Political Ideas, Fall Semester, 2010

 

Syllabus

Position Paper Assignment

A page of links to various sources of political news and commentary 

Links to political parties

                                        Tentative schedule of topics and reading assignments_______________________

Part I

Development of the contemporary middle ground

Note: D&D = Love, ed., Dogmas and Dreams

Discussion projects and supplemental materials

Week 1

Aug. 24

Introduction to the course and to each other

 

DP: Dinner with the King  

Week 2

Aug. 31

Classical liberalism vs. the old, authoritarian regime (Arguments for private property, free markets, and limited government)

Heywood, pp.1-4 and 23-53 (read all of Chapter 1 if you have time); D&D, pp. 21-49 (Locke, Smith, Federalist Papers), 89-111 (Friedman); a bit more from Locke online.

Jonathan Bennett's modernization of  Locke (and others);  Notes on Locke;  DP:  What is government for?

Week 3

Sept. 7

From classical to modern liberalism

(Arguments for government regulation of the market economy and for some degree of collective provision of goods and services; equal rights for women)

Heywood, pp.53-63, 230-233, 242-245; D&D, pp.50-88 (Mill, Green, F. D. Roosevelt), 503-510 (Friedan) Online: Franklin D. Roosevelt on an economic bill of rights;; Tawney on equality of opportunity, the relationship between equality and liberty, and the need for some "communal provision and collective control"

DP:  Castaways

Week 4

Sept. 14

Traditional conservatism

(Arguments for tradition and hierarchy)

Heywood, pp.65-86; D&D, pp.147-185 (Oakeshott, Burke); pp. 511-525 (Schlafly)  Online:  Burke on the need for an aristocracy

DP: Politics and Human Nature

Week 5

Sept. 21

From traditional to modern conservatism

(Are today's conservatives just old fashioned, classical liberals or do they have a distinctive political ideology?)

Heywood, pp.86-98 and pp.241-242; D&D, pp.186-200 (Hayek)  pp. 224-245 (Kristol, D'Souza).   The statement of 'core values' from Pat Buchanan's organization, "The American Cause"; Russell Kirk on the essence of conservatismThe Tea Party Contract From AmericaThe Christian Coalition Legislative Agenda

No discussion project.

 

Part II

Challenges from left, right and elsewhere

 

 

Week 6

Sept. 28

Early socialism and the ideas of Karl Marx

Heywood, pp. 99-126; D&D, pp.255-333 (Fourier, Marx, Engels, Lenin)

First exam handed out.

Graphs we looked at in class were from this article by Ariely and Norton

 

Week 7

Oct. 5

Contemporary democratic socialism

Heywood, pp.126-142 and 245-247; D&D, pp.334-352 (Bobbio, Hayden and Flacks) and 526-545 (Hartmann); Online:  Hayek on the impossibility of central planning

Albert and Hahnel on 'Participatory Economics';

Roemer on combining socialism with markets (PDF - feel free to skip the excessively technical discussion of 'feasibility models' that runs from page 14 to page 24, but do read the summary, which starts on page 24.)

DP:  Which Socialism?

Links to lots more material on socialism

Week 8

Oct. 12

Anarchism

Heywood, Chapter 6; D&D, Part 4 (pp.359-407 – Goldman, Thoreau, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Starhawk;) Online:  Engels on Authority

DP:  Engels vs. Anarchism  

First Exam Due

Week 9

Oct. 19

Fascism

Heywood, Chapter 7; D&D, Part 5 (pp.419-483 – Mussolini, Hitler, Macdonald, Wolin); Links to more material on fascism  (read what you can)

 

Week 10

Oct. 26

Feminism

Heywood, Chapter 8; D&D, pp.546-618 (Lorde, Anzaldua, Baumgardner & Richards, Mohanty)

 

Week 11

Nov. 2

Environmentalism

Heywood, Chapter 9; D&D, Part 7 (pp.625-698 – Carson, Gore, Kelly, Bookchin and Forman, Shiva, Nordhaus & Shellenberger)

In class videos:

"The Story of Stuff"

Ray Anderson's "The business case for sustainability"

Week 12

Nov. 9

Nationalism, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism

Heywood, Chapter 5; D&D, pp.707-732 (Mazzini, Anderson, Ohmae -- read Mazzini for sure, Anderson and Ohmae if you have time and interest); "Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism" by Martha Nussbaum ; replies by Charles Taylor and Lee Harris; Chalmers Johnson on the US' empire

Second exam handed out

Week 13-

Nov. 16

Fundamentalism, modernity, globalization

Heywood, Chapter 10; D&D, pp.733-799 (Khomeini, Said, Huntington , Barber, Appiah); Online:  “Thanks For Nothing” by Joseph Stiglitz; "Globalization: Stiglitz Case" by Benjamin Friedman;  “Do As We Say, Not As We Do” by Jack Beatty

 

Week 14

Nov. 23

Multiculturalism

Heywood, Chapter 11; Online:  Bikhu Parekh, “Equality in a Multicultural Society,” David Kupelian, "Multicultural Madness," and Amartya Sen, “The Uses and Abuses of Multiculturalism”

Second Exam Due

Week 15

Nov. 30

Wrap up

 

 Position Paper Due