Normative Foundations of Politics Reading List/Course Outline

First year Politics Major Course

Autumn Term 1996

COURSE INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS

1. Aims and Objectives

This course is designed to introduce you to some of the key normative concepts in the theory and practice of Politics. The aim is to offer you an opportunity to think about not just the way politics 'is', but the way that it 'ought' to be. Thus, in this course, we will be exploring political ideas, and the value we attach to these ideas. For example, we will explore the ideas of liberty and equality, and examine why we value these concepts in a democracy. We will ask some timeless political questions like 'why must we obey the state?' and 'what makes a just society?' While it is clearly important to track the historical development of these ideas, and place them in the context of 'classical' political theory, it is the most important aim of this course to encourage you to think about links between these key concepts -- power and obligation, liberty and equality, justice and democracy -- and our 'everyday' understandings of the nature of politics and political life.

The course also has explicit objectives with respect to the development of your study skills. It is important that students are clear about the skills that they already have and the ones they need to develop for their university career and beyond. Since this is your first term at university, the course is designed to get you thinking about and working on these skills. In particular the course will encourage you to develop:

• reading and note-taking skills
• presentation skills
• verbal skills
• writing skills
• co-operative and participative skills
• organisational skills such as time mangement and meeting deadlines
• computing skills

2. Course Summary

The topics for the course are summarised below.

1. Political Concepts
2. Power, Authority and the State
3. Political Obligation
4. Liberty
5. Equality
6. Justice I
7. Justice II
8. Democracy
9. Democracy and Political Ideas Today

This course will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. There will be one lecture per week. There will also be one, 1 hour seminar per week, in which students, in groups of 10-12, will discuss the seminar questions listed for each week below. As these questions relate directly to the reading; students will be expected to do all the key readings for each weekly seminar.

In addition to the weekly lectures and seminars, students will attend fortnightly workshops. The workshops will be in Weeks 4, 6, 8 and 10. In these workshops students will work in study groups of 3-4, and will discuss, and present collective answers to, the 'workshop questions'. Written Work a) Essays

Students will be required to submit two, 2000 word essays. The final deadlines for handing in these essays are:

• 5pm Friday 8th November

• 5pm Friday 22nd November

b) Group Portfolio

Each study group will submit a group portfolio. This consists of four pieces of paper each containing a collective answer to a workshop question and each piece of paper must be signed by all members of the group. The only time you can use more than four pieces of paper is where you are unable, as a group, to come to a collective answer on any question. In these cases you can submit both "majority" and "minority" decisions with those who support each decision signing the relevant piece of paper.

The aim of the portfolio is three-fold. The first aim is that you consider the issues raised in the seminars about the broad questions of politics. The second aim is that, by giving an answer, you clarify your own position on the particular question. The final aim is that you learn how to come to collective decisions in the face of conflicts and differences. In making this a group project we are asking you to become involved in the practice of politics. The exercise of negotiating a collective answer is, arguably, as important as the answer itself.

The portfolio will be submitted in two parts. The first half of the portfolio (i.e. answers to questions 1 and 2), must be submitted by 5 pm on Friday November 16th. The second half (i.e. answers to questions 3 and 4), must be submitted by 5 pm on or before the last day of term, Friday December 13th. These are the last possible times to hand in the work. The work may be submitted any time before these deadlines.

c) Presentations

In the workshops you will give two group presentations. At every workshop, three groups will provide their answers to the workshop question for that week. Presentations can be organised in different ways. The minimum requirement is that your group uses overhead projectors and provides hand-outs. The maximum duration for these presentations is 10 minutes. This is so that the second half of the workshop can be given over to a discussion based on the presentation.

Office Hours

Course tutors will have weekly office hours when they are specifically available to see students. You are encouraged to use these to talk to your tutor about any aspect of the course that concerns you -- including your individual progress and written work. Do not be afraid to ask for help, guidance or feedback.

Reports and Assessment

Your performance in this course is evaluated by your tutor on the basis of your two written essays, your contribution to seminars, your groups presentations in workshops, and your group portfolio. As an introductory course, the assessment described above does not count towards your final degree.

Evaluation

At the end of the course, you will be asked to complete an anonymous individual evaluation questionnaire which will be submitted to the Subject Group Secretary. In addition, during the final seminars, there will be a chance for discussion and ‘brainstorming’ about the course. The convenor and your tutors would also welcome any informal feedback throughout the course.

This costs £13.95 from the University Bookshop and it is strongly recommended that you buy a copy. It is a very useful introduction to political theory, and to the study of Politics in general. Every week, there will be at least one reading from this book.

In addition to the reading from Goodwin, there will be at least one other key reading per week. For these readings, we have chosen 'classic', but accessible readings from the literature. All of these readings are very important, and have been influential in the development of political ideas.

Of course, subjects as vast as liberty, justice, democracy, etc. cannot be reduced to one or two readings. For this reason, we have included an extensive list of 'further reading' for each topic. It is important that you try and read as much of this reading as possible for each week.

5. Expectations

What is expected of you?

1. Read the key readings for each seminar.
2. To come to each seminar with an answer to every seminar question.
3. To contribute to seminar discussions.
4. To prepare a collective answer, with your group, to each workshop question.
5. To give two group presentations in workshops.
6. To use the further readings and any other relevant materials that you can find in order to research and write two individual essays and to submit them by the specified deadlines.

1. Written feedback on essays, submitted by the deadline.
2. Availability during office hours to discuss any questions or problems you might have during the course.
3. Written feedback on group presentations.
4. Guidance and advice on preparation for essays and presentations.
5. Guiding of seminar discussions.
6. Feedback and collective evaluation of the class at the completion of the course.

Week 4: In a democracy, under what circumstances, if any, should we disobey the law?

Week 6: Which is more valuable, liberty or equality, and why?

Week 8: What are the hallmarks of a just society?

Week 10: What are the minimum requirements for a democratic political system?

7. Lectures Lectures will be on Thursdays at 10:15 am in Lecture Theatre A1. Lecture List Week 2Power, Authority and the StatePaul Taggart
Week 3Political Obligation Christien Van den Anker
Week 4Liberty Fiona Robinson
Week 5Equality Christien Van den Anker
Week 6Justice I: Liberal Theories Fiona Robinson
Week 7Justice II: Marxist and Feminist critiques Fiona Robinson
Week 8Democracy Paul Taggart
Week 9Democracy and Political Ideas Today: Paul Taggart TOPICS AND READINGS

Each weekly topic is divided into a number of sections. The first section lists the learning objectives. These are designed to enable you to evaluate your own progress. The next section lists the questions for discussion in the weekly seminars. All students will be expected to have an answer for each question when they come to the seminars. The questions are based on two or three core readings indicated. In addition there are two other sections of reading. The first is the "Classic Texts" section which lists the relevant major texts in political theory. The section of "Other Sources" lists other texts which often have as their basis the classic texts. These readings are to help you in your preparation for workshops and for your individual essays.

POLITICAL CONCEPTS

This will be an introductory session to the course. Students will be introduced to the use of concepts in the study of politics.

Seminar Reading

1. Goodwin, Barbara. Using Political Ideas. Second Edition. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1987. Chapter 1, 'Who Needs Political Theory'.

POWER, AUTHORITY AND THE STATE

In this session, we will examine a concept that is central to all types of political systems: power. We will ask the question, 'what is power?', and try to distinguish between power, authority, and coercion. Specifically, we will be concerned with how the state gains, and sustains, its power over its population, and what makes that power legitimate. This week's key reading is a classic lecture given in 1918 at Munich University by one of the major social scientists of the nineteenth century, Max Weber (1846-1920) in which he outlines his vision of modern politics.

Learing Objectives

• describe and discuss the different views on the source and legitimacy of state power.
• identify, evaluate, and name examples of Weber's three ideal types of power.
• take your own, considered view of the nature of political power in political societies today

Seminar Questions:

1. What are states based on and how is the state defined by Weber? What have other theorists seen as the basis of the state and legitaimate authority, according to Goodwin?
2. What are Weber's different types of authority? Can you think of examples of world political leaders who gain their legitimacy through these different types of authority?
3. Weber is describing the emergence of modern politics. What are the key differences between pre-modern and modern politics?
4. How can we decide if power is being exercised legitimately?

Seminar Readings:

1. Weber, Max. 'Politics as a Vocation' in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, eds., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology
2. Goodwin, Barbara Using Politics Ideas 3rd edn., Chapter 10, 'Power, Authority and the State'.

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. What is the difference between power and authority?
2. What are the major sources of authority?
3. Is politics the study of power?
4. 'The anarchist critique of power is not just a critique of state power. Once this is appreciated it becomes clear why so-called "individualist anarchists" cannot be considered anarchists at all'. Discuss and analyse this proposition.
5. Why should we obey the state?

3. POLITICAL OBLIGATION

This week we will look at a concept which may be seen as the obverse of power and authority: obligation. The central question surrounding this question is: why should citizens obey the laws of the state? How does political obligation come about: do we take on these obligations freely, or are we forced to obey the state? The key reading this week is a lecture given in 1848 by the American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), in which he justifies his right to disobey the US government because of its involvement in the Mexican war (1846-8), an act which resulted in his imprisonment.

Learing Objectives

• describe and evaluate the theory of contractual obligation.
• make an informed judgement regarding the circumstances, if any, under which we are justified in disobeying the law.

Seminar Questions:

1. Why does Thoreau think that it is legitimate for him to disobey his government?
2. How would other writers, according to Goodwin, rebutt his claims?
3. What is Thoreau's critique of democracy? How does this relate to the tension between individual conscience and the collective good?
4. How does Thoreau view citizenship and the role of the citizen?
5. Why do you obey the law?

Seminar Readings:

1. Thoreau, Henry. 'Civil Disobedience', in H.A. Bedau, ed., Civil Disobedience in Focus. London: Routledge, 1991.
2. Goodwin, Barbara Using Politics Ideas 3rd edn., Chapter 12, 'Obligation and Protest'.

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. Many political theorists have used the idea of a social contract as a device for explaining the emergence of political society. Why?
2. Can civil disobedience ever justifiably be violent?
3. Is revolution anything more than an extreme form of civil disobedience?
4. What is the basis of the liberal account of political obligation?
5. Does political obligation preclude freedom?

4. LIBERTY

Learing Objectives

• discuss the importance of the idea of rights to the liberal idea of freedom
• identify the differences between 'negative' and 'positive' liberty
• come to your own, informed conclusions about he importance of freedom in political societies.

Seminar Questions:

1. What is the difference between 'negative' and 'positive' liberty, according to Berlin? How convincing do you find this distinction?
2. What's wrong with positive liberty according to Berlin?
3. What have political theorists seen as the basic rights and how are these related to liberty, according to Goodwin?
4. Under what conditions do you think liberty should be the primary concern of politics?

Seminar Readings:

1. Berlin, Isaiah. 'Two Concepts of Liberty' in Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968, esp. pp.118-135, 167-172.
2. Goodwin, Barbara Using Politics Ideas 3rd edn., Chapter 11, 'Freedom and Rights'

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. "Freedom for an Oxford don is a very different thing from freedom for an Egyptian peasant." Discuss.
2. Is a market economy a necessary condition for liberty and freedom?
3. Liberals profess to love liberty, but a commitment to individual freedom suggests neither a clear ideological perspective nor a definite political programme. Discuss.
4. Is the liberal objective of an equal right to freedom for all just an unfulfilled potential within capitalism?
5. "Any theory of negative liberty must in effect be a theory of individual rights." Is this true?
6. Is the individual the best judge of what she should be free to do?
7. Does the emergence of new types of rights (e.g. economic and social) mean that rights are increasingly assocaited with positive conceptions of liberty?
8. "Can I think that I am free, yet not be free?"

5. EQUALITY

This week we will examine an idea which is often said to conflict with liberty in political societies: equality. We will ask whether human beings are naturally equal, and if they are not, why political societies should seek to make them equal. We will explore the causes of inequality, and the types of inequality -- including gender inequality. The first of our key readings comes from Mary Wollstonecraft, (1759-1797), an English writer and teacher, who wrote A Vincication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 and is often described as the first feminist writer. The second reading is from R. H. Tawney who was an English writer of the left. In the 1930s, he first delivered the series of lectures on which the book Equality is based.

Learing Objectives

• discuss the differences between types of equality
• assess the importance of equality relative to liberty

Seminar Questions:

1. What are the two different meanings of equality that Tawney says are conflated? What sort of equality does Tawney advocate?
2. Why does Wollstonecraft believe women should be treated equally to men?
3. Why does Goodwin treat equality as a second-order concept?
4. Under what conditions do you think it is justifable to preserve inequalities?

Seminar Readings:

1. Tawney, R. H., Equality, 4th edition, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1952 Chapter 1 especially pp.34-42
2. Wollstonecraft, Mary, Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 'Dedication', and chapter 3, 'The Same Subject Continued'.
3. Goodwin, Barbara Using Politics Ideas 3rd edn., pp. 298-302, 'Justice and Equality', in Chapter 13, 'Social Justice and Equality'.

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. What sort of equality do markets require?
2. Can equal rights for women ensure gender equality?
3. Do socialists and liberals have different and incompatible ideas about equality?
4. Does positive discrimimation lead towards or away from equality?
5. What is the goal of equality?

6. JUSTICE I

Justice is an idea which has been debated by political philosophers since the time of Plato. This week and next week, we will be concerned with exploring the different ways in which political theorists have sought to arrive at conceptualisations of 'the just society'. This week, we will focus on the liberal theory of John Rawls, a contemporary American philosophy whose work, A Theory of Justice, is arguably the most important text in political theory in the twentieth century.

Learing Objectives

• identify and evaluate Rawls's two basic principles of justice
• evaluate between the different criteria appropriate for determining distribution in a just society.

Seminar Questions:

1. What are the 'original position' and the 'veil of ignorance'? Why are these devices important for arriving at principles of justice for Rawls?
2. What are Rawls's two principles of justice? How do these relate to liberty and equality?
3. Why does Goodwin describe Rawls's theory as liberal? Is she right?
4. What alternative principles would you choose behind the veil of ignorance?

Seminar Readings:

1. Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. Ch. 1, pp. 3-22; Ch. 2, pp. 54-65.
2. Goodwin, Barbara Using Politics Ideas 3rd edn., pp. 279-298, Chapter 11, 'Social Justice and Equality'

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. Does Rawls's theory of justice successfully reconcile the values of liberty and equality?
2. To whom do we have an obligation to treat justly?
3. Are the boundaries of justice limited to nations?
4. Is outcome or process more important in arriving at justice?

7. JUSTICE II

This week we continue with the concept of justice; however, we will be looking at it from two different perspectives. First, from a feminist perspective, which criticises Rawls and other liberal theories for their neglect of gender considerations and the family in thinking about justice; and second, from a Marxist perspective, which is critical of the liberal focus on individualism, liberty and rights. The first key reading is critique of Rawls by the contemporary feminist writer Susan Moller Okin. The second is the critique that Karl Marx (1818-1883) offered of the programme agreed between the German socialists at Gotha in 1875.

Learing Objectives

• discuss the objections to liberal theories of justice
• assess whether either feminism or Marxism can be said to have their own theories of justice

Seminar Questions:

1. What is Marx's principle for a just society and why does he choose this principle?]
2. What are the major defects of Rawls's theory of justice according to Okin Moller?
3. How does Moller Okin differentiate her critique of Rawls from other feminist critiques?
4. What do you think are the three main impediments to achieving justice?

Seminar Readings:

1. Marx, Karl. 'Critique of the Gotha Programme' in David McLellan, ed., Karl Marx: Selected Writings Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
2. Okin, Susan Moller. 'Reason and Feeling in Thinking about Justice' in Cass R. Sunstein, ed., Feminism and Political Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Further Readings:

Essay Questions

1. Is a feminist reinterpretation of Rawls's theory of justice possible?
2. 'Love, care and friendship are as important as, or even more important than, justice in society'. Discuss.
3. Is the communitarian argument fundamentally different from liberal theories of justice?
4. Can there ever be a universally valid theory of justice?
5. Why does Marx believe that justice is impossible under capitalism? Is he right?
6. Why does Marx not talk in terms of justice when he conceptualises communism?

8. DEMOCRACY

Learing Objectives

• discuss the 'classical model' of democracy
• identify at least one 'paradox' of democracy
• come to your own conclusions about the desirability of representative democracy

Seminar Questions:

1. What does John Stuart Mill think are the advantages of a system of representative democracy?
2. What, according to Mill, are the proper functions of the representative body?
3. What are the main ideas which Goodwin sees as central to the 'classical' model of democracy?
4. When, if ever, is representative democracy an inappropriate form of political system?

Seminar Readings:

1. Mill, John Stuart Considerations on Representative Government, chs. 3 and 5.
2. Goodwin, Barbara Using Political Ideas 3rd edn., Chapter 9, 'Democracy'.

Further Readings:

Classic Texts:

Other Sources:

Essay Questions

1. Does democracy protect, or threaten, the rights of the individual?
2. How can democracy protect the rights and interests of minorities?
3. Is democracy necessarily the best form of government for every society?
4. Should suffrage be universal, or limited? If limited, according to what criteria?
5. What are the costs and benefits of democracy to individuals, rather than the collective?
6. Is extensive mass participation an essential part of representative democracy?
7. Does the ancient version of democracy have anything to offer us in understanding democracy today?

9. DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL IDEAS TODAY

In this second week on democracy we conclude the course by examining the "real world of democracy" and assess its contemporary condition. We also ask whether there is an integral relationship between the study of politics and the study of democracy. The first key reading for this week is by Joseph Schumpeter, who wrote Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy in 1942; in this book he provides a classic formulation of the elitist theory of democracy. The second key reading, by John Dunn, the current Professor of Political Theory at the University of Cambridge, brings together his work in political theory and political science to provide an overview of the idea of democracy.

Learing Objectives

• assess the competing claims of elitist and classical models of democracy.
• discuss the significance of democracy in the contemporary, post 1989 world
• understand the difficulties, trade-offs, and thought processes involved in theorising and conceptualising political society.
• come to your own conclusions about the relevance of the ideas discussed in the course to politics in general

Seminar Questions:

1. Why does Schumpeter argue that there can be no such thing as a Common Good or a General Will? Why does he argue that the classical doctrine survives?
2. How does Schumpeter define democracy?
3. Why, according to Dunn, is 'democracy today the overwhelmingly dominant ... claimant to set the standard for legitimate political authority?'
4. How does Dunn differentiate between the possibilities of democracy today and the realities of ancient democracy?
5. Do you think that democracy is possible? How?

Seminar Readings:

• Schumpeter, J.A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. chs. XI and XII
• Dunn, John,ed., Democracy: the Unfinished Journey, 508 BC to AD 1993. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Chapter 13, 'Conclusion'.

Further Readings:

Essay Questions

1. Why do so many, so different, ideologies incorporate the idea of democracy?
2. Is democracy without capitalism possible?
3. Taking an example of a country or a region which has recently undergone a transition to democracy, assess whether freedom or democracy has been the more important idea?
4. If the formal requirements for democracy are competitive elections, constitutions and political parties, etc., what are the informal requirements?
5. Does the post-1989 world herald the triumph of democracy?