IMPORTANT: POLS2202 is no longer "Australian Politics: Institutions, Campaigning And Spin", it is now "Foundations of Comparative Politics". Sadly cannot recommend this unit. I was very interested in comparative politics and understood that the class would not be content-driven. As Felix often stressed, it's about a methodology, not content. I get that. But what we learned in this class seemed entirely detached. Weeks spent investigating race, gender, violence, etc. but nothing that actually helped me understand what sort of methodology I was applying and how to go about it. I got a distinction on the mid-semester essay, but I could not explain what about my essay was good. I have absolutely no idea what I learnt in this class. I recommend avoiding this unit if possible. It's only my second politics unit (PPE major) and has definitely dissuaded me from engaging with the field in future if this is how the classes are taught. This isn't really a knock on Felix, he seems like a knowledgeable guy and I really liked how he ran tutorials. I appreciated that he was always very approachable and encouraged students to speak up and share their opinions, despite being pretty clearly very progressive he was open to hearing a range of opinions to a far greater extent than many other politics teaching staff I've interacted with at uni. If this was an assessment of Felix it'd be a 4/5 or even 5/5, but the class itself is just a bit shit I should attach a disclaimer that this is the first year that Felix has run the class and it may change in future, but I was not satisfied with my experience, do not think I learnt anything, and honestly feel a bit scammed by it.

Definitely an interesting unit if you're into Australian politics. Covers all the basics but to do well in this unit requires far more than a general understanding of the political system, but rather asks you to critically analyse it in many senses. Therefore it is definitely an advantage if you've done Politics and Law at high school or already have a good understanding of the processes and conventions of Australian politics. Unit lacked a little structure at times but was overall good.

Peter, the lecturer is extremely qualified. If you are interested in the Australian political system, this unit will not disappoint. The tutorials are discussion based and the text is enjoyable to read, rather than dense and a repetition of the lecture. Totally recommend!!

The lecturer, Peter was fantastic and engaging. I found the material to be very interesting and the text to be very useful. However, the tutor, Ash was incredibly disappointing - the tutorials were a complete waste of my time as he did nothing to encourage students nor facilitate productive discussion.