Master’s Programme Entrance Exam – “National Security” Specialisation
- The essence and origin of politics
- The nature, subjects, objects, and resources of political power
- Legitimacy of political power: types and crises
- The concept of a political subject; social and institutional subjects
- Concept of “political system” and its structure
- Types and functions of political systems
- Political system of the Third Republic of Armenia
- Main elements, features, and functions of the state
- Territorial organization of states
- Rule of law: fundamental principles and functions
- General characteristics of democratic political regimes
- General characteristics of totalitarian political regimes
- General characteristics of authoritarian political regimes
- Concept, structure, features, and functions of civil society
- Main theoretical approaches to defining political parties
- Types of political parties
- Concept of party systems
- General characteristics of a one-party system
- General characteristics of a two-party system
- General characteristics of multi-party systems and modern forms of manifestation
- Establishment of multi-party politics in post-Soviet Armenia
- Concept of “pressure groups”
- Methods, means, and functions of pressure groups
- Typology of pressure groups
- Concept of political elite (electorate)
- Preconditions, structure, and functions of political elite formation
- Concept of political leadership: functions and typology
- Electoral systems: majoritarian and proportional systems
- Main stages of the electoral process
- Ideology of liberalism
- Ideology of conservatism
- Ideology of socialism
- Ideology of fascism
- Nationalist and religious ideologies
- Concept of political conflict
- Origin, development stages, and three main mechanisms for resolving political conflicts
- Concept of political process: types and main stages
- Political process management: decision-making and implementation
- International politics: objects and subjects
- Legal foundations and principles of international politics
- Political globalization: essence and main challenges
- Modern concepts of democracy
- Democratization and political modernization
- Concept and structure of political culture
- Typology of political culture
- Political socialization: forms and models
- Concept of political image: definitions and principles
- Institution of the President in Armenia
- Powers of the National Assembly of Armenia
- Formation and applied significance of geopolitics as an independent scientific field
- Classic representatives of geopolitical thought (F. Ratzel, H. Mackinder, K. Haushofer)
- Aristotle’s political views
- Political thought in Ancient Rome
- Niccolò Machiavelli on politics and morality
- John Locke on the state and civil society
- Enlightenment period in political thought
- Encyclopedists (Holbach, Diderot, Helvétius)
- Immanuel Kant on state, politics, and morality
- Friedrich Nietzsche’s political views: “Übermensch” concept
- American political thought in the 18th–19th centuries (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine)
- Elitist theories in the 18th–19th centuries (Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, Robert Michels)
- Marxist legal-political conception
- Political views of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, T. Parsons
- Eastern political thought in the 19th–20th centuries (Sun Yat-sen, Mahatma Gandhi)
- Robert A. Dahl’s theory of polyarchy
- Armenian political thought in the 18th–19th centuries
Recommended Literature
- Arevshatyan S., Mirumyan K., History of Armenian Philosophy, Yerevan, 2007
- Manucharyan H., Excerpts from the History of Armenian Political Thought, YSU, 2002, 300 pp.
- Mirumyan K. A., History of Political Doctrines: Study Guide for Universities, Zangak-97, 2006, 544 pp.
- Political Science: Study Guide, Yerevan State University, 2006, 588 pp.
