TERTIARY & CAREER PATHWAYS:
Lawyer, social commentator, journalist, activist, economist, investigator, academic, lobbyist, policy maker, social justice advocate politician, researcher, school teacher, advisor, social media campaigner, travel writer, university lecturer, diplomat.
Unit 1 provides students with a general introduction to the concepts of political actors and power at a national level. They study individuals and organisations, and examine contested domestic political issues to build on their understanding of what it is to think politically. In Unit 2, students analyse the power, interests and perspectives of global political actors and evaluate their political significance. A range of contemporary global issues are studied.
In this unit, students learn that politics is about how political actors use power to resolve issues and conflicts over how society should operate. Each area of study focuses on concepts that form essential disciplinary knowledge, and which allow students to gradually build on their understanding of what it is to think politically. Political actors are individuals such as political leaders or ordinary citizens, or organisations such as parliaments or the United Nations, who have some measure of political power and/or authority and who engage in activities that can have a significant influence on decisions, policies, public discussion, media coverage and outcomes associated with a given issue. Power can be thought of as different kinds of capacity, for example economic or military capacity or the capacity that stems from a position or office, which gives political actors the ability to achieve their interests.
In this unit, students investigate the key principles of democracy and assess the degree to which these principles are expressed, experienced and challenged, in Australia and internationally. They consider democratic principles in the Australian context and complete an in-depth study of a political issue or crisis that inherently challenges basic democratic ideas or practice. Students also investigate the degree to which global political actors and trends can challenge, inhibit or undermine democracy, and evaluate the political significance of these challenges. Each area of study focuses on concepts that form essential disciplinary knowledge, and which allow students to gradually build on their understanding of what itis to think politically.
Assessment may include:
.png)