|
Political Science 122 | |
|
Winter 1999 |
Willis 418 |
|
|
x-4123 |
This course considers both normative and empirical questions about American politics; that is, we will ask both how the system should work and how it does work. Questions we'll address include: What were the Founders' goals in creating the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and have these been achieved? Did the Founders' politics rest on an accurate conception of human nature? Does the American political system, two hundred years later, work well? How do we judge whether it is working well, what should our standards be? (Among other questions we'll consider whether the impeachment of Bill Clinton is a sign of health or sickness in the system.) How do we achieve both liberty and equality? And what exactly do we mean by these terms? Is liberty primarily the liberty to act in one's own self-interest, or does it also involve working for the common good? Does equality go beyond equality before the law and equal opportunity? Is the level or nature of American political participation problematic? What about the dangerous aspects of participation? Of non-participation? What sort of education is appropriate for citizens of an increasingly multicultural America?
Readings:
The following required texts are available at the bookstore:
Theodore J. Lowi & Benjamin Ginsberg, American Government: Freedom and Power (brief 5th ed.)
George McKenna & Stanley Feingold, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Political Issues (10th ed.)
Benjamin R. Barber, An Aristocracy of Everyone: The Politics of Education and the Future of America
Additional required readings (marked "R" in the syllabus) are on reserve at the library. Students are also required to read the New York Times Monday through Friday, focusing on articles related to American politics. Subscriptions can be purchased at the bookstore, individually or in groups. The Times is available at the library and on the Web as well, at www.nytimes.com.
Course Requirements:
Paper I (due 1/7, ungraded) --
Paper II (due 1/14, 3 pp.) 10%
Hate Speech Debate and Paper III (due 2/2, 4-5 pp.) 15%
Midterm (2/11) 20%
Paper IV (due 2/23, 4-5 pp.) 15%
Take-home Final (due 3/17, 4 p.m.) 30%
Journals (responses to readings) 10%
All students are expected to come to class having closely read the day's assignment, and active participation in class discussion is expected. Your grade may be helped or hurt by your involvement in class discussion or lack thereof. Unusual effort in leading your small group discussion, or failure to lead a discussion at all, may also affect your grade.
Journals: You are required to keep a journal consisting of written responses to each day's assigned readings. What I am looking for is a thoughtful and reasoned but informal response to what you have read. 1 1/2 or 2 pages handwritten should be adequate, although a longer response is certainly welcome. It's important that you do more than summarize the argument being made in each2 reading, although this is a good place to start and should help you in understanding the materials. But what I'm most interested in is your reaction. You should discuss at least TWO of the day's readings. Furthermore, I am asking that you discuss at least one New York Times article a week.
I'll be collecting the journals every couple of weeks and will return them with comments. It's important that you keep up with your responses rather than writing them all just before the journals are due. This has obvious benefits for you; in addition, I may call on you in class on any given day and ask you to share your response with the class.
I'm envisioning spiral notebooks for these journals; however if you'd rather type and print out your responses that's fine, as long as you keep them in order in a folder. However you choose to do it, be sure each entry is dated.
Small group discussion: The class will be regularly breaking up into small groups for discussion. Each member of the class will lead a small group discussion of about 45 minutes or so once during the term.
Office Hours: to be announced shortly
Feel free to come see me in my office should you have any questions or difficulties with the course, or if you just want to pursue a topic we've touched on in class or in the readings. I'll be glad to set up an appointment if you can't make my regular office hours. My extension is 4123, and my e-mail address is scohen@carleton.edu.
SCHEDULE
(* indicates a date available for small group discussion)
I. FOUNDATIONS
Tu Jan. 5
Introduction
Th Jan. 7
Ungraded Paper I on impeachment due (1-2 pp., double-spaced)
Lowi & Ginsberg (hereafter "L&G"), chs. 1-2
Taking Sides (hereafter "TS"), #1 (America a success?)
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "A World Split Apart" (R)
Tu Jan. 12
Declaration of Independence and Constitution, L&G, A3-A21
Federalist 10 and 51, L&G, A22-A28
Th Jan. 14
Paper II on Parenti or Diamond article due
Michael Parenti, "The Constitution as an Elitist Document," in How Democratic Is the Constitution? (R)
Martin Diamond, "The American Idea of Equality," in As Far as Republican Principles ... (R)
Tu Jan. 19
L&G, chs. 3-4
McCulloch v. Maryland (R)
Brown v. Board of Education (R)
Patricia Williams, "The Death of the Profane," in The Alchemy of Race and Rights (R)
*Th Jan. 21
TS, #12 (affirmative action)
Jonathan Rieder, Canarsie: The Jews and Italians of Brooklyn Against Liberalism, 1-6 and 107-119 (R)
G. Kindrow, "The Candidate," in Debating Affirmative Action (R)
Tu Jan. 26
TS, #13 (hate speech)
Carleton Statement on Discrimination and Academic Freedom (R)
Charles R. Lawrence III, "'If He Hollers Let Him Go': Regulating Racist Speech on Campus," in Hate Speech on Campus (R)
Th Jan. 28
Michael Sandel, Democracy's Discontent, 3-8 and 71-90 (R)
David Redlawsk, "'We Don't Need No Thought Control': The Controversy over Multiculturalism at Duke," in Hate Speech on Campus (R)
Plan hate speech debates in class
Tu Feb. 2
Hate Speech Debates and Paper III due
*Th Feb. 4
TS, #16 (abortion)
Naomi Wolf, "Our Bodies, Our Souls" (R)
TS, #18 (gay marriage)
II. INSTITUTIONS
*Tu Feb. 9
L&G, chs. 5 & 7
Steven Stark, "Too Representative Government," in T. Lowi et al., Readings for American Government, 5th ed. (R)
Marbury v. Madison (R)
TS, #8 ("original intent")
Richard A. Posner, "What Am I, a Potted Plant? The Case against Strict Constructionism" in Judges on Judging (R)
Th Feb. 11
Midterm (in class)
video: "Eyes on the Prize"
Tu Feb. 16
L&G, ch. 6
John Labovitz, "Presidential Impeachment," in Inventing the American Presidency (R)
other readings to be announced
Impeachment debate
III. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
*Th Feb. 18
L&G, chs. 8-9
TS, #2 (political campaigns)
Tu Feb. 23
Paper IV on impeachment due
L&G, chs. 10-11
Peter Bachrach & Aryeh Botwinick, Power and Empowerment: A Radical Theory of Participatory Democracy, ch. 2 (R)
TS, #3 (PACs)
IV. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP
*Th Feb. 25
An Aristocracy of Everyone, Prologue, chs. 1-2
Tu March 2
Aristocracy, chs. 3-5
*Th March 4
Aristocracy, chs. 6-7, Epilogue
Tu March 9
Mark Edmundson, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education: I. As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students" (R)
Earl Shorris, "II. As a Weapon In the Hands of the Restllss Poor" (R)
Wed. March 17
Take-home Final due in my office, Willis 418, 4 p.m.