COURSE DESCRIPTION

What is the most important feature of democracy? That it protects your rights? That it gives you an opportunity to participate in the process of government? In this intermediate-level course, designed for undergraduate majors and non-majors in political science, we examine a range of answers to this question through primary texts from the history of political thought. We also link those texts to problems and dilemmas of contemporary politics. This course is designed to foster critical thinking about the limits of democracy and citizenship under contemporary social conditions. It also seeks to realize a modestly democratic ethos in the classroom. To that end, we will use participatory learning strategies including peer work groups, critical response papers, and group discussion days on which students are primarily responsible for teaching the assigned material.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This is a liberal arts course whose principal objective is for students to deepen their appreciation for the texts of John Locke, James Madison, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, J. S. Mill and Karl Marx by putting those texts to work on their worlds. We will realize this objective, in part, through close reading. These are dense and difficult texts; your weekly reading load is calculated to encourage you to read them more than once. We will also realize the objective by banishing mid-term and final exams, which principally test for mastery of content, in favor of two kinds of writing assignments that develop critical thinking, together with its expression in clear, cogent writing. To build comprehension skills, students will write five microthemes over the course of the semester. To promote critical reasoning, students will write three preparation papers.

REQUIRED TEXTS

(available at H. D. Smith Bookstore in Blegen Hall basement)

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, ed. Elizabeth Rappaport (Indianapolis: Hackett).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract, trans. Donald A. Cress (Indianapolis: Hackett).

**Copies Packet available at Paradigm Course Resource (Dinkydale Dome; 1501 Washington Ave, SE).

OFFICE HOURS

Tu 2:15 - 3:30 1472 Social Science Tower; 6-7825

Th 2:15 - 3:30 410 Ford Hall (CAFS Office); 4-9809

If you have a question or problem between office-hour days, I encourage you to communicate with me by e-mail, which I check every weekday. Please do not submit your assignments by e-mail.

ACCESSIBILITY

If you have a condition that affects your ability to participate fully in class or to meet all course requirements, please speak with me after the first day of class so that we can work together to arrange appropriate accommodations. This syllabus and other course materials can be made available in alternate formats.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

1. Read the syllabus thoroughly.

2. Read assigned texts and articles in time for their presentation in class.

3. Attend class and participate actively, in ways that are constructive and respectful of me as well as your classmates.

4. Participate in a "participatory learning" group in class with two or three other students on a regular basis. In addition to your own learning, you will also be responsible for the learning of your group mates. It is up to you to ensure that they get something interesting and useful from this course.

5. Complete five microthemes on time.

6. Complete three preparation papers on time.

ASSIGNMENTS

Microthemes

A microtheme is a short (approx 300 word), focused response to a single question that trains students to summarize an argument or section of an argument for an audience of imagined readers who are unfamiliar with it. It can also be a response to a critical question that trains students in persuasive writing. This task builds reading comprehension skills, gives practice in following and formulating arguments, and prepares students to write critical essays of their own.

We put few comments on microthemes. Instead, we score microthemes according to precise criteria, specified in advance, so that your score gives you a clear idea of what you did well and where you need improvement. In addition, we will xerox and distribute high-scoring microthemes (with names removed) to serve as an example for next time. In sum, microthemes are more like a running mid-term/final examination than they are like an essay. In contrast to a mid-term or final examination, however, we expect clear and precise writing, specific page references, and creativity. NOTE: microthemes must be typed and submitted on one side of a 5" x 8" index card.

Preparation Papers

A preparation paper is a short critical essay in response to a focused discussion question. Although its focus is not comprehension, it presupposes that you have mastered the key concepts of a reading or group of readings, and can converse fluently about them. Preparation papers are due three times this semester, on days when we break into peer work groups. The papers take the place of my lecture and must be prepared on time; they provide the basis for the in-class work of group discussion.

Participatory Learning Groups

Participatory learning is the classroom use of structured small group interaction so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. Despite considerable research which demonstrates that participatory learning is superior to traditional lecturing for developing students' higher-level reasoning and fostering positive relationships among students, it is infrequently practiced at the college level, particularly at large public universities such as this one. In this class we will make use of peer work groups of 3 or 4 students each.

A peer work group is not the same as a small discussion group. It has a precisely organized structure which consists of five basic elements. 1) Positive interdependence which means organizing tasks so that members must work together to succeed. We will achieve this by role differentiation within the group. 2) Face-to-face interaction which simply involves devoting some part of class time to group work. 3) Individual accountability which is achieved through individualized measures of participation and achievement (the preparation paper). 4) Teaching social skills by clearly spelling out the different group roles and monitoring performance. 5) Group process involves devoting a few minutes at the end of a group exercise for members to evaluate how well the group is working.

At least three days this semester we will break into peer work groups for a majority of the class session (about 1 hour of group work and 15 minutes of wrap-up discussion). I will not lecture on group days. Instead, you will be responsible for presenting the material to each other, and for engaging in a critical discussion. To ensure that these days are productive, you will write preparation papers for these days. Preparation papers are an individual assignment, prepared prior to class. In class, each group will also do a group assignment (a worksheet) that records your group discussion, and helps you put your thoughts in order for the large-group wrap-up.

Informal in-class writing

Occasionally, as a stimulus to class discussion, we will do informal writing (on a question you will have received in advance). These assignments will not be graded. They will be collected, and we will record the fact that you did (or did not do) them.

GRADING

I observe CLA standards for grading.

Determination of Final Grade

Your grade will be based on a straight scale. The microtheme and preparation paper assignments are weighted as follows:

5 Microthemes @ 15 points

3 Preparation Papers @ 15 points

Total Points for Class = 120

Extensions and Absences

Microthemes are due at the end of class. Late Microthemes will lose one point for every weekday they are late. Extensions for microthemes can be arranged only in the case of a doctor-certified illness.

Because preparation papers are assignments to prepare you for an in-class exercise, they must be finished by the beginning of class. They are of little use to you and your classmates if you do not attend class the day they are due, and submit them on time. Consequently, extensions for preparation papers cannot be arranged, and a more serious late penalty is assessed. Your preparation paper will lose three points if you missed class on the assigned day, or did not come to class with finished paper in hand. Preparation papers will lose one point for every additional weekday they are late.

Incompletes

I do not grant incompletes except under the most extraordinary of circumstances.

DAILY SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

Jan 18 Introduction; no reading.

What Kind of Democracy is This?

Jan 20 **Joan Didion, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem."

Reading Questions: Imagine that the first stanza of the Yeats poem describes the Old World's reaction to the American Revolution (it doesn't-just imagine). Why might the spectre of an experiment in self-government inspire such a response? What did Haight-Ashbury stand for in the 1960s? What do you associate with it? Did Didion find political meaning in Haight-Ashbury? Did she "sell anyone out" in writing this essay? What stands at the corner of Haight and Ashbury today?

Jan 25 **Declaration of Independence & U. S. Constitution

Reading Questions: What is the most important feature of democracy to you: that it protects your rights? That it gives you an opportunity to participate in government, or to express oppposition? Which of these was this government designed to do best?

Jan 27 **Federalist #9, #10

Reading Questions: What are the federalists afraid of? What metaphors do they use to describe it? What is the "first object" of government, according to Madison (#10)? What is a "faction"? What does Madison mean by "representation"?

Feb 1 **Federalist #14, #39, #51

First Microtheme Due

Feb 3 **Essays of Brutus

Feb 8 **Lani Guinier, "The Tyranny of the Majority," & "Groups, Representation and Race-Conscious Districting"

Feb 10 First Preparation Paper Due

Citizenship as Civic Duty

Feb 15 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract:

Book I: read all.

Feb 17 Rousseau, Book I: chapters 6-9 (read again); Book II: chapters 1, 3, 4, 6

Second Microtheme Due

Feb 22 Rousseau, Book II: chapters 8-11; Book III: chapters 12-15

**Carole Pateman, "Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and G.D.H. Cole: A Participatory Theory of Democracy."

Feb 23 Lobby Day at the Capitol (tentative): 1:00 - 3:00 pm.

Feb 24 No class (as compensation for Lobby Day).

Feb 29 **Michael Pollan, "Town-Building is no Mickey Mouse Operation" (informal writing in-class).

Where does the public good stop and individuality begin?

Mar 2 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, pp. 1-33.

Mar 7 J. S. Mill, pp. 33-71.

Mar 9 J.S. Mill, pp. 73-91.

Third Microtheme Due

Citizenship vs. Dependency: Is it literally the rights of Men?

Mar 14 **Carole Pateman, "The Fraternal Social Contract"

Mar 16 **Nancy Fraser and Linda Gordon, "A Genealogy of Dependency: Tracing a Keyword of the U. S. Welfare State."

Mar 21 **Nancy Fraser, "Gender Equity and the Welfare State: A Postindustrial Thought Experiment"

Second Preparation Paper Due

Are individual liberty and market freedom compatible? (Or, Can "the individual" survive in a commodified world?)

Mar 23 **John Locke, "Selections" from Second Treatise of Government, read all.

Mar 27-31: SPRING BREAK

April 4 **Locke, re-read Chapter V

Fourth Microtheme Due

April 6 **Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 125-40.

April 11 **Marx, pp. 163-77.

April 13 **Marx, pp. 270-280.

Fifth Microtheme Due

April 18 **Michael D. Smith, "The Empire Filters Back: Consumption, Production, and the Politics of Starbuck's Coffee"

April 20 **Serra A. Tinic, "United Colors and Untied Meanings: Benetton and the Commodification of Social Issues," and **Patricia J. Williams, "The Death of the Profane"

Third Preparation Paper Due

April 25 Film: "Berkeley in the 60's" (Part I).

April 27 Film: "Berkeley in the 60's" (Part II).

May 2 Port Huron Statement (informal writing in class)

May 4 Last Day of Class: No reading. Return Microthemes and Preparation Papers.

Participatory learning often works best when you think specifically about what makes a group discussion go well, enumerate the tasks that successful discussion entails, and assign those tasks to individual group members. Think about beginning with these:

--reader/tracker: initiates group discussion by reading task; keeps group on track by periodically restating group's major conclusions as answer begins to emerge, or restating question as discussion diverges

--recorder: take notes as discussion proceeds. Formulate your group's answers to the worksheet tasks, and record them on the worksheet. Notice that the work of the recorder and that of the reader/tracker are closely related; if the discussion does not stay on track, it is difficult for the recorder to formulate succinct answers to the worksheet questions. Try to find innovative ways of working together.

--checker/encourager: encourages each group member to participate by periodically asking different members of the group to participate; it is your responsibility to use humor, treats, threats , etc. to ensure a fair sharing of labor in your small group, and to ensure that each member of the group understands the rationale behind the arguments and answers you produce.

--accuracy coach: call for point of information when it seems as if another member makes a mis-statement about the text, the question, or an error in restating the rationale and conclusions of the group

Group Processing: At the end of each group work session, it is important to assess your group work. Pay attention to each of the roles AND to the dynamic of their relationship to each other.