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Political Science and International Relations
Modern and Contemporary Political Thought

Modern and Contemporary Political Thought

Code	15468
Year	3
Semester	S2
ECTS Credits	6
Workload	OT(15H)/TP(45H)
Scientific area	Ciência Política
Entry requirements	None
Learning outcomes	1. Identify and recognize the cultural challenges of modern and contemporary political thought. 2. Situate the diversity of figures, schools and currents in their multiple historical-cultural contexts. 3. Reflect on the interrelationship between different schools and lines of political thought. 3. Appreciate the cultural relevance of modern and contemporary political thought today.
Syllabus	Modern Political Thought 1. Machiavelli’s Political Legacy 1.1. Machiavelli, Machiavellism and Antimachiavellism 1.2. Machiavellism and Reason of State 1.3. Maxims of State, Secrets of State, Master Strokes of State and Reason of State in Gabriel Naudé 1.3.1. From medieval “Mysteries of State” to modern “Coups d’État” 1.4. Machiavelli and political conspiracies 1.5. Machiavelli’s Republicanism and Populism: The letter and the spirit 2. The Modern Public Sphere Contemporary Political Thought 3. Topics of Political Thought in 20th Century 3.1. Carl Schmitt and “The Concept of the Political” 3.2. Walter Benjamin and “The Critique of Violence” 3.3. Leo Strauss: “Persecution and the Art of Writing”” 3.4. Michel Foucault and the “Eye of Power”: Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticum 3.5. Michel Foucault and Neoliberalism 3.6. Giorgio Agamben and the “State of Exception” 3.7. George Orwell and the Ethics of Political Writing
Main Bibliography	BENTO, António (Org.), Maquiavel e o Maquiavelismo, Editora Almedina, Coimbra, 2012. STRAUSS, Leo, Thoughts on Machiavelli [1958], The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1992. BENTO, António (org.), Razão de Estado e Democracia, Editora Almedina, Coimbra, 2012. MEINECKE, Friedrich, La idea de la razón de Estado en la Edad Moderna [original: Die Idee der Staatsräson in der neuren Geschichte, 1957], Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, 2014. NAUDÉ, Gabriel, Considérations politiques sur les coups d’État [1639], édition établie para Frédérique Marin et Marie-Odile Perulli, précédée de Gabriel Naudé, par Sainte-Beuve (édition de Maxime Leroy) et suivie par Naudaena (texte établi par Lionel Leforestier), Le Promeneur, Paris, 2004. SENNELART, Michel, Machiavélisme et raison d’État, PUF, Paris, 1989. ZARKA, Yves-Charles (Org.), Raison et Déraison d’État. Théoriciens et théories de la raison d’État aux XVI et XVII siècles, PUF, Paris, 1994.
Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Criteria	- Theoretical-practical lessons, combining moments of lecturing by the teacher with independent work and guided discussion by the students - Tutorial lessons intended to facilitate a closer monitoring of students and deepen the topics as deemed necessary by the latter.
Language	Portuguese. Tutorial support is available in English.