Teaching the relations between Government and Society in an international relations course: a practical view

The debate about domestic political issues is one of the pillars of international relations courses. However, it is always a challenge for teachers to stimulate students to go beyond the understanding of the concepts and making them perceive the interactions between decision-making levels and political and social actors in the domestic and global politics. The experience developed in the undergraduate course of international relations at ESPM (São Paulo, Brazil), since 2014, indicates the need to integrate the visions between systemic and state centric approaches in the learning process of the students. With the use of methods of problem solving and case studies, students are planning actions and solving problems, both real and complex, involving the relationships between Government and interest groups. The studies begin in the first semesters on theoretical and analytic foundation and culminates in the formulation of an integrated project at the end of 4 years. This article aims to discuss the experience has been developed in the teaching of political science in the undergraduate course of international relations in Brazil. In this sense, it will be discussed the skills and abilities worked with the students, the preparation of the material that has been used in the classroom as well as the teaching strategies has been applied since 2014. We intend to discuss the limits on the integration of disciplines and the impact of using active learning techniques in the teaching of political science and international relations as we look to contribute to the debate of teaching methodology in international relations in Brazil, which is underexplored.