Political Ideas --
Second Exam Due date: Tuesday, November 22.
Answer
three of the following questions. Answer
one question from Part One and two from Part Two. Answer each question with an essay approximately
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pages long (typed, double-spaced). Try to express your ideas in your own words,
using only brief quotations from the readings, 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 -- for example:
[Heywood, p.56]; formal footnotes are not necessary.)
1.
In
the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels wrote, "The executive of
the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the
whole bourgeoisie." Less
dramatically, many on the left have argued that, in a capitalist society,
government cannot be genuinely democratic because capitalists (or ‘the rich’)
will inevitably have disproportionate political power. What reasons can be given to support this
claim? To what extent do you think the
claim is true? What might be done to
make a capitalist society more democratic?
2.
What
do you think of the idea (an idea found in anarchism, in the 'Green' movement,
and in some forms of socialism and some forms of feminism) that we ought to be
trying to create a society in which, to the greatest extent possible, no one
has power over anyone else because everyone has equal power, a society in which
there is no domination, no hierarchy, no coercive authority? Is this possible? (If so, how? If not, why not?) Is it a good idea?
3.
To
what extent do you think it would be a good idea for our society to move in the
direction of socialism (or social democracy)? (Explain your view and respond to
critics.)
5.
Liberal feminists have argued that women will be 'liberated' when
liberal principles of freedom and equality apply to women, too. Is this liberal feminist vision of equal rights
an adequate understanding of what is involved in 'women’s liberation', or are
other changes needed as well (as radical feminists argue)? (Explain your answer
and respond to the opposing view.)
6. The
'Green' movement rejects both capitalism and socialism on the grounds that they
are equally committed to 'unsustainable' policies of industrialism, consumerism
and the pursuit of economic growth.
Explain and critically evaluate the Green's call for a reorientation of
our society and politics towards 'sustainability'. Does this shift really require a new
political orientation? Or can
environmental concerns be adequately addressed by one or more of the ideologies
that already exist (liberalism, conservatism or socialism, for example)?
7. Cosmopolitanism or internationalism proposes
that we should think of ourselves primarily as ‘citizens of the world’ and
should work to build a global community and global institutions. Nationalists, on the other hand, insist that
more local ethnic and cultural identities must take priority, that our first
allegiance should be to the nation-state (patriotism), and that world
government is a dangerous dream.
Discuss.
8. In
many parts of the world 'Western' political ideals are being rejected in favor
of one sort fundamentalism or another.
Islamic fundamentalists reject liberalism in favor of Islamic law and
traditional Islamic political ideas. In
the
9. What
is globalization? Why do some people
oppose the policies currently pursued by our government in the name of ‘free
trade’ (policies variously called ‘corporate-dominated globalization’ or
‘neo-liberalism’ or ‘the
10. Discuss:
The US is a multicultural society and must accommodate its minority cultures
(in some of the ways discussed by Bhikhu Parekh, for
example).