Political Ideas First Take-home Exam Due: Oct. 9
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: (Heywood, p.39) or (Locke, in Dogmas and Dreams, 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
2. Locke used a version of social contract
theory to argue that the functions of government should be quite limited. (Contemporary libertarians think they are
following Locke when they argue that government should provide nothing besides
courts, police, currency, and national defense.) How does Locke’s argument go? Do you think this 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, Green and
Tawney 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. Heywood says that one element of
traditional conservatism is a belief that the 'natural' structure of society is
hierarchical and, consequently, a refusal to accept any strong principle of
social equality. (See p.77.) 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.
8. Consider the contrasting views of the
'women's liberation movement' offered by Betty Friedan and Phyllis
Schlafly. On what points do they
disagree? On what points, if any, do
they agree? Which writer makes the
better case? Whose side, if either, are
you on? (Explain.)