PSCI 2004: Survey of Western Political Thought

Spring semester 2007 • MW 10-10:50 am • MCOL W100

 

Instructor: Steve Vanderheiden

Office: Ketchum 21 • Office Hours: M 11-12, W 9-10, and by appointment

E-mail: steven.vanderheiden@colorado.edu • Phone: 303-492-7440

 

Graduate Teaching Assistants, Offices, and Office Hours:

Jason Beyersdorff (jason.beyersdorff@colorado.edu), Ketchum 5B, W 11-1 and by appointment

Martin DeNicolo (martin.denicolo@colorado.edu), Ketchum 401, R 8-10, and by appointment

Gulay Ugur Goksel Yasar (gulay.gokselyasar@colorado.edu), Ketchum 401, W 12-2 and by appointment

 

Course description:

 

This course, which serves as an introduction to political theory, surveys the range of political ideals and ideologies found in the modern world.  Taking as its basic idea the need for people to organize themselves within society in pursuit of common as well as individual aims, the course examines the various norms and values offered as worthy of collective pursuit and the manner in which these norms are employed in the design of politics and society.  The course begins by examining the leading normative political ideals—liberty, equality, participation, and justice (all contested concepts)—and then traces these ideals through four major families of contemporary ideology (liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and fascism), including various strains within each of these.  In each case, the emphasis shall be upon historical development as well as contemporary social and political implications.  It concludes by examining leading alternative ideologies, including several variants of liberation theory, developing ideologies based on ecology and resistance to globalization, and political Islam.

 

The course is intended to offer critical perspectives on the full range of normative political ideals, and does not advocate any particular ideological position or value system.

Course requirements and grading:

There are three main categories of graded components to the course:

 

  1. Exams (50 points) – Two midterm exams (worth 15 points each) will be given in class on February 18 and March 19, and the final exam (worth 20 points) is on May 5 at 4:30 pm.  A study guide will be distributed in class one week prior to each exam.  Further remarks on the format and content of exams will provided during the semester. 
  2. Papers (20 points) – Students must write two short (5-7 double-spaced pages) papers, on topics to be described by the instructor (with distributed guidelines) approximately two weeks before the due date of each paper.  The first is due in recitation during the eight week, and the second in recitation during the fifteenth week.
  3. Recitation (30 points) – Recitation grades will be based on section attendance (40%), participation (20%), and short (one single-spaced typed page) response papers to each week’s lecture and recitation reading assignments (40%).  Response papers are due at the beginning of each week’s recitation.  Further instructions for these assignments, along with a sample response paper, can be found on the CULearn site for the course.

 

Students must complete all assignments in order to receive a passing grade for the course.  Incompletes are given only in extraordinary circumstances and by prior arrangement.  See below for more information on policies applicable to the above course requirements.

 

Texts:

 

There are two required texts for this course, which are available for purchase in the CU bookstore.  In addition, several other required readings can be found online (linked to the online syllabus or in CULearn), where they can be accessed by students at no charge.

 

     Terence Ball & Richard Dagger, Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 6th edition

     Terence Ball & Richard Dagger, Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader, 6th edition

 

These are abbreviated at Text and Reader in the Reading, lecture and exam schedule, below.

 

University and course policies:

 

Disability accommodations: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on students’ documented disabilities. Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, http://www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices

 

Religious observances: Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance.  Students needing to miss class or exams for religious observances must inform the instructor during the first two weeks of the term. See http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html

 

Classroom behavior: Students and faculty share responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility to treat all students with understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which they and their students express opinions.  Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities.  Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records.  See the polices at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code

 

Discrimination and harassment: The CU Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment, the University of Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment and the University of Colorado policy on Amorous Relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty.  Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550.  Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh

 

Honor code: All students of CU Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, and threatening behavior.  All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-725-2273). Students found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). More information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/

 

Excused absences: At the instructor’s discretion, students may be given opportunities to make up points missed as the result of documented illnesses (with a dated note from a health care provider) or other emergencies, religious observances, or official university activities.  Wherever possible, students should inform the instructor in advance of such absences in order to make necessary arrangements.  Absences resulting from discretionary events (such as non-emergency health care, non-essential travel, etc.) cannot qualify as excused.  The instructor reserves the right to distinguish excusable from non-excusable reasons for missing class or exams.  Make-up exams may be different in format than those missed as a consequence of excused absences.  Attendance at the scheduled final exam is mandatory, except as allowed by the university’s final exam policy; students needing to reschedule the final exam under this policy must inform the instructor by the end of the sixth week of the semester.

 

Reading, lecture and exam schedule:

 

Lectures will focus upon the readings assigned for the particular day, and recitations will focus upon those assigned for a given week, as indicated below.  Please read all assignments prior to either the lecture or recitation for which they are assigned.  Online readings are linked to the online reading schedule in CULearn (those from online journals require campus subscriptions, so can only be accessed from a campus network or on a non-CU ISP by using VPN), and those denoted by “CUL” can be found in the PSCI 2004 course page in CULearn.  The instructor reserves the prerogative to modify this schedule if necessary.

 

January 14: Introduction (read Text, pp. 1-16, Reader, pp. 1-9)

January 16: The Democratic Ideal (read Text, pp. 19-40, Reader, pp. 11-35)

Week 1 recitation: read Barber, “Three Scenarios for the Future of Technology and Strong Democracy” (Political Science Quarterly, 1998)

 

January 21: MLK holiday, no class meeting

January 23: Liberty & Equality (read Reader, pp. 36-45, 110-16)

Week 2 recitation: read APSA, American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality

 

January 28: Participation (read Reader, pp. 46-68, SDS, “Port Huron Statement”)

January 30: Justice (read Plato, from The Republic, and Miller, “Justice,” in CUL)

Week 3 recitation: read Putnam, from Bowling Alone (Simon & Schuster, 2001), Van Parijs, “A Basic Income for All” (Boston Review, Nov/Dec 2000)

 

February 4: Classic Liberalism (read Text, pp. 43-50, Reader, pp. 69-93)

February 6: Enlightenment and Revolution (read Text, pp. 50-68, Reader, pp. 94-109, Rousseau, Second Part of Discourse on the Origins and Foundations of Inequality)

Week 4 recitation: read Madison’s Federalist 10 and Federalist 51

 

February 11: Classic vs. Welfare Liberalism (read Text, pp. 68-83, Reader, pp. 117-42)

February 13: Cosmopolitanism (read Kant, from Perpetual Peace, and Beitz, “Justice and International Relations,” in Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1975)

Week 5 recitation: read Levinson, “The Debate on Torture” (Dissent, 2003), and United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

February 18: First midterm exam (in class)

February 20: Classic Conservatism (read Text, pp. 87-101, Reader, pp. 143-69)

Week 6 recitation: read Scruton, “Why I Became a Conservative” (New Criterion, 2003)

 

February 25: 20th Century Conservatism (read Text, pp. 101-12, Reader, pp. 170-89)

February 27: Contemporary Conservatism (read online selections)

Week 7 recitation: Read Smith, “Why Strauss, Why Now?”

 

March 3: Early Socialism (read Text, pp. 115-22, Reader, pp. 191-203, Plato, from The Republic)

March 5: Marxism (read Text, pp. 122-37, Reader, pp. 204-18)

Week 8 recitation: read Roemer, “Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation?” (Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1989)

 

March 10: Socialism after Marx (read Text, pp. 141-49, Reader, pp. 219-40, Kropotkin, “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”)

March 12: Russian & Chinese Communism (read Text, pp. 149-62, Reader, pp. 241-58)

Week 9 recitation: read Orwell, Animal Farm, chapters 1, 2, and 10.

 

March 17: Non-Marxist Socialism (read Text, pp. 162-73, Reader, pp. 259-87)

March 19: Second midterm exam (in class)

Week 10 recitation: read Dahl, “Power to the Workers?” (NY Review of Books, 1970, CUL)

 

March 24-28: Spring break, no class meetings or reading assignments

 

March 31: Fascism (read Text, pp. 177-89, Reader, pp. 289-90, 298-311)

April 2: Fascism and Race (read Text, pp. 189-203, Reader, pp. 291-97, 312-28)

Week 11 recitation: read Arendt, from The Origins of Totalitarianism, and Wolin, “Inverted Totalitarianism” (The Nation, 2003)

 

April 7: Black Liberation (read Text, pp. 207-14, Reader, pp. 329-48, Fanon, from The Wretched of the Earth)

April 9: Feminism (read Text, pp. 215-18, Reader, pp. 349-77)

Week 12 recitation: read Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” (parts 1-3)

 

April 14: Other Liberation Movements (read Text, pp. 219-27, Reader, pp. 378-404)

April 16: Animal Liberation (read Text, pp. 227-34, Reader, pp. 405-14)

Week 13 recitation: listen to Appiah, “The Ethics of Identity” (Philosophy Talk, 2005)

 

April 21: Ecology as Ideology (read Text, pp. 241-55, Reader, pp. 417-50)

April 23: The Politics of Globalization (read Reader, pp. 471-92, Klein, from No Logo, CUL)

Week 14 recitation: read O’Neill, “Lifeboat Earth”

 

April 28: Political Islam (read Text, pp. 259-70, Reader, pp. 451-70)

April 30: The Future of Ideology (read Text, pp. 273-87, Fukuyama, “The End of History?”

Week 15 recitation: read Barber, “Jihad vs. McWorld” (The Atlantic, 1992)

 

May 5: Final Exam, 4:30-6 pm