Sophomore Government Tutorial: State and Society in the Modern Age
CSS 230
Fall 2023
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01
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This tutorial examines the rise and evolution of the modern state. While many of the readings focus on Western Europe and the United States, the course draws on cross-regional comparisons to tease out theoretical propositions, compare historical processes across different parts of the world, and consider different understandings of the body politic. We start by exploring what factors account for the rise and consolidation of the nation state in the Western context, after which we consider how the process of state-building occurred in the Middle East and North Africa and explore some of the challenges the sovereign state model faces outside the European context. We then move on to discuss the emergence of different systems of governance and some of the challenges to the state. We will consider whether there are certain paths that lead to democracy and whether there is something unique about American democracy. We will take into account the challenges posed by modernization and evaluate what factors best explain the rise of communism and fascism. We will then consider how the communist and fascist past impacted the rise of the social democratic model in Europe and compare the European and Japanese approaches to welfare provisions. We conclude by considering yet another model for organizing the political community--the religious state. We will examine when, how, and why the notion of the Islamic state emerged, reflect on the extent to which the concept of an Islamic state challenges Western notions of the nation-state and investigate how the discourse on Islam and the state has changed over time in Indonesia, the largest Muslim majority country. |
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| Credit: 1.5 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS GOVT |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Credit/Unsatisfactory |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - 1st Trimester |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
The following is a list of books that will be most extensively used. They are all available for purchase at RJ Julia Bookstore, and also available on reserve at Olin. Please note that the library might have different editions of these books. All other readings will either be uploaded on Moodle or available as Ebooks or via EReserves.
Ayubi, Nazih, OVERSTATING THE ARAB STATE: POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. New York: I.B. Tauris 1995
Berman, Sheri, THE PRIMACY OF POLITICS: SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND THE MAKING OF EUROPE'S TWENTIETH CENTURY. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2006
Berman, Sheri, DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP IN EUROPE. New York: Oxford University Press 2019
Dahl, Robert, POLYARCHY. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1971
Huntington, Samuel, POLITICAL ORDER IN CHANGING SOCIETIES. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2006
Moore, Barrington, SOCIAL ORIGINS OF DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY. Boston: Beacon Press. 1966
Tilly, Charles, COERCION, CAPITAL AND EUROPEAN STATES, AS 990-1990. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. 1993
Tocqueville, Alexis de, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Edited and abridged by Richard Heffner. Signet Books. 2010
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly papers due at the beginning of each class meeting. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Course open to CSS Sophomores only. |
| Instructor(s): Rutland,Peter Times: .....F. 02:00PM-04:00PM; Location: CFH106; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 11 | Permission of instructor will be granted during the drop/add period. Students must submit either a ranked or unranked drop/add request for this course. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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