Back to Understanding Political Concepts
Università di Napoli Federico II

Understanding Political Concepts

This course is part of the IPSAMOOC project, a joint venture Federica Weblearning - IPSA, the International Political Science Association. Political science discourse brings us face to face with many important concepts like authority, democracy, and power. However, all of them are used differently in different contexts, and their specific meaning depends on the theory they relate to. There is no way around such puzzling diversity. Students of political science simply have to accept this challenge. Yet, the diversity of political science concepts can be used as a powerful resource for learning, through intellectual techniques for stirring personal creativity. This MOOC teaches conceptual thinking and elementary theory-building through Hyperpolitics, an interactive dictionary for understanding and working with the most central concepts in political science. Its aim is to provide students with fresh critical insights about key political concepts, offering a methodology by which users can unpack and reconstruct them on their own. Its companion open-access website serves as a powerful tool for students' practice in forging their own vocabulary while learning how to make professional use of authoritative PS internet resources. Throughout its 4 weeks, this MOOC comprises lecture sections, based on visualizations of the arguments presented; reading assignments; and practical exercises. This course is part of the IPSAMOOC project, a joint venture Federica Weblearning-IPSA, the International Political Science Association.

Status: Research Methodologies
Status: Political Sciences
BeginnerCourse15 hours

Featured reviews

TT

5.0Reviewed Aug 7, 2023

In depth analysis of concepts , highly recommended to researchers for context better clarity in research and thesis framing.

All reviews

Showing: 4 of 4

Tanbir
5.0
Reviewed Aug 8, 2023
Zhakassov Tanirbergen
5.0
Reviewed Jul 29, 2024
Taimoor Rehman
5.0
Reviewed Aug 24, 2024
Нұрсұлтан Ұлыби Мадиярұлы
5.0
Reviewed Dec 3, 2025