comparative analysis. The nation-state and the nature of the world system. Cross-national studies, ideologies, governments and types of regime. Political change: revolutions, violence, elections. Structures of government, political parties, pressure and interest groups. Theoretical directions in comparative analysis.

PS361:              Political Development

Approaches to the study of political development: Modernization, Marxian Neo-Marxian, Underdevelopment and dependency perspectives. Emerging perspectives on political development in a changing world order. Selected case studies from Africa.

PS362:              Survey of Political Ideas

Political philosophy and political ideas. Major figures of the Enlightenment, the utilitarians. Concepts in political philosophy and their development in the works of prominent political thinkers: democracy, state, civil society. Pan-Africanism, post-modernism.

PS363:              International Relations

The subject matter of, and key perspectives on, international relations. Contemporary theories of international relations. Actors and factors in international relations. Actors: states, governments, leaders, international regimes, MNCs, NGOs, Organized groups. Factors: the structure of the world system, ideology, interests (political, economic, strategic). Foreign policy and comparative foreign policy: instruments of foreign policy-military, war, sanctions, diplomacy. Alliances: political, economic, and military blocs.

PS460:              International Political Economy

Issues in international political economy. Internationalization of capital and the structure of international economic relations. Theories of international political economy: Liberal, Marxist, Realist. Dynamics of the international division of labour. The role of international organisations: trade cartels, international financial institutions, MNCs, NGOs, ACP.

PS461:              The Politics of Southern Africa

The political economy of and politics is Southern Africa with particular emphasis on South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe. The advent colonialism and imperialism in the subcontinent. The settler administration and its consequences and contradictions. Capitalism, the dynamics of capital accumulation and the role of the state-colonial and post-colonial. Development of the mining industry and the emergence of labour reserve economies in the region. Racism and African resistance; nationalism and the struggle for independence and majority rule. Interstate relationships in Southern Africa in the apartheid era, civil wars and regional conflicts and South Africa's role. The Frontline States, Southern African Development Conference (SADCC)-now the South African Development Community (SADC)-and the politics of transition in South Africa. The demise of apartheid in South Africa and its impact on interstate relationships in Southern Africa.

PS462:              Research Project in Political Science

Following guided readings which will involve an extensive research of literature and/or filed student will be required to produce a paper of about 8,000.00-12, 000.00 words on an approved topic must be submitted by the last day of classes in the fourth years of study.

PS463:              Politics of Selected Areas

An in depth study of specific area employing the various concepts and material introduced in other courses.

PS464:              African Political Development

An in-depth analysis of the political dynamics of national and regional integration and development in Africa. Effects of the international environment; imperialism, neo colonialism and dependence. The role or functions of the state. The socio-economic basis of state power; problems of class, ethnicity and regionalism. Politics ideology and development. Detailed case studies of selected African countries.

PS465:              The Politics of Labour*

Capitalist penetration and emergence and nature of the African Working class. Africa workers under

colonialism. The role of workers in the nationalist struggle. Relations between workers, capital and the state in the post colonial period. Case studies of selected countries from West, East and Southern Africa.

PS466:              Directed Reading*

Following extensive directed reading on a specified topic students will be examined in accordance with existing Faculty Regulations.

PS 467-3B: Comparative Foreign Policy

The course transits students from theoretical foreign policy making to substantive area. Foreign policy is seen as a dynamic phenomenon, a process and an instrument.

Involving one semester teaching, the course consists of two parts.  The first focuses on issues and theory in foreign policy and foreign policy making, examining, briefly, a variety of theories– and their utility as tools for analyzing foreign policy. The second looks at the foreign policy orientations of the great and emerging countries and the substantive foreign policy issues accounting for such orientation, including the interests involved, how these have been asserted, and consequences. The course extends from internal dynamics of foreign policy actors to the potency of non-state actors in foreign policy making, globalization and the widening of foreign policy adaptation. 

PAS 160:          Introduction to African Politics and Administration

An overview of the basic concepts and principles of politics and administration-states, organizations, institutions, authority, legitimacy, and democracy. Developments in the study of politics and administration. An examination of administrative and political processes in Africa-legislatures, executive, bureaucracies, political parties, interest groups and the military.

PA260-3           Introduction to Public Administration

Development of Public Administration as an academic discipline and its expansion/growth as an activity. Public Administration and Management introduction to basic concepts and principles of Public Administration. Max Weber and the theories of bureaucracy, power and authority.

PA261-3           Development Administration

The rise and evolution of development administration. Theories of development and underdevelopment. Approaches to development: foreign aid, planning, administrative reform, decentralization, rural development and popular participation. Environmental indebtedness and sustainable development.

PA360-3           Human Resources Management

The course is intended to expose students to the key concepts of the subject. This is achieved by conceptualizing it within the broad framework of management, and by highlighting its responsibility and responses to socio-economic issues.

Among the topics to be covered are the following:

The evolution of Human Resources Management as a practice, discipline and profession; Human Resources Management processes, procedures and records; minority employment and Affirmative Action; Employee health and security; Employee assistance programmes; Industrial relations and reward management; Management and organisation development; quality assurance and management.

PA361-3           Comparative Public Administration

The essence, scope and subject matter of Comparative Public Administration, comparative inquiry, Comparative Colonial Administration with reference to Africa. Theories of Comparative public administration and comparative analysis. The various approaches to the modes of comparing administrative systems, problems and advances made in the search for a paradigm and/or a grand theory of public administration and cross-national studies in public administration, including the relevant techniques in delineating, classifying and comparing administrative units and systems, equivalence, validity and comparability and boundary problems.

PA362-3           Organization Theory

Theories of bureaucracy, Saint Simon, Marx, Weber and Lenin. The environment of organizations. Styles of management. Technology and organizations. Design of organizational behaviour and performance. A detailed study of recent theories. Public policy making and organizations: (Lindblom-Dror). The role of organizational theory in development.

PA363:             Social Science Research

Introduction to the philosophy of social sciences. Different approaches to social science research. The scientific methods: concepts, research design, data collection and analysis. Methods of data collection: interviews, surveys participant observation and content analysis.

PA461:             Bureaucracy and Development in Africa

Critical issues of public administration in Africa. The role of the state and bureaucracy in development. Detailed case studies of selected African countries; comparisons of development approaches, models and ideologies; decentralisation versus centralised management; bureaucratic management versus grassroots initiatives. Socialize versus non-socialist development strategies. Politics, bureaucracy and development.

PA462:             Public Enterprise

The theory and politics of public enterprises. Rationale for state involvement in economic development with special reference to the Third World. Issues behind the proliferation of public enterprise in the Third World after attainment of independence. Types of public enterprises and their objectives. The problems of public enterprise operations. Accountability and control of public enterprises. Internal and external factors for privatization of public enterprises. Selected country case studies of public enterprise operations in Africa.

PA464-3           Public Policy Analysis

Introduction to public policy analysis: the nature of public policy, factors influencing public policy-making. Policy-making, implementation and evaluation in developing countries. Case studies of formulation, implementation and analysis of policies in selected African countries.

PA465-3           Research project in Public Administration

Under supervision, students will be required to undertake practical research involving an extensive review of the relevant literature and produce a report of about 800-12000 words on an approved topic. The research report must be submitted by the last day of lectures in the fourth year of study.

PA467:             Directed Reading

Following extensive directed reading on a specified topic students will be examined in accordance with existing Faculty Regulations.

PA468:             Rural Development

The politics of rural development, approaches to rural development, rural poverty and rural development, theories of rural development, the international dimension of rural poverty, aid and power, strategies of development and agrarian change, environmental crisis, self-reliance and participatory development, land use and food crisis in Africa.

PA469:             Local Government

De-centralization, devolution and de-concentration. Political environment of de-centralization. Relations of national political system to local political organization. Popular participation in local government. Local councils. Relations of local councils to central government and its field services. Chieftainship and local councils. Organisational requirement for de-centralization. Manpower considerations. Legal framework for local government. Local government finance. Case studies from selected African countries.

PA470-3           Management of Public Finance

The broad objectives of the course are to provide students with an insight into the ways means and systems pursued by governments in their routine management and administration of the public funds; as well as to indicate to students some alternative strategies, systems and tools for efficient public financial management.

The course will cover, among other things, the following topics:

-                      Introduction to public sector economics; the role of government in the economy; sources and distribution of government revenues; taxation; sources and structure of public expenditures; the government expenditure process; budgeting and budget systems; the auditing of public funds; evaluation of government expenditures.