Master’s Admission Exam Syllabus
Core Topics
Essence and origin of politics
Political power: essence, subjects, objects, and resources
Legitimacy of political power: types and crises
Concept of political subjects: social and institutional actors
Concept of political system and its structure
Types and functions of political systems
Political system of the Third Republic of Armenia
Fundamental elements, characteristics, and functions of the state
Territorial organization of states
Rule of law: principles and functions
General characteristics of democratic political regimes
General characteristics of totalitarian political regimes
General characteristics of authoritarian political regimes
Civil society: structure, defining characteristics, and functions
Main conceptual definitions of political parties
Types of political parties
Concept of party systems
Characteristics of one-party systems
Characteristics of two-party systems
Characteristics and contemporary forms of multi-party systems
Establishment of multi-party system in post-Soviet Armenia
Concept of interest groups
Methods, instruments, and functions of interest groups
Typology of interest groups
Concept of political elite (electorate)
Preconditions, structure, and functions of political elites
Political leadership: concepts, functions, and typology
Electoral systems: majoritarian and proportional systems
Main stages of electoral processes
Liberalism (liberal ideology)
Conservatism
Socialism
Fascism
Nationalist and religious ideologies
Concept of political conflict
Origin, development phases, and three resolution mechanisms of political conflicts
Concept of political process: types and main stages
Management of political processes: decision-making and implementation
International politics: subjects and objects
Legal foundations and principles of international politics
Political globalization: essence and challenges
Contemporary concepts of democracy
Democratization and political modernization
Political culture: concept and structure
Typology of political cultures
Political socialization: forms and models
Political image: definitions and principles
Institution of the President in Armenia
Powers of the National Assembly of Armenia
Development and applied significance of geopolitics in contemporary context
Classic representatives of geopolitical thought (F. Ratzel, H. Mackinder, K. Haushofer)
Aristotle’s political views
Political thought in Ancient Rome
Niccolò Machiavelli: politics and morality
John Locke: the state and civil society
Political thought during the Enlightenment
Encyclopedist period (Holbach, Diderot, Helvétius)
Immanuel Kant: state, politics, and morality
Friedrich Nietzsche: political thought, concept of “Übermensch”
American political thought, 18th–19th centuries (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine)
Elitist theories, 18th–19th centuries (Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, Robert Michels)
Marxist legal-political concept
Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, T. Parsons: political science perspectives
Eastern political thought, 19th–20th centuries (Sun Yat-sen, Mahatma Gandhi)
Robert A. Dahl: polyarchy theory
Armenian political thought, 18th–19th centuries
Recommended Literature
Armenian Sources:
Arevshatyan S., Mirumyan K., History of Armenian Philosophy, Yerevan, 2007
Manucharyan H., Excerpts from Armenian Political Thought, YSU, 2002
Mirumyan K., History of Political Doctrines, Zangak-97, 2006
Political Science: Textbook, Yerevan State University, 2006
Russian/International Sources (Selection):
Alekseeva T. A., Political Philosophy of John Rawls, Moscow, 1991
Arendt H., The Origins of Totalitarianism, Moscow, 1996
Machiavelli N., The Prince
Locke J., Two Treatises of Government
Nietzsche F., Beyond Good and Evil
Dahl R. A., Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, 1971
Weber M., Economy and Society
Sun Yat-sen, Political Writings
Anderson P., Reflections on Western Marxism, Moscow, 1991
Anthology of World Political Thought in 5 Volumes, Moscow, 1997
Arendt H., Tradition and the Modern Age, Vestnik Moscow Univ., Philosophy Series, 1992, No.1
Berdyaev N., The New Middle Ages, Moscow, 1990
Blunchly I. K., History of General State Law and Politics from the XVI Century to Present, St. Petersburg, 1874
Vernant J.-P., Origin of Ancient Greek Thought, Moscow, 1988
Vlasov A., Arthashastra: Social Structure and Law, Moscow, 1984
Power: Essays on Modern Western Political Philosophy, Moscow, 1989
Gadzhiev K. S., Political Philosophy, Moscow, 1999
Gerje V., Philosophy of History from Augustine to Hegel, Moscow, 1915
Gomperz T., Greek Thinkers, Vols. 1–2, St. Petersburg, 1911–1913
Gukovsky M. A., Italian Renaissance, 2nd Edition, Leningrad, 1990
Gurevich A. Y., Medieval World: Culture of the Silent Majority, Moscow, 1990
Guturov V. A., Ancient Social Utopia: Historical and Theoretical Questions, Leningrad, 1989
Gentile F., The Role of Philosophy of Law in the Study of Jurisprudence in Italy, Gosudarstvo i Pravo, 1995, No. 1
Dovatour A. I., Politics and Aristotle’s Polity, Moscow-Leningrad, 1965
Dugin A., Carl Schmitt: Five Lessons for Russia, Nash Sovremennik, 1992, No. 8
Jean Bodin: Founder of the Concept of State Sovereignty, Analytical Overview, Moscow, 1990
Ilyin M. V., Melville A. Yu., Power, Polis, 1997, No.6, pp.146–163
Ilyin M. V., Koval B. I., Power versus Politics, Polis, 1991, No.5, pp.152–163
Ilyin V. V., Panarin A. S., Philosophy of Politics, Moscow State University Press, 1994
History of Political and Legal Doctrines, XX Century, Moscow, 1995
History of Political and Legal Doctrines, XIX Century, Ed. V. S. Nersesyants, Moscow, 1992
History of Political and Legal Doctrines, XX Century, Ed. V. S. Nersesyants, Moscow, 1995
Carlyle T., The French Revolution, Moscow, 1991
Kissel M. A., Paths of Freedom: J.-P. Sartre, Voprosy Filosofii, 1994, No.11
Kissel M. A., Philosophical Evolution of J.-P. Sartre, Moscow, 1989
Kozlovsky P., Contemporary Postmodernity, Voprosy Filosofii, 1995, No.10
Korkunov N. M., History of Philosophy of Law, St. Petersburg, 1908
Kosich I. V., Mishkene Y. B., Hannah Arendt: Philosophy and Politics, Vestnik Moscow State University, Philosophy Series, 1991, No.6
Lapina Z. G., Doctrine of Governance in Medieval China, Moscow, 1985
Levitsky S. A., Tragedy of Freedom, Vol.1, Moscow, 1995
Leybin V., Freud, Psychoanalysis, and Contemporary Western Philosophy, Moscow, 1990
Losev A. F., History of Ancient Aesthetics, Vols.1–4, Moscow, 1963–1975
Lurie S. Ya., History of Ancient Social Thought: Public Groups and Intellectual Movements in Hellenic World, Moscow-Leningrad, 1928
Manfred A. Z., Three Portraits of the Great French Revolution Era: Rousseau, Mirabeau, Robespierre, Moscow, 1978
Marxism: Pro et Contra, Moscow, 1992
Mironov D. A., Pertsev A. V., Austromarxism, Positivism, and the Labor Movement, Sverdlovsk, 1990
Mirumyan K. A., History of Political Doctrines, Vol.1–2, Yerevan, 2004–2005
Obshchestvenno-Political Views of Norberto Bobbio, Analytical Review, Moscow, 1991
Essays in Social Philosophy, Ed. K. S. Pigrov, St. Petersburg University, 1998
Parshakova E. D., Political Views of B. Constant, Moscow, 1994
Piontkovsky A. A., Hegel’s Doctrine of Law and State and His Criminal-Legal Theory, Moscow, 1993
Plato and His Era, Moscow, 1979
Polyakova N. V., Joseph de Maistre and Russian Conservative Political Philosophy in the Late 19th Century, St. Petersburg, 1996
Poskonin V. V., Social-Political Theory of T. Parsons: Methodological Aspect, Izhevsk, 1994
Poskonina O. V., Social-Political Theory of N. Luhmann, Izhevsk, 1997
Pronyakin D. I., Main Doctrines of Classical Anarchism, St. Petersburg, 1995
Ricoeur P., Hermeneutics. Ethics. Politics: Moscow Lectures and Interviews, Moscow, 1995
Ryklin M., Sexuality and Power: Michel Foucault’s Anti-Repressive Hypothesis, Logos
Philosophical-Literary Journal, 1994, No.5
Smirin M. M., Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Reformation Movement in Germany, Moscow, 1978
Smorgunov L. V., Philosophy and Politics, Moscow, 2007
Smorgunov V. Yu., Problem of Legitimacy in Postmodern Political Philosophy, Vestnik St. Petersburg Univ., 1995, Series 6, Issue 2
Sogrin V. V., Jefferson: Thinker and Politician, Moscow, 1989
Solovyov E. Yu., I. Kant: Complementarity of Morality and Law, Moscow, 1992
Thomson J., The First Philosophers, Moscow, 1959
Torchynov E., Daoism: Historical and Religious Study, Moscow, 1993
Utchenko S. L., Political Doctrines of Ancient Rome III–I Century BCE, Moscow, 1977
Philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Contemporary Thought, Moscow, 1991
