Course map
Core: understanding power and global politics
- LessonPractice
Framing global politics: actors, stakeholders and political systems
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Tell state and non-state actors apart: states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, multinational companies, social movements and organized groups
- Explain how political systems distribute power, at local, national, regional and global scales
- Use the course's key concepts (power, sovereignty, legitimacy, interdependence) to frame a political issue
- LessonPractice
Power and sovereignty
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Classify power: hard, soft and smart; structural and relational; power to, over and with
- Explain the nature of state sovereignty and how it is exercised, shared and challenged
- Judge how far sovereignty is eroded or reinforced by globalization and interdependence
- LessonPractice
Legitimacy, interdependence and global governance
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Explain sources of legitimacy for states and for other actors, and how legitimacy is gained and lost
- Explain interdependence and global governance, including the UN General Assembly and Security Council
- Evaluate the effectiveness of cooperation and of international organizations
- LessonPractice
Theoretical perspectives on global politics
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Know the main perspectives: realism, liberalism, constructivism, Marxist, feminist and postcolonial approaches
- Apply a perspective to explain an actor's behaviour or a political issue
- Weigh what each perspective reveals and what it misses
Thematic studies
- LessonPractice
Rights and justice
SL and HL: Paper 2- Explain contested meanings of rights, justice, liberty and equality
- Analyse how states, civil society and international bodies codify, protect and monitor rights
- Evaluate debates on universality, cultural relativism, and the politicization of rights
- LessonPractice
Development and sustainability
SL and HL: Paper 2- Explain contested meanings of development, globalization, inequality and sustainability
- Analyse the actors and approaches that shape development, and how development is measured
- Evaluate debates on growth, inequality and sustainability
- LessonPractice
Peace and conflict
SL and HL: Paper 2- Explain contested meanings of peace, conflict, violence and non-violence, including structural violence
- Analyse parties to conflict, conflict dynamics and the causes of conflict
- Evaluate peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and debates on the justification of force
HL extension: global political challenges
- LessonPractice
HL: global political challenges and Paper 3
HL only: Paper 3- Know the eight HL topic areas: borders, environment, equality, health, identity, poverty, security and technology
- Research and compare case studies, and show how challenges are interconnected
- Analyse a political issue and recommend a course of action, weighing its challenges and implications
Papers, skills and the engagement project
- LessonPractice
How global politics is assessed: sources, essays and command terms
SL and HL: Paper 1; Paper 2- Answer each Paper 1 question type: understanding, applying knowledge, comparing and synthesizing sources
- Plan Paper 2 essays that justify claims, develop examples and evaluate diverse perspectives
- Use the command terms and manage the time in each paper
- LessonPractice
The engagement project
SL and HL: Internal assessment- Know what the engagement project asks: a political issue, engagement activities, research and a written report
- Plan ethical engagement with stakeholders and link the issue to course concepts
- At HL, know that the report adds a recommendation for addressing the issue
IB Diploma Programme Global Politics, SL and HL. The engagement project is your own research and engagement, so it is described in a lesson rather than practised here.