Democratic
Theory and Practice (Govt. 101:002)
Mon/Wed 12-1:15, Innovation Hall 105
Spring
2004
Professor Hugh Heclo. Office: East
Building Room 207
Telephone: 993-2184 e-mail: hheclo@visuallink.com
Office Hours: Mondays and
Wednesdays, 11-12;
Ms. Erika VanLandingham.
Office Robinson A Room 405A
Telephone: 703-582-5785
e-mail: evanland@gmu.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:30-3
http://classweb.gmu.edu/hheclo
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The goal of this course is to help
you develop an understanding of the foundational ideas and historical praxis
that have combined to produce the “democratic” governing systems that we
generally take for granted today.
Whether or not you are going on to major in government, political
science, public administration, or the like, this term’s work is intended to
introduce you to the deeper inner life of the “democratic” world you have
inherited.
Besides, you are majoring in this subject whether
you know it or not.
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Expectations: All members of the
class—instructor and students alike—are expected to:
1) appear
punctually for the class meetings;
2) prepare
conscientiously by reading and note-taking on the assigned topics; and,
3) communicate
together with respect, honesty and intellectual seriousness.
The
normal schedule will be for the class to lean toward lectures on
Mondays and more open class discussions on Wednesdays. No formal
record of attendance will be kept, but it will be difficult to succeed in this
course without attending the class meetings each week.
Readings: Assignments will be drawn
from the reader Core Readings for Govt.
101 (abbreviated CR below) and from Robert Dahl’s On Democracy, as
well as from a few items on e-reserve at the Library. E-reserve readings may be
accessed through the GMU library website or the class web site http://classweb.gmu.edu/hheclo. The
password for this class is “state”.
Evaluation: The course is divided into
three parts, with examination at the end of each part. The third of these
examinations (given on May 3rd) will include the work of the entire semester.
The
final course grade is weighted as follows:
First Exam: 10%; Second exam: 25%; Research Paper: 30%; Final Exam: 35%.
The
Research Paper: You are to choose one nation
and report on some aspect its experience with democracy that personally
interests you, discussing your findings in substantial intellectual
depth.
For this project, it is important that you use the most reliable scholarly sources that you can find—not things randomly plucked off the Internet. For example, if you are using a particular historical account, your paper should demonstrate that you understand the strengths and weaknesses of this work as reviewed in the scholarly literature. This means searching out serious book reviews weighing the merits of this particular source book. Consider a few other examples, you might be interested in trying to understand why, shortly after the American Revolution, democratic revolutions failed in Haiti, Liberia, or France (after 1789), or why certain European democracies fell to Fascism after 1920, or why democratic experiments in post-colonial nations such as Iraq or Vietnam failed after World War II. In these and any other subjects, your paper should show that you have made a serious effort to weigh competing interpretations in the scholarly literature regarding what happened, and why. This is not a paper in which you can do well by asserting superficial, poorly substantiated, personal “feelings.”
To help you get started on your paper, there will be
a Special Class on Research Sources and Methods conducted by Barbara Hillson, in the Johnson Center Library Instruction Room,
February 4th at the regularly scheduled class time.
Your topic should be chosen, after consultation with
the instructor, by February 16th. On that date a one page
description of the project is to be handed in. More than one student may choose to
investigate the same subject.
Research Paper Specifications Length: minimum 15 pages ( approximately 3500 words).
Margins: 1 inch. Font: 12 point, Times Roman. Justification: left margin only.
Spacing: double. Grammatical
Standard: Strunk
and White, The Elements of Style
Citations: footnotes & bibliography following any standard
academic reference format
Due Date: Wed. April 28 (you
are urged to submit an earlier draft for review with the instructor)
Wed. Jan. 21. Introduction to the Course
Read
CR, Tocqueville, pp. 171-181
(Mon. Jan.26.
SNOWDAY)
Wed. Jan.28. Democracy
in History
Dahl, chapter 1, pp. 1-25
Mon. Feb.2.
Discussion: The Century Just Ended
Read
John Markoff, “Waves of Democracy” (20th
c. Pendulum Swings) (e-reserve)
Wed. Feb.4.
Special Class on Research Sources and Methods
Meet with Barbara Hillson, in
the Johnson Center Library Instruction Room
Mon. Feb 9. The Search for Order: What Is Democracy?
Read
CR, Aristotle, pp.1-11
Read Dahl,
chapter 2
Read CR,
Hallowell, pp. 66-81
Read
CR, Grimke, pp. 218-21
Mon. Feb.16.
Why Democracy and Why Political Equality?
Read Dahl,
chapter 4 and 5
Research paper topic to be
turned in
Wed. Feb.18. First Examination (10%)
Mon. Feb.23. Democracy and Ancient
Plato’s Republic
(on e-reserve)
Wed. Feb.25. Liberal Contract Theory
Read CR,
Locke, pp. 131-157
Mon. Mar. 1. Discussion: Individualism and Communitarianism
Read CR, Gastil, pp.56-61
Read
CR,
Wed. Mar.
3. Read Carl Brown, “Islam and Politics in Modern Times: The Great
Transformation”
from his Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to
Politics
Read Ibtisam Ibrahim, “Debating
Democracy in the Arab World
Week 8: Spring Recess
Mon.
Mar.15. Discussion: Islam and Democracy Continued
Read
Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni, “Islamic Government”
Read
Ayelet Savyon, “The Call
for Islamic Protestantism: Dr. Aghajari’s Speech
and Subsequent Death Sentence”
Read CR,
Barber, pp. 13-23
Wed, Mar.17. Institutions of Democracy
Read
Dahl, chapter 8
Read
CR, Schmitter and Karl, pp.158-170
Mon. Mar. 22. Discussion: The Dilemma of Scale
Read
Dahl, chapter 9
Read CR. Federalist 10,
pp. 83-88
Read Dahl,
chapters 10 and 11, and appendix B pp.192-95
Wed. Mar. 31. Democracy’s Third Wave and Conditions
Favorable to Democracy
Read
CR, Huntington, pp.93-113
Read Dahl, chapter 12
Mon. April 5. Economic Conditions and Political Leadership
Read CR, Lipset, pp. 114-127
Wed. April 7. Discussion: How Market Capitalism Favors and
Inhibits Democracy
Read Dahl,
chapters 13 and 14
Mon. April 12. Why Democracy Requires Strong
Government
Read Holmes, “What
Wed. April 14. Why Strong Government Threatens Democracy
Read CR,
Tocqueville, pp.181-88
Mon. April 19. Democracy
as a Universal Value
Read Amartya Sen, “Democracy as a Universal Value,” Journal of
Democracy, vol.10, no.3, 1999 (access through GMU Library Database)
Wed. April 21. Democracy
as a Threat to Global Peace
Read extracts from Amy Chua, World On Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breed Ethnic
Hatred and Global Instability (e-reserve)
Read Stanley Hoffmann, “World Governance: Beyond
Utopia,” Daedalus, Winter,
2003, pp. 27-35 (access through GMU Library Database)
Wed. April
28. Review
Turn
in Research Papers (30%)
Mon. May 5. Last
Examination (35%)