Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - IS 210 D100

States, People, and Power Around the World (3)

Class Number: 4204

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Mon, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 12, 2025
    Fri, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces students to the variety of systems of governance in the world today, including how power is constituted and contested in different kinds of states (e.g., authoritarian, democratic, hybrid) by various state and non-state actors (e.g., corporations, civil society, militias, social movements) through diverse technologies (e.g., the ballot box, digital surveillance, religious institutions). Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course introduces students to concepts and analyses of formal and informal politics and their implications. The course will cover a variety of systems of governance in the world today, and how power is wielded with diverse effects at multiple levels, including by different kinds of states (e.g., authoritarian, democratic, hybrids, variants), everyday people (e.g., in social movements and protest), and transnational configurations (e.g., a globalizing political economy, multilateral and non-governmental organizations, corporations, and digital technology interventions). Key questions to be addressed include, but are not limited to: What are the historical conditions of different regime types in different contexts? How do political choices and their implications vary across different countries? How do rivalries for global hegemony shape the world order? What forms can ‘bottom-up’ or ‘grassroots’ politics take, with what kinds of effects, and how is power theorized in such cases? The course content provides opportunities for students to consider world politics in comparative perspective by bridging conceptual knowledge with practical case applications in reference to world-historical events.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Students will acquire understanding of a broad range of conceptual and analytical tools for examining global political power and change.
  • Students will gain knowledge of how historic, political, economic, cultural, and institutional conditions have shaped contemporary politics, including state-society relations, in different contexts of the Global North and South.
  • Students will gain experience with research and communication skills, including synthesizing and analyzing scholarship in written and oral presentations.

Grading

  • Term Paper 30%
  • Midterm 30%
  • Final Exam 30%
  • Discussion 10%

NOTES:

Students are expected to submit a 6- to 8-page research essay worth 30% of the final mark. A list of topics will be handed out. The term paper is due in Week 11. There will be a penalty of 5% per day for all late assignments.

Each assignment should be submitted via an electronic copy, by the same deadline, to turnitin.com.

The deadlines on this syllabus may shift if we get behind schedule, or in the event of official university closures due to snow, etc. All changes will be announced via email, so be sure to check your university account regularly.

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Some course readings may be added or substituted as the course proceeds. All changes will be announced via email, so be sure to check your university account regularly.

REQUIRED READING:

Bingham Powell Jr., G., et al., Comparative Politics Today: A World View, 12th edition
ISBN: 9780137537112

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.