Political Ideas, Fall Semester, 2010
A page of links to various sources of political news and commentary
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 |
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 conservatism; The Tea Party Contract From America; The 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? |
Week
8 |
Oct. 12
|
Anarchism
|
Heywood,
Chapter 6; D&D, Part 4 (pp.359-407 – Goldman, Thoreau,
Kropotkin, Bakunin, Starhawk;) Online: Engels
on Authority
|
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 –
|
In class videos: 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
|
Second exam handed out |
Week
13- |
Nov. 16
|
Fundamentalism,
modernity, globalization |
Heywood,
Chapter 10; D&D, pp.733-799 (Khomeini, Said,
|
|
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 |