Sophomore Government Tutorial: State and Society in the Modern Age
CSS 230
Fall 2017
| Section:
01
|
| Certificates: International Relations |
This course analyses the core political institutions of Western democracy as they have evolved over the past 200 years. The European model of the nation-state and capitalist economy became something which other countries around the world were forced to emulate or combat.
Political scientists pose the same questions as do philosophers and historians: the relationship between the individual and society, and the conditions under which efficient and just systems of government emerge. Political scientists range over the same historical evidence as the other disciplines, although they tend to spend less time on dead people than do historians. The difference is mainly in method and approach. Political scientists look for systemic explanations, for structural patterns across many cases. Historians revel in the specificity of individual cases and the uniqueness of history, but political scientists feel uncomfortable when forced to deal with specific cases. While philosophers judge empirical reality against abstract principles, political scientists stick with evidence from the material world.
The purpose of this course is to introduce some of the most important ideas and authors on the evolution of the modern state and political movements. Unlike economics, which has a set of very clear and unified theoretical principles, there is no agreement among political scientists about how to analyze these topics. Liberalism is broadly accepted as the only legitimate frame of reference, having fought off the Marxist challenge, but within liberalism there are divergent approaches as to the scope for democracy, the role of the state, and the relative merits of stability and change. Mid-range theories, more exactly approaches, come in and out of fashion. This tutorial introduces you to some of the most influential writers in the political science tradition and the box of tools they have used to tackle these problems. |
|
| Credit: 1.5 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS GOVT |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Credit/Unsatisfactory |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSS) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - 1st Trimester |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
All the books mentioned in the syllabus are on reserve in Olin, and all the suggested articles and book chapters are available on the web or on Wesfiles for this course via hyperlinks in the syllabus.
Robert A. Dahl POLYARCHY (1972)
ISBN-13: 978-0300015652 paper $22.
John Dryzek and Patrick Dunleavy, THEORIES OF THE DEMOCRATIC STATE Palgrave 2009.
ISBN-13: 978-0230542877 paper $53
Mancur Olson, THE LOGIC OF COLLECTIVE ACTION
Harvard University Press; Revised edition (1971)
ISBN-13: 978-0674537514 paper $29.09.
Peter Rutland, MYTH OF THE PLAN(Open Court Press, 1985/1990 First edition)
ISBN-13: 978-0812691283 paper $22.95
Charles Tilly, COERCION, CAPITAL AND EUROPEAN STATES
Blackwell Publishing Limited; Reprint edition (1993)
ISBN-13: 978-1557863683 paper $39.59
Alexis de Tocqueville, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (Ri! chard Heffner, ed.)
Signet Classics (2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0451531605 paper $6.64
|
Examinations and Assignments:
Assignments will consist of weekly essays. |
| Instructor(s): Rutland,Peter Times: .....F. 02:00PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC402; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 10 | 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 |
|
|