Final Year Honours in Government
General Information
The Government and International Relations Honours Coordinator is Dr Ariadne Vromen. She is the person you should see with questions and problems regarding your Honours year.
Unit Codes for Government Honours
Full time (1 year completion)
Government Honours A [GOVT4101]
Government Honours B [GOVT4102]
Government Honours C [GOVT4103]
Government Honours D [GOVT4104]
Part time (2 year completion)
first year
Government Honours A [GOVT4101]
Government Honours B [GOVT4102]
second year
Government Honours C [GOVT4103]
Government Honours D [GOVT4104]
For more information, consult the Honours units of study descriptions in the Faculty of Arts undergraduate handbook.
Preparing for Government Honours
Completing your Government major and the three Government Honours prerequisites at a Credit standard or better will have left you well positioned to begin your Honours Year. In consultation with your supervisor, you may want to do some additional preparation for your thesis over the Summer break before Semester 1 begins.
Students returning from exchange or internship, and those transferring from other universities must develop a thesis topic, write a brief proposal and secure a supervisor by early February at the latest. Students who have deferred Honours must also develop a thesis topic, write a brief proposal and secure a supervisor by early February. Contact the honours coordinator about the process, they will also identify available and relevant supervisors for your thesis.
Students who were required to re-submit their prospectus must have the new (or revised) prospectus approved by the honours coordinator before enrolment. Two copies of the revised prospectus, together with the name of the proposed supervisor and details of contact with made with the supervisor must be submitted to the honours coordinator.
General requirements of the Honours Year in Government
Your Honours year involves the completion of a 3,000 word bibliographic essay (worth 10 percent) , two Honours seminars, each with 6,000 words of assessable work (each worth 20 percent), and a 18,000 word thesis (worth 50 percent). These components are explained in more detail below.
Honours Seminars
University of Sydney Government Honours seminars 2009
NB all seminars start the week of March 2, 2009.
Australian Democracy in Comparative Perspective
Anika Gauja Mon 10-12pm Room 298 Merewether
Designed for students with a primary interest in Australian politics, this seminar examines some of the key challenges facing Australian representative democracy in the 21st century, viewed and situated within a broader comparative context. Drawing on both key theoretical texts and the real-life experiences of comparable democracies, we will examine the institutions and processes of democratic politics in Australia, potentially including: voting and democratic legitimacy, party systems and party government, parliament and the notion of representation, the presidentialisation of politics and executive accountability, citizen disaffection and disengagement with politics, participation and emerging forms of political engagement, electronic democracy and the internet. The seminar programme will focus on what makes Australian democracy unique, what we can learn from the experiences of other nations, and conclude with a discussion of how we might best measure the ‘quality’ of democracy both within Australia and across the globe.
The Foundation of Violence and Disorder in World Politics
Dr Gil Merom Thur 3-5pm, Room 298 Merewether
The unit will explore the relations between values and international political violence as seen through the eyes of different paradigms (realism, liberalism, Marxism and constructivism). Theoretical propositions will be largely applied to conflicts during and after the Cold War. Specifically, the unit will focus on the ideational forces that feed degenerative processes of escalation and the consequences of the latter for World Order.
Critical Issues in International Political Economy
Professor Linda Weiss Wed 4-6pm Room 298 Merewether
This seminar examines the interplay of power and politics in international economic relations. It links IPE theories with current policy debates, and draws on the major issues of our time as case material. Our topics cover trade, energy security, development, financial crises, multinational corporations, sovereign funds, arms, and globalisation. We study why states form the policies they do, why conflict arises over economic affairs, and how state responses differ -- for better or worse. We will take a problem-oriented approach, heavily embedded in contemporary issues, but applying available theoretical frameworks to develop a critical understanding of the issues. You can expect to finish this course with not only a thorough critical understanding of the major theories of IPE, but also the ability to apply them to some of the defining issues of our time.
External Honours Year Seminars
As long as there is space available in the seminar you are able to complete one of your two seminars at either NSW or Macquarie Universities. More information on the application process will provided at the Honours Orientation day on February 23. Please do not contact any of the lecturers teaching seminars directly.
Macquarie University, Politics and International Relations
NB: these seminars start February 25
Theorizing International Relations
Convener Professor Stephanie Lawson
Seminars: Wednesday 2.00-4.00pm
The purpose of this unit is to provide honours students with a sophisticated understanding of how various scholars in the discipline of International Relations (IR) have produced different theorizations of their subject matter and, indeed, different perspectives of what constitutes that subject matter. Students will be introduced to the full range of traditional and non-traditional approaches, from classical realism through to contemporary ‘green theory’. Students will gain an appreciation of how theories have been developed, over time, in relation to the ‘real world’ of international relations. This will lead to an understanding of the important relationship between theory and practice. At the end of this unit, students will be able to identify the principle differences (as well as certain similarities) between the various theories of international relations; assess strengths and weaknesses in theoretical arguments; and apply theoretical insights to the analysis of international relations.
Secessions and Secessionist Movements
Convenor: Sasha Pavkovic
Seminars: Thursday 5-7 pm
Secession is a creation of a new state on a territory detached from an existing state. In many of its aspects, secession is similar to the creation of new states from former colonies, that is, to decolonization. As the process of decolonisation has been virtually completed, secession is now the primary instrument of state creation. Since the early 1990s, there have been around 25 attempts at secession around the world, many of which have failed. The seminar addresses the following three interrelated sets of questions:
- How and why do secessions happen? How do secessionist movements get organized and what are their aims?
- Which, if any, political or ethical principles can justify secessions?
- How is secession legally regulated?
In the first part, students will first explore general and theoretical questions concerning the origins of secessionist movements and secessionist grievances. In the second part, several cases studies of secession will be discussed; these case studies will comprise both peaceful secessions and secessions which were preceded or followed by large-scale violence. In the third part, a variety of frameworks for explaining secessions will be examined whereas in the fourth part normative and legal frameworks for assessment and regulation of secessions will be discussed in some detail. The seminar’s objectives are twofold: to provide students with a theoretical grasp of the secession as a political process and to enable them to understand and evaluate contemporary and future secessionist movements.
University of New South Wales, School of Social Sciences and International Studies
NB: these seminar start in the Week of March 9.
Politics, Law and Justice: The Problem of Free Speech
Convenor: Helen Pringle
Seminars: Wednesday 2-4pm PM, Morven Brown Building Room 112
The aim of this seminar is to engage students in thinking and arguing about the character and purpose of politics and law, and their relationship to justice. We shall explore these questions with specific reference to the issue of freedom of speech. We shall look at the ways in which freedom of speech has been thought about, and what approaches have been adopted in public policy and law. While we shall try to focus on the Australian context, material from other legal and political systems, especially the USA and Canada, will be used to illuminate the principles we might use to think about the issue. We shall attempt to work out how (if at all) we can reconcile important values at stake in the issue: freedom of action, freedom from discrimination and harassment, personal integrity and inviolability, etc.
The first part of the seminar looks at general considerations that structure approaches to drawing the line between protected and regulated speech. The second part explores legal and political responses to hate speech or vilification, and the third part considers topics such as sedition and blasphemy. Throughout the seminar, we shall be concerned with what justice demands in terms of law and public policy concerning speech.
Between Poverty and Prosperity: The Promise and Practice of International Economic Regimes
Convenor: Elizabeth Thurbon
Seminars: Thursday 2-4 Morven Brown Building Room 112
The aim of this course is to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the evolution and dynamics of international trade and finance regimes from the end of WWII to the present. In particular, we want to gain insight into how these regimes have shaped - and been shaped by - the distribution of wealth and power in the international system. Why do we have the current international trade and finance rules that we do? Who wins and loses under current rules and why? How do these regimes impact on governments and their abilities to pursue distinctive national social and economic objectives? We explore these questions through a variety of case studies, including the WTO and its Agriculture and Intellectual Property agreements and the IMF and its governance of global financial crises ˆ including the current GFC.
Bibliographic Essay
Students must submit a bibliographic essay of 3,000 words to the Government Honours Co-ordinator, see schedule of dates for due date. The bibliographic essay counts for 10% of the final assessment.
The bibliographic essay is a focused review of the literature surrounding your thesis topic. The process of writing it is intended to help you refine your thesis topic and locate it within the context of existing literature. One way to conceptualise the task of writing the bibliographic essay is to think about the thesis as an intervention in a scholarly debate. In order to make a sensible contribution to the debate, you need to know what other people have said and what questions are currently being debated. The bibliographic essay demonstrates your awareness of the literature in a particular sub-field and its relevance to your topic. In a revised form the bibliographic essay may constitute a chapter of the thesis.
The literature you discuss will depend upon the nature of your thesis. Bear in mind that you are not expected to read absolutely everything in the field; your supervisor will provide guidance. Also, although you should make a scholarly appraisal (sometimes called a 'critical review') of the literature there is no need to attack all that has gone before. Include a bibliography of the material discussed and, if appropriate, an annotated bibliography of material which has been consulted. Ask your supervisor about this. Do not pad the essay out with a long list of books and journals that you have not read.
It is advisable to consult recent Government Honours theses in order to gain a clearer idea of what is expected. Ask your supervisor to recommend one or two good ones in your general area of research interest.
In order to look at these theses, you should contact the Government Office.
The Thesis
Each student writes an 18,000 word thesis under the supervision of a full-time member of the Government Department’s staff. The thesis is expected to make some original contribution to the study of politics and will count for 50 percent of your grade. The requirement that the thesis be 18,000 words long imposes a common discipline on all students. A variation of 10 percent in either direction is acceptable but theses which are outside this 'tolerance' will be penalised. For more information about presenting your thesis, see the thesis presentation guidelines.
Students must include a word count at the start of their thesis. The word count must include all text and footnotes but exclude any appendices and the bibliography.
Students must also include the following declaration at the start of the thesis: "This work is substantially my own, and where any part of this work is not my own, I have indicated this by acknowledging the source of that part or those parts of the work."
You are advised not to make any major change to your thesis topic after the Honours year has begun and particularly after you have submitted your bibliographic essay. You can make minor changes to your thesis topic in consultation with your supervisor but may only make a substantial change with the agreement of your supervisor and after discussion with the Honours Coordinator. Agreement for such a change will be given in writing.
Students who need to process data on computers should ensure that appropriate facilities are available to them before they commence work on the thesis. Discuss your needs early with your supervisor. Students whose research involves human intervention (interviews, questionnaires etc) must have their projects approved by the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee. Seek approval early via your supervisor.
You are expected to submit a draft of your thesis to your supervisor in August (see schedule of dates). The draft will give you and your supervisor the chance to iron out problems in the thesis and produce a better final piece of work. Please note that supervisors have many responsibilities and are especially busy at this time of the year. If the draft is not submitted on time, the supervisor may decline to comment on it or may read only part of it. Students who do not submit a full draft for comment reduce their chances of completing a good thesis.
Government and International Relations Honours students must remain in Sydney (other than for approved field work or approved leave of absence) until their thesis is submitted.
Two copies of the thesis are to be submitted to the Honours Coordinator by the due date (see schedule). This deadline is absolute. No individual arrangements between thesis supervisors and students are permitted concerning this deadline. Exceptions will be made by the honours coordinator only on the grounds of serious and documented illness and misadventure. 'Misadventure' is defined as accident without negligence. Requests for extensions on the grounds of illness or misadventure should be made to the honours coordinator as soon as possible.
Marking the Thesis
The Honours coordinator in consultation with the supervisor will appoint two examiners from within Government and International Relations for each thesis. Supervisors normally do not act as examiners for theses written under their supervision. Final decisions regarding examiners will be made by the Honours coordinator.
Your thesis will be marked independently by the two examiners. Each will mark the thesis without knowing what the other marker thinks of it. Each submits a suggested mark and a report justifying the mark to the Honours coordinator. The reports of the thesis examiners will be made available to the student after the examination process is finished. The marks and reports are read by the Honours coordinator. If there is a disagreement between the two marks of at least a grade of five marks, and this cannot be resolved by the two examiners, the Honours coordinator may approach the supervisor to act as a third marker. In such cases the median mark of the three shall be the mark submitted to the honours examiners' meeting.
The Government and International Relations Honours Examiners' Meeting occurs in November, after all the theses have been read and provisional thesis marks suggested by examiners. The Examiners' Meeting reviews all marks awarded for each Honours student during the year, including the mark suggested for each thesis. It reviews the examiners' reports where necessary to aid its decisions.
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Guidelines for Assessment of Honours IV Theses |
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| Honours III | |
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65-69 |
Work barely adequate at Honours standard, with significant defects in several of the qualities expected at this level. Examples of such defects include insufficient or too narrowly focused research, unpersuasive interpretation, argument that suffers from weaknesses in clarity or structure, and writing that exhibits serious problems with grammar and expression. |
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Honours II (ii) |
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70-74 |
Adequate reading, research, understanding and presentation of subject area, relevant theories and methodologies. Some evidence of ability to think theoretically as well as empirically, and to conceptualise and problematise issues. Weaknesses include gaps in research, important unresolved problems and inconsistencies within the argument, deficiencies in clarity, and stylistic lapses. |
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75-77 |
Sound grasp of subject area, with extensive reading and research; ability to use methodology and theory, evidence of careful and thorough discovery and original use of appropriate sources; competent analysis and evaluation of material; ability to present material clearly and succinctly with a well-thought out argument. |
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78-79 |
Demonstrates breadth and initiative in research and reading, complex understanding and some original analysis. Makes good attempt to ‘get behind’ the evidence and engage with its underlying assumptions, takes a critical, interrogative stance in relation to political argument and interpretation. Properly documented; writing characterised by style, clarity, and some creativity. |
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Honours I |
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80 to 82 |
Clear but bare First Class quality, comprising general excellence in subject area without major error or naivete; breadth of knowledge; clear familiarity with and ability to use appropriate methodologies and theories; clear evidence of some independence of thought in the subject area. Superior written style, clarity and creativity. |
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83 to 86 |
Good First Class quality (as defined above) but with greater evidence of intellectual independence and more originality of thought. |
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87 to 89 |
Excellent First Class quality [as defined above], showing a command of the field both broad and deep, independent intellectual argument and a significant degree of original thought. |
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90 and above. |
Outstanding First Class quality of Medal standard, demonstrating independent thought throughout, a flair for the subject, and research achievement of a kind that produces at least some work of PhD standard or of potentially publishable standard in a serious academic journal. |
Schedule of Dates
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Monday Feb 23 |
Orientation meeting |
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Monday March 2 |
Seminars begin |
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Monday March 30 |
Bibliographic Essay due |
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Monday August 31 |
Thesis draft due |
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Tuesday October 13 |
Thesis due |
The Overall Honours Year Result
The Government and International Relations Honours Examiners' Meeting arrives at an overall suggested mark for each student, based around the marks for the two seminars (each worth 20 percent), the bibliographic essay (10 percent), and the thesis (50 percent). The Meeting also makes decisions about whether to recommend students to their Faculties for the award of the University Medal. The Examiners' Meeting takes care to ensure that all students have been treated fairly during their Honours year. It takes account of requests for special consideration in determining recommended marks and grades of Honours. It considers borderline cases particularly carefully. As part of this commitment to fairness, examiners treat discussions in the Meeting as strictly confidential.
All marks remain provisional and confidential, even after the Government and International Relations Examiners' Meeting, until they are confirmed by the Honours Examiners' Meeting of the Faculty in which the student is enrolled. This normally takes place a week or two after the Meeting.
To qualify for the award of Honours, candidates must earn at least 65% for the thesis and each of the seminars. No specific percentage of a student's grade will be allocated to prior university work. Nonetheless, the academic record of each student will be before the Government and International Relations Examiners' Meeting, and the Examiners' recommendation to Faculty for each student will take into account overall performance in all university work.
Deadlines and Penalties
Students must adhere to the deadlines for all written work (see schedule of dates). Work submitted after the due date (or date of extension) will be penalised at the rate of 10% of the possible mark for each week, or part of a week, that the work is late. For example, if an essay worth 40 marks is submitted one week late, 4 marks (10% of 40) will be deducted. The deadlines set by seminar coordinators for seminar work must be met. Work submitted three weeks after the due date may not be assessed without the express permission of the Honours Coordinator.
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty
Students must (re)familiarise themselves with the University’s policy on Academic Honesty. The full policy can be found on the University policy online web site. It states, in part:
Academic honesty is a core value of the University of Sydney. The University is committed to the basic academic right that students receive due credit for work submitted for assessment. Integral to this is the notion that it is clearly unfair for students to submit work for assessment that dishonestly represents the work of others as their own. Such activity represents a form of fraud.
Plagiarism can be broadly defined as presenting another person’s ideas, findings or work as one’s own by copying or reproducing the work without due acknowledgment of the source. Plagiarism can take many forms. The most common form of plagiarism is where a student presents written work, including sentences, paragraphs or longer extracts from published work without attribution of its source. Work submitted for assessment may also be regarded as plagiarised where significant portions of an assignment have been reproduced from the work of another student, since this exceeds the bounds of legitimate co-operation.
Please note listing sources at the end of your essay does not absolve you from plagiarism.
Failure to comply with the University’s standards for academic honesty may lead to failure in the work submitted for assessment or failure overall in the unit of study. In the most serious cases, the misconduct procedures of the University By-laws concerning Student Discipline (Chapter 8) may be invoked.
Non-Discriminatory Language
Government and International Relations supports the University policy on non-discriminatory language and students are required to comply with the policy. This states that the University community regards as offensive, under all circumstances, the use of written or spoken language which makes personal or irrelevant reference to sex, pregnancy, race (including colour, ethnic background, nationality or national identity), marital status, transgender status, disability, sexual preference, political or religious belief, carer’s responsibility and age.
For detailed guidance, students should consult the full policy which can be found on the University policy online web site. (once at this site, look under ‘N’ for ‘Non-discriminatory language’. This explains the policy in detail and outlines how it can be implemented.
Consultation with Honours Supervisors and Seminar Coordinators
The frequency of contact between supervisors and students is a matter for negotiation. There are no hard and fast rules. As a general guide, however, you should expect to have contact with your thesis supervisor at least once a month during the first semester and perhaps fortnightly towards the completion of the thesis. The role of your supervisor will change throughout the year. In the early stages, your supervisor will help clarify and refine the topic and help identify appropriate literature. Later, the supervisor will read and advise on chapter drafts and advise on structure, presentation and style. The supervisor will not correct all spelling and grammar mistakes, although s/he may point to problem areas that need to be addressed.
Supervision of Honours theses forms part of the responsibilities of academic staff, but only part. Please respect the supervisor's office hours.
Keep in mind that the Department’s policy is that:
- regular consultation occur between Honours students and their supervisors concerning the structure, scope, focus, sources and methodology of the thesis.
- extended consultation with the supervisor should take place following the submission of the draft, provided that the draft is submitted by the due date. At this point the supervisor will make clear his or her views concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the work completed, and offer suggestions to improve the scholarly and literary quality of the work.
The golden rule is to stay in touch. Do not wait till the end of the year to tell the supervisor that there are problems with the thesis.
Remember, too, that your thesis is your work and your responsibility. You alone are responsible for its merits. The supervisor cannot guarantee a particular result.
Academic staff are happy to discuss issues with Honours students they are supervising or who are in their seminars. They do, however, have important duties to fulfil beyond conducting seminars and supervision. They need time for preparation, marking, carrying out research and writing. Honours students are encouraged, therefore, to contact academic staff during consulting hours which are displayed on the doors of their rooms, or by making appointments. Students who have problems with their supervision should advise the honours coordinator, who will attempt to resolve the issue.
