Political Ideas First Take-home
Exam Due: Oct. 12
Answer any three of the following
questions. Answer each question with
essay approximately 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pages long (typed, double-spaced). Draw on the relevant readings and our class
discussions, but try to express your ideas in your own words, using only brief
quotations, if any. When you do quote
or paraphrase the ideas of other authors, give them credit and indicate where
you found the idea. A page reference
in parentheses is sufficient for this purpose; formal footnotes are not
necessary. For example: (Ball and Dagger, p.39) or (Locke, in Ideals
and Ideologies, p.36)
1.
Explain as clearly and concisely as you can what the differences are
between the liberal and the conservative traditions in political thought. What do you see as the strengths and
weaknesses of each tradition? Where
would you place yourself in relation to these two traditions? Why?
(Note: in answering this question, do not rely only on your previous
understanding of the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' as these are used in
contemporary U.S. political discussions.
Rely on the meanings of these terms as explained in the course
readings.)
2.
Locke used a version of social contract theory to argue that the
functions of government should be quite limited. How does his argument go?
Do you think this Lockean argument is a cogent one? Why or why not?
3.
Do you think that people should be regarded as having positive rights
(examples: a right to an adequate diet, or to a job, or to a decent
education)? Or should we limit our list
of rights to negative rights (examples:
rights not to be killed or assaulted, not to be unjustly imprisoned, not
to be tortured, not to be subject to government censorship)? Explain and defend your answer. (Explain how you would reply to those who
have argued for either a more extensive or a less extensive conception of
rights than your own.) You might find
it helpful to focus on one positive right -- a right to food or to education or
to health care, for example -- and explain why you do (or do not) think that
society should recognize such a right.
4. Supporters
of "laissez-faire" capitalist democracy (classical liberals and some
conservatives) say that it is the political system that provides its citizens
with the maximum feasible amount of liberty or freedom. But modern liberals like Rawls and T. H.
Green say that real freedom is undermined by poverty, ignorance, and disease. Therefore, they say, to create a genuinely
free society, government must ‘interfere’ in the marketplace (for example, by
regulating workplace health and safety) and provide various supports and
services to make people’s opportunities more equal. Explain and critically evaluate this argument.
5. Ball and Dagger say
that one element of traditional conservatism is a belief in a ‘natural
aristocracy’ and, consequently, a refusal to accept any strong principle of
social equality, which is attacked as ‘leveling’. (See pp.94-5 and 101-4.) What
reasons might such a conservative offer for this belief? Does this mean that a conservative must deny
that "all men are created equal?"
What sort of equality can a conservative believe in? What sort of equality do you believe in?
6.
What
reasons (or assumptions) have led many people to conclude that democracy is
either a bad idea altogether or, more moderately, that there is such a thing as
too much democracy? How might a
defender of democracy reply? Do you
think that democracy is preferable to monarchy or aristocracy? Why?
Should democracy be limited by some other political principle (like
property rights)? Why?
7. Cultural conservatives say that our society
is threatened by a decline in our moral values -- by growing hedonism and
individualism, by changes in sexual mores, and by changes in the patterns of
family life. Discuss.