Promiseminar: Theorizing and Critiquing American Democracy 4219-ZP056
This proseminar is addressed to students interested in American democracy. Primarily it is addressed to those who would like to pursue research in political theory but those who would like to explore the intersection(s) of political theory and American politics, political dimensions of American culture, political economy, and/or political sociology should also feel at home.
The purpose of this class is to push students to reflect on American democracy’s history and present. Students will be encouraged to theorize and critique, that is, to go beyond the immediately observable phenomena and explore and examine presuppositions, assumptions, conditions of possibility, and implications of American democracy by engaging with various texts and reflecting on empirical reality. Over the course of the semester, students will learn various methodological approaches to political theory and political thought, and of elucidating and elaborating concepts and theories in relation to observable phenomena.
You should consider this course if you are interested in (this list is not exclusive):
- History of American democratic thought
- Contemporary American democratic theory
- Interplay of cultural developments and practices of American democracy
- Relationship between socio-economic developments (from growing inequalities to the rise of financialized capitalism) on democracy
- Unintended consequences of American constitutional and institutional design on the practice of American democracy
- Critiques of American democracy
Course coordinators
Type of course
proseminars
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student:
Knowledge:
- Understands what political theory is and knows various approaches to it
- Knows advanced terminology in this subdiscipline
- Knowledge of selected qualitative research methods bringing political theory and empirical research together
- Understands complexities of American democracy, in particular relations between political and social phenomena, interdependencies of culture and politics, and mutual influences between institutions and practices in the USA
- Understands the importance of academic integrity
Skills:
- Can prepare research projects in political theory or at the intersection of political theory and empirical research using acquired knowledge under the supervision of an academic advisor
- Can interpret primary and secondary texts in political theory and critically analyze them
- Can interpret qualitative research results
- Can pose research questions and formulate a thesis statement
- Can prepare written and oral research reports in English
- Can select relevant bibliography
- Uses English to convey advanced scientific content
Social Competencies:
- Is ready to utilize interdisciplinary knowledge relevant to political science to formulate personal opinions.
Assessment criteria
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:
- Regular attendance
- Participation in class discussions
- In-class assignments
- Homework
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any case of plagiarism will be reported and will result in failing the class.
AI policy: ANY use of AI needs to be discussed with the instructor in advance and appropriately recorded. Failure to do so will be considered plagiarism.
Bibliography
Readings will include:
- The Federalist (selections)
- The Anti-Federalist (selections)
- David Leopold and Marc Stears (eds.), Political Theory: Methods and Approaches (selections)
- Sheldon Wolin, Fugitive Democracy and Other Essays (selections) and Politics and Vision (selections)
- Louis Althusser, Reading Capital (selections) and Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (selections)
- Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing (selections) and What Is Political Philosophy? and Other Studies (selections)
- John Searl, Construction of Social Reality (selections)
- Charles Taylor, Modern Social Imaginaries (selections)
- Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution (selections)
- Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (selections)
- Hannah Arendt, The Crises of the Republic (selections)