Instructor: Dr. Harbour
Office: East Ruffner 228
Office telephone: 395-2219
Office hours:
MWF 11:00-12:00 TR 9:30-10:30
bharbour@longwood.edu
Table of Contents
Course Description
Texts
Course Objectives
Class Schedule
Course Requirements
Grading
Attendance Policy
Honor Code
Class Discussion
Critical Thinking Writing Exercises
Taking Exams
Bibliography
Course Description:
An introduction to the principal thinkers and the central themes in American
political thought. (1865 to the Present)
Texts:
Isaac Kramnick and Theodore J. Lowi. American Political Thought. A Norton Anthology. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.
Don
E. Eberly. Editor. The
Essential Civil Society Reader: The Classic Essays.
New
York: Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000.
Students
will also be required to purchase a discounted subscription to the New York
Times from the Bookstore. Being aware of current political
developments is important to good citizenship. Each exam will have at
least one essay question requiring students to reflect on current political
news.
Various optional background readings will be available in Dr. Harbour’s office.
Thornton Anderson. Jacobson’s
Development of American Political Thought. New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1961.
Sue Davis. American Political Thought: Four Hundred Years of Ideas and
Ideologies.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1996.
Kenneth M. Dolbeare. American Political
Thought. Monterey, California: Duxbury Press,
1981.
Kenneth M. Dolbeare and Linda J. Medcalf. American
Ideologies Today. Second Edition.
New
York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993.
Amitai Etzioni. Rights
and the Common Good: The Communitarian Perspective. New York:
St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1995.
Allen Pendleton Grimes. American Political Thought.
Hinsdale, Illinois: Drydeen Press,
1960.
David A. Hollinger and Charles Capper. Editors. The American Intellectual Tradition, Vol II
1865 to the Present. Third Edition.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Alpheus Thomas Mason and Gordon E. Baker. American
Political Thought. Fourth Edition. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Paul Schumaker, Dwight C Kiel, Thomas W. Heilke. Ideological Voices: An Anthology in Modern
Political Ideas. New York:
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,1997.
William Graham Sumner. What Social Classes Owe to Each Other. New York: Caxton, 1947.
Thorstein Veblen. The
Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Penguin Books,
1979.
Gayle Graham Yates. What Women Want: The Ideas of the Movement.
Cambaridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press, 1975.
Other Reading:
A good online source for articles on topics concerning American political
thought is the Britannica site found at:
http://www.britannica.com/
Click HERE for the Study Guide which contains questions for reading and thinking about the assignments, links to useful web sties containing materials on the topics being explored, and suggestions on developing your research for the critical thinking writing assignments.
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a capacity for critical and analytical thought about issues central to the American political tradition.
2. Demonstrate an ability to communicate their knowledge and beliefs about the principal thinkers and central themes in the tradition of American political thought.
3. Discuss the ideas that constitute essential features of the American political system.
4. Identify information regarding American political thought necessary and useful for responsible citizenship.
5. Discuss important philosophical and ethical issues associated with American political thought.
6. Interpret the meaning and significance of the symbols that influence American political thinking today.
7. Describe the major ways in which political scientists have tried to understand American political thought.
8. Discuss how American political beliefs have shaped and been shaped by the dynamic social forces found in our society.
Week 1 (Aug. 24-28) Introduction to American Political
Thought; The Emergence of Social
Darwinism
Read: Kramnick & Lowi –
Articles by Sumner, Carnegie, Conwell, Ward
Special Topics:
Tuesday: Introduction to American
political thought
Thursday: What were the claims advanced by 19th century advocates of
laissez-faire liberalism and social Darwinism?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 1
Write a three page essay in which you explain the ideas advanced by 19th
century advocates of laissez-faire liberalism and social Darwinism.
Evaluate the arguments for and against those theories.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 2 (Aug. 31 – Sept. 4) Populism, Social Protest, and
Alternative Visions
Read: Kramnick & Lowi, Articles by George, Bellamy, Lloyd, Ward, Donnelly,
Weaver, Watson, Lewelling, Bryan
Special Topics:
Tuesday: What were some of the chief
criticisms of social and economic conditions advanced by the populists?
Thursday: What were some of the
alternative visions for society advanced by social critics such as George and
Bellamy?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 2
Write a three page essay in which you explain the main arguments advanced by
the populists. Evaluate their ideas.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 3 (Sept. 7-11) American Socialism; Anarchism
Read: Kramnick & Lowi, Articles by Tucker, Goldman, De Leon, and Debs
Special Topics:
No classes on Monday, Labor Day
Tuesday: American Socialists
Thursday: American Anarchists
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 3
Write a three page essay explaining and evaluating the ideas advanced by Emma
Goldman.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 4 (Sept. 14-18) Union Protests
Read: Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Debs and Gompers
Special Topics:
Tuesday:
Thursday: NOTE: You will have your first test on Thursday, Sept.
17. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Week 5 (Sept. 21-25) Pragmatism, Social Reform, and the Progressives
Read: Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Steffens, Sinclair, Ryan, Addams, Rauschenbusch, Veblen, James,
Dewey, Beard, Croly, T. Roosevelt, Wilson
Special Topics:
Tuesday: Pragmatism
Thursday: The Progressives
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 4
Write a three page essay in which you explain the meaning of pragmatism and
then discuss what the progressives owed to pragmatism.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 6 (Sept. 28-Oct. 2) New Deal and Great Society Liberalism
Read: Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Hoover, Beard, Dewey, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Tugwell, Wallace, Lippmann
Special Topics:
Tuesday: New Deal Liberalism (Student reports: Matt Leeper on Herbert Hoover,
Patrick Crute on John Dewey, Trent Chisholm on FDR)
Thursday: Great Society Liberalism
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 5
Write a three page essay in which you explain the theoretical underpinnings
of the liberalism represented by the New Deal and Great Society.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 7 (Oct. 5-9) Contemporary Liberalism
Read:
Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Rawls, Sandel, Walzer,
Rorty, Etzioni
There are important think
tanks on both the left and right and each produce informative research on
contemporary political issues.
You may read studies
representing contemporary liberalism by going to the online site of the Center
for American Progress at:
http://www.americanprogress.org/ and Brookings at: http://www.brookings.edu/
There are important political
magazines found on both the left and right that feature stories and editorials
on contemporary political issues.
You may read articles
representing different contemporary liberal views by going to the online
version of The New Republic at:
http://www.tnr.com/
Special Topics:
Tuesday: Liberalism and neo-liberalism (Student
report: David Nishimoto on John Rawls)
Thursday: Process and Values
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 6
Write a three page essay in which you explain the some of the major differences
dividing contemporary liberals. What
values unite them? What is it that
separates them?
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Fall Break: October 12-13
Week 8 (Oct. 14-16) Second Test
Special Topics:
Tuesday: No classes – fall break
Thursday: Note: You will have your second
test on Thursday, October 15. This test will count for 1/6 of your
semester grade.
Week 9 (Oct. 19-23) America and the World; Debating the Constitution
Read: Kramnick & Lowi, Articles by George Washington, Strong, Beveridge, Sumner, Platform of the American
Anti-Imperialist League, Niebuhr, Kennan
Students interested in a generally liberal approach to interpreting the
Constitution, especially on First Amendment issues can find interesting
material at the website of the American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org/
Students interest in a generally conservative approach to interpreting the
Constitution can find interesting material at the website of the Federalist
Society:
http://www.fed-soc.org/aboutus/
Special Topics:
Tuesday: What role should America play
in the world? (Student Reports: Michael Boatwright on George Kennan, Cooper Machlan on Robert Kagan)
Thursday: Debating the Constitution and
Judicial Activism (Student Reports:
Jordan Miles on Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; Katie Byram
on Louis Brandeis; Sarah Kidd on William Brennan; James Pinc
on Antonin Scalia)
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 7
Write a three page essay in which you explain the differences between those who
disagree over America’s role in the world.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 10 (Oct. 26-30) Immigration, Race, the Civil Rights Movement
Read: Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Slater and George, T. Roosevelt, Lodge, Amendments 13, 14, 15,
Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse, Smohalla, Brown and
Marshall, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Garvey, Evans, Hughes, King,
SNCC, Malcolm X, Rustin, Carmichael, Thurgood
Marshall, Cornel West
One may read articles about contemporary civil rights issues at the website of
the NAACP at: http://www.naacp.org/home/index.htm
and access informative articles on civil rights issues and hate groups at the
website of the Southern Poverty Law Center at:
http://www.splcenter.org/index.jsp
Special Topics:
Tuesday: On what Basis did Du Bois and others Challenge Racism early in the
20th Century? (Student reports: Bryant Johnson on Booker T. Washington; Angela
Stevens on Du Bois; Patrick Sawyer on Marcus Garvey; Brad Brill on Cornell
West)
Thursday: What were the Central Issues Surrounding the Civil Rights Movement of
the 1950s and 1960?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 8.
Write a three page essay in which you explain the theoretical justification
advanced by Martin Luther King, Jr. for his views on civil disobedience.
Explain whether or not you find his arguments convincing.
Week 11 (Nov. 2-6) Liberalism and the challenge from The New Left;
Environmentalism
Read: Kramnick & Lowi, Articles by Robert Dahl, Daniel Bell, C. Wright Mills, SDS (The Port
Huron Statement), Savio, Rubin, McKibben
One of the most influential thinkers who influenced “critical theory” and New
Left theorists was Herbert Marcuse, and one may get access to his works and
commentaries on them at the Herbert Marcuse official homepage at: http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/
One may read many articles on the contemporary environmental movement by going
to the Greenpeace/USA website at: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/
One may read about one of the most important theorists of the environmental
movement by going to the Aldo Leopold Archives and access some of his works
at: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/AldoLeopold/
And one may read brief selections from his works at: http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/chrisj/leopold-quotes.html
Special Topics:
Tuesday: The New Left’s critique of
American society (Student Reports: Jessica Wise on C. Wright Mills)
Thursday: The Environmentalist Movement
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 9
Write a three page essay in which you explain and evaluate the critique of
American society advanced by the New Left.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 12 (Nov. 9-13) Conservatism in America
Read: Kramnick & Lowi, Articles by Adams, Twelve Southerners, Buckley,
Chambers, Hartz, Lippmann, Goldwater, YAF (The Sharon
Statement), Kristol, Bloom, Robertson, Nozick, Freidman
There are important think tanks on
both the left and right and each produce informative research on contemporary
political issues.
You may read studies
representing contemporary conservatism by going to the online site of The
Heritage Foundation at:
http://www.heritage.org/ and the American Enterprise Institute For
Public Policy Research at: http://www.aei.org/
There are important political
magazines found on both the left and right that feature stories and editorials
on contemporary political issues.
You may read articles
representing different contemporary conservative views by going to the online
version of The National Review at:
http://www.nationalreview.com/#
Special Topics:
Tuesday: What are the principal schools of thought within American conservatism?
(Student reports: Ollie Garland on Peter
Viereck; Nathan McCracken on William F. Buckley, Jr.)
Thursday: NOTE: You will have your third test on Thursday,
November 12. This test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Week 13 (Nov. 16-20) Feminism
Read: Kramnick & Lowi,
Articles by Adams, Murray, Grimke, Beecher, Stanton, Brownson,
Woodhull, Anthony, Gilman, Addams, Friedan, NOW Bill of Rights, Redstockings Manifesto, Millett, Schaffly,
Hooks
Many feminist organizations have
informative web sites containing articles advancing their positions on
contemporary issues. One useful site is
that of
The National Organization of Women
found at: http://www.now.org/
Special Topics:
Tuesday: What were the main themes of the Feminism found in the 19th and early
20th Centuries?
Thursday: What were some of the main themes and competing schools of
thought developed within Feminism in the second half of
the 20th Century? What are
the most Important Challenges facing Feminism today?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 10
Write a three page essay in which you explain the most important claims
advanced by feminist theory. How do you assess the strengths of these
claims? You are quite justified in developing this essay if you wish to point
out the problems with the question being asked.
This assignment is due by the beginning of class on Thursday.
Week 14 (Nov. 23-24) Civil Society Theory Part I
Read: Articles from Eberly: "The Meaning,
Origins, and Applications of Civil Society" by Don E. Eberly;
"The Quest for
Community: A Study in
the Ethics of Order and Freedom" by Robert Nisbet;
"Whose Keeper? Social Science and
Moral Obligation"
by Alan Wolfe; "The Good Society: We Live Through Our Institutions"
Robert Bellah; "The
Demoralization of
Society: What's wrong with Civil Society" by Gertrude Himmelfarb;
"Democracy on Trial: The Role of
Civil Society in
Sustaining Democratic Values" by Jean Bethke Elshtain; "Communitarianism
and the Moral Dimension"
by Amitai
Etzioni; "To Empower People: from State to Civil
Society" by Peter Berger and Richard John Neuhaus;
"Professionalized
Services: Disabling Help for Communities and Citizens" by John McKnight;
"Culture, Incentives, and
the Underclass" by
James Wilson; "The Urban Church: Faith, Outreach and the Inner City
Poor" by John Dilulio.
Special Topics:
Tuesday: Civil Society Theory; Moral Issues in Civil Society and Social Capital
Thursday: No classes
Thanksgiving Vacation November 25-29 No Classes
Week 15 (Nov. 3- Dec. 4) Civil
Society Theory Part II; Beyond Ideology
Read: Articles from Eberly: "The Lost City: The
Case for Social Authority" by Allan Ehrenhalt;
"Trust: The Social Virtues and
the Creation of
Prosperity" by Francis Fukuyama; "Democracy's Discontent: The
Procedural Republic" by Michael
Sandel;
"Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse" by Mary Ann Glendon; "The Progressive Assault of
Civic Community" by
William A. Schambra; "Individualism, Liberalism
and Democratic Civic Society" by William
Galston;
"American Exceptionalism Revisited: The Role of
Civil Society" by Daniel Bell; "Politics, Morality, and
Civility"
by Vaclav Havel.
Special Topics:
Tuesday: Social Trust and Authority; The Democratic State and Civil Society
Thursday: Individualism and American Exceptionalism
Classes end Dec. 4
Reading Day: Dec. 5
Exam Period: Dec. 7-11
Final Exam: The final exam will be on Thursday, Dec.
10 at 8:00 A.M. – 10:30 PM.. The final exam will be worth 1/6 of
your semester grade.
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Course Requirements:
Three tests
Ten Critical Thinking Writing Exercises (This will address the writing
intensive aspects of this course.)
Final comprehensive examination
Class discussion (Since this is a speaking intensive course, students will make
special oral presentations to the class and we will schedule these throughout
the semester – these special presentations will be viewed as part of your total
participation in class discussions.)
Grading:
Your semester grade will be based on three tests, the combined score on 10
critical thinking writing exercises, the final exam, and your contribution to
class discussion. Each will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.
Attendance Policy:
The attendance policy for this course is the University policy found in the
University Catalog and Student Handbook:
Students are expected to attend all classes. Failure to attend class
regularly impairs academic performance. Absences are disruptive to the
educational process for others. This is especially true when absences cause
interruptions for clarification of material previously covered, failure to
assume assigned responsibilities for class presentations, or failure to adjust
to changes in assigned material or due dates. It is the responsibility of
each instructor to give students a copy of his or her attendance policy in the
course syllabus. Instructors may assign a grade of “0” or “F” on work missed
because of unexcused absences. Instructors have the right to lower a student's
course grade, but no more than one letter grade, if the student misses 10
percent of the scheduled class meeting times for unexcused absences.
Instructors have the right to assign a course grade of “F” when the student has
missed a total (excused and unexcused) of 25 percent of the scheduled class
meeting times. Students must assume full responsibility for any loss incurred
because of absence, whether excused or unexcused. Instructors should permit
students to make up work when the absence is excused. Excused absences are
those resulting from the student's participation in a University sponsored
activity, from recognizable emergencies, or from serious illness. Faculty may
require documentation for excused absences in their attendance policy. Student
Health Services can provide documentation only for students hospitalized
locally or absent at the direction of Student Health Services personnel.
Honor Code:
Students are expected to live by the Longwood University Honor Code. All work
done for the class must be pledged. Your instructor will not tolerate any form
of cheating.
Class Discussion:
Your instructor values class participation. Students are encouraged to ask
questions and to express their knowledge and beliefs about the material and
issues being dealt with in class. Students are expected to make contributions
to class discussion.
Your grade in this regard (which is worth 1/6 of your semester grade) will be based upon your daily contributions during
the semester.
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Critical Thinking Writing Exercises:
There will be 10 critical thinking writing exercises. These papers will usually
be 3 pages in length and be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they
are due. They are not to be sent as an email attachment. Late
papers will lose points. They will be done in Microsoft Word with a Font size
12 and double spaced. Any documentation for these exercises will be done
according to the Turabian format for a research
paper. Failure to cite sources properly will cost points and may result in a 0
for the paper.
A shorter version of that style manual can be found on the History style
manual at the following web address: <http://www.longwood.edu/history/HDPTSTS2.htm>
Taking Exams:
All tests and exams must be taken on time. You are expected to provide
proof for any legitimate reason (illness, participation in a University sponsored
activity, or recognizable emergency) you have for missing a test or exam.
Critical thinking writing exercises handed in past the time they are due will
lose points.
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