HNR 235: Democracy and
Political Thinking
GVSU / Fall 2006
Prof. Kevin den Dulk
Office hours: Monday / Wednesday
E-mail: dendulkk@gvsu.edu
Website: http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an
introduction to normative political thinking – reasoning about what politics ought
to be. The course stresses your
participation in thinking deeply about some of the fundamental questions of
public life. The argument of this course
is that sound political reasoning is a precondition of good citizenship in a
democracy.
COURSE TEXTS
Ball and Dagger’s Ideals
and Ideologies: A Reader (Longman, 5th
ed., 2004), Melville’s Billy Budd, Ibsen’s Enemy
of the People, and Plato’s Trial and Death of Socrates are available
at UBS and Brian’s Books. There will also be required readings available on
course reserve or distributed in class.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Your grade for the course
is determined by your performance in three areas: examinations, argument
papers, and participation. FAILURE TO
COMPLETE ANY REQUIREMENT WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE FOR THE COURSE. Deadlines are etched in stone, except in
documented cases of very serious illness, family emergencies, or other documented
occurrences that are both dire and unavoidable. Assignments will be penalized a FULL letter
grade for each day they are late.
(1) EXAMS: There will be a midterm (15% of final grade) and
final examination (20%).
(2) PAPERS: There are three written assignments
(15% each). Assignment descriptions are
available at the course website.
(3) PARTICIPATION: This course demands your active
participation (20%). This means at least two things:
a.
Attend. Students who miss more than three sessions
during the semester will generally lose their participation points. Barring
unavoidable and dire circumstances, students should also be in class on
time and stay for the duration of our sessions, and they should not listen to
music, read unrelated material, or surf the net while class is in session.
b.
Ask
questions and make arguments. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to
participate during presentations, simulations, the Blackboard discussion list,
and ordinary class sessions. I realize
that speaking in public is intimidating for some of you, but now is your chance
to take the plunge while the water is warm.
I’m happy to speak with
you during office hours, by appointment, or via email. Consult the course website (http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk/hnr235/hnr235.htm) for
links to the written assignments, online readings, exam review questions, and
many other helpful resources. If you
would like extra help with writing, I strongly
encourage you to make use of GVSU’s
Academic dishonesty is a
serious ethical problem, and plagiarism – the failure to give credit to others
for their words or ideas – is particularly tempting in this course. Any
instance of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the
assignment and, at my discretion, failure for the course and notification of
the Dean. If you have questions about what
counts as academic misconduct, talk to me or consult GVSU’s
Student Code (http://www.gvsu.edu/studentcode),
especially Article II, Sect. 223.
OUTLINE OF THE COURSE
August 28: Introduction
August 30-October 2: QUESTIONS
OF Rulership: Who,
if anyone, should rule, and How
Should They Rule?
APPROACHES:
o August 30: Anarchism
o READ: Goldman, “Anarchism” (Ball/Dagger, selection
42)
o September 1: Elitism
o READ: Ibsen, Enemy of
the People (entire)
o September 6: Democracy: What is it?
o READ: Ibsen (revisited); Pericles, “Funeral Oration” (Ball/Dagger, selection 3)
o September 8: Liberal democracy
o READ: Locke, The Second Treatise (Ball/Dagger,
selection 13); US Bill of Rights (Ball/Dagger, selection 7)
o September 11: Liberalism and Constitutionalism
o READ: US
Constitution, Articles 1-6 (online)
o September 13: Social democracy
o READ: Walzer, “Town
Meetings…” (Ball/Dagger, selection 10); Marx/Engels,
“Communist Manifesto” (Ball/Dagger, selection 35)
o
September 15:
Democracy and republicanism
o READ: Adams,
Thoughts on Government (Ball/Dagger, selection 6); Madison, Federalist
#10 (online)
o
September 27: FIRST PAPER DUE, in class
September 18: Democracy
recap; debate prep
o September 20: DEBATE
CASE STUDIES:
o September 22, 25, 27: Citizenship and Deliberation
o READ: United States Elections Project, Voter
Turnout 2004 (online); Putnam, Bowling Alone (course reserve); Ackerman
and Fishkin, “Righting the Ship…” (course reserve)
o September 29, October 2: Citizenship and
Globalization
o READ: Editors, “Globalization and the Future of
Ideology” (Ball/Dagger, Part 11 Intro); “Is There Too Much Democracy in the
World?” (course reserve)
October 4-October 30: Obligation: When, if ever, is one obligated to
the political community?
APPROACHES:
o October 4: Cynicism
o READ: Plato,
from The Republic (“Ring of Gyges”;
online)
o October 6: Consent and theories of “social contract”
o READ: Hobbes, Leviathan (Ball/Dagger,
selection 12); Locke revisited
o October 9: Tacit consent
o
READ: Plato, Crito (in Trial and Death of Socrates)
o October 11: Oath-taking / other forms of consent
o READ: Oaths (online)
o October 13 (No class Oct 16): Nature / Good
/ God
o READ: Romans
13 (online); UN
Declaration of Human Rights (online); Wilson, “The Biological Basis of
Morality” (course reserve)
o October 18: Community
o READ: Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in
o October 20: Community; debate prep
o October 23: DEBATE
CASE
STUDIES:
o October 25: Citizenship and Obedience
o READ: King, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
(Ball/Dagger, selection 50); Declaration of Independence (Ball/Dagger,
selection 15)
o
October 27: SECOND PAPER DUE, in class
October 27, 30: Citizenship
and Immigration
o READ: Handouts;
Hispanic Challenge” (course reserve)
November 1: MIDTERM
EXAMINATION
November 3-November 20: Justice: What do citizens deserve?
o November 3, 6: Economic justice
o READ: Hayek, The
Constitution of Liberty (course reserve); Walzer,
Spheres of Justice (course reserve)
o November 8, 10: Criminal justice
o READ: Melville, Billy Budd, entire; Foucault,
Discipline and
o November 13, 15: Justice and war
o READ: Handouts; “Was the Invasion of
o
November 20: THIRD PAPER DUE,
in class
November 17: Alternatives to
justice
o READ: The
Book of Job (online)
o November 20:
Justice: Hard cases
o DOCUMENTARY (in class): “A Divided
Nation”
November 27-December 8: Democracy, Political Values, and Citizenship
o November 27: Equality – basic themes
o READ: Tocqueville, Democracy
in America (Ball/Dagger, selection 8); More, Utopia (selection 33); Ortega
y Gasset, Revolt of the Masses (Ball/Dagger,
selection 28)
o November 29, December 1: Equality and difference
o READ: Wollstonecraft, “A
Vindication…” (Ball/Dagger, selection 52); Gutierrez, A Theology of
Liberation (Ball/Dagger, selection 58); Singer, “All Animals Are Equal”
(Ball/Dagger, selection 59); Foreman, “Putting the Earth First” (Ball/Dagger,
selection 62)
o December 4, 6, 8: Freedom, power, and deliberation
revisited
o READ: Mill, On
December 13: FINAL EXAM,
2-3:50