Special Topics in Political Theory/Methods

(British and American Political Thought)

            This class surveys American political thought from the colonial era through the Civil War. Required readings are drawn mainly from primary source materials, including the original writings of politicians, activists, and theorists in America, with special attention to how British political thinkers affected their American counterparts. Topics include sovereignty, rights, federalism, national identity, republicanism versus liberalism, the relationship of subordinated groups to mainstream political discourse, and the role of political thought in the pragmatics of politics. We will analyze the principled disputes between the American founders and their British counterparts, different opinions about the social contract in America, and how some of the revolutionary ideas of freedom and equality ran contrary to American practices.

Grading

            Unlike most political science courses at the University of Georgia, this class will be taught as a seminar with professor and students on equal footing, debating and reflecting on the readings assigned. I will motivate some of the discussions with a background lecture, but I expect students to have read the work and to fully engage class discussions. Your grade will consist of class participation, six reading briefs, performance on the federalists debates, performance on the sectional debates, and 5-8 page term paper. The class is demanding, but you should get a lot out of it.

            Although I generally think of 90-100 as an A, 80-90 as a B, etc., the university moved to a plus minus system, so your overall grade for the course will be based upon the following scale:

Class Participation

             Participation takes the form of venturing an answer to a question I’ve put to the class, or raising a question during class. You participation during each class will be on a four point scale: made an insightful contribution (3 points), made a contribution (2 points), or did not make much if any contribution but attended (1 points), and did not attend (0 points). Participation is worth 10% of your final grade. Participation in the Federalists debates and Sectional debates will be graded separately.

Reading Briefs

            Reading briefs are two page essays (double spaced) or one page essays (single spaced) on the assigned readings. Your essay should include 1) a concise summary of the readings, and 2) a short argument about whether the author is right and why you believe so (i.e. a well developed, argumentative opinion). The former should be roughly one-half to two-thirds of the length; the latter should be the remaining length. They should be written as critical essays. The Univerisy of Sussex and Essaytown provide more information about how to write a critical essay. Critical does not mean against. You can write for or against different segments of an assigned reading, just take a clear position. Each brief is worth five points of your final grade or a combined 30% of your overall grade for all six of them. Avoid fallacies and remember rules regarding plagiarism apply. Briefs will be discussed in class and used to generate discussions. I may also ask you to read your brief in front of the class, so please be prepared. I will not accept briefs submitted ten minutes after the class begins, and there will be no make-up for these assignments.

Federalist Debates

            Shortly after the course begins you will be divided into groups of two or three and assigned to a specific debate as either a Federalist or an Anti-Federalist. These debates will force you to delve into the philosophical theory behind the United States Constitution and some important issues in democratic theory. You will be graded on a five page summary of your party’s position on the issue (due for the first day of the debates, regardless of the day you are assigned), a presentation or refutation before the class, and your response to questions from the audience. These debates can be very entertaining, but they must be taken seriously as they represent 20% of your final grade. Students who are absent during the presentation of their debate, or enter the course too late to be assigned to a debate, will be required to turn in a 10 page paper in lieu of their presentation. The paper will summarize the philosophical tradition of the entire Federalist/Anti-federalist debates and be due in the class immediately following the student’s assigned debate. You will loose one letter grade for every working day it is late after that.

Sectional Debates

            Later in the course, you and your group will be assigned to a sectional debate between the north and south on the nature of the union. If you were a Federalist in the previous debate you will be a state’s righter in the sectional debates. If you were an Anti-Federalist you will represent the unionist position. These debates were largely conducted in the U.S. Senate between 1830 and 1855. They addressed whether the states had the power of judicial review and whether the union could be dissolved. Your grade will be based on a 4-5 page summary of your party’s position on your assigned issue, a classroom presentation, and your ability to respond to questions from the audience -- worth an additional 20% of your grade. As mentioned above,

students who are absent during the presentation of their debate will be required to turn in a 10 page paper in lieu of their presentation. The paper will summarize the philosophical tradition of the entire sectional debates and be due in the class immediately following the student’s assigned debate. You will loose one letter grade for every working day it is late after that.

Term Paper

            The remaining 20% of your grade is reserved for a 5-8 page term paper, double spaced, on one of the theoretical issues addressed in class. You will have a list of essay questions to chose from. This essay may require some research, so please get started on your research as soon as the assignments are posted on my web page. I will be grading this paper as if it is a distilled version of a 10-15 page paper, in the spirit of our discussion of William Zinsser’s Writing Well. Avoid fallacies and remember rules regarding plagiarism apply. Papers received after the due date will loose one letter grade for every working day they are late.

                                                                                     Date                 Percent of Grade 

Reading Brief (Locke, chs 1-6)                                  Jan 23                          5%

Reading Brief (Stamp Act Crisis)                              Jan 30                          5%

Reading Brief (Rakove on Constitution)                    Feb 6                            5%

Federalist Debates                                                      Feb 18                         20%

Reading Brief (Hamilton vs Madison)                       Feb 20                          5%

Sectional Debates                                                       Feb 27                         20%

Reading Brief (Frederick Douglas)                            Mar 4                           5%

Term Paper                                                                 Mar 13                        25%

Participation                                                               daily                            10% 

Student Honesty

            All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Students are responsible for informing themselves about these standards before performing academic work. The penalties for academic dishonesty are severe and ignorance is not an acceptable defense. Also note that the course syllabus is a general plan for the course and that deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Required Texts

            Two books are required for the course, which can be purchased from your favorite on-line distributor like Half Price Books or Amazon. Buy the books in the U.S. and bring them to Oxford. Older versions are acceptable.

   1.       William Zinsser. 2006. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction. Harper Publishing.

   2.       Jack Rakove. 1997. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. Vintage Books.

Additional readings can be attained on-line. I recommend that everyone bring a lap top and read the other assignments on your computer. If you want to highlight, you can download a copy, convert it to adobe pdf or word, and use an electronic highlighter. We can then refer to passages in class by searching specific documents.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

Introduction

Jan 21             *William Zinnser, On Writing Well, Introduction through Ch 11, “Nonfiction as Literature.”

               lecture notes

British and French Political Thought

Jan 23             *John Locke, Second Treatise on Government, chapters 1-6.

                                    http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm

                                    (due: reading brief on Locke, chapter 1-6)

Jan 28             *John Locke, Second Treatise on Government, chapters 7-8, 11-12, 16, 18-19.

                                    http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm

                        *David Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, Part II, Essay XII, “Of The Original Contract”

                                    http://www.constitution.org/dh/origcont.htm

Debate on the Stamp Act and the American Revolution

Jan 30             *James Otis, “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved”

                                    http://www.constitution.org/bcp/otis_rbcap.htm

                                    (due: reading brief for Otis through Leonard)

                        *Patrick Henry, “Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act”

                                    http://www.constitution.org/bcp/vir_res1765.htm

                        *Daniel Dulaney, “Considerations on the Propriety of imposing Taxes on the British Colonies for the Purpose of Raising a Revenue”

                                    http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1751-1775/daniel-dulany-considerations-october-1765.php

                        *William Pitt, “Speech Against the Stamp Act”

                                    http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/pitt.cfm

                        *Daniel Leonard, January 9, 1775

                                    http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1751-1775/daniel-leonards-letter-of-january-9-1775.php

Feb 4               *The Declaration of Independence

                                    http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

                        *Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis I”

                                    http://www.constitution.org/tp/amercrisis01.htm

Creating the Constitution

Feb 6               *Jack Rakove, Original Meanings, 1-4.

                                    (due: reading brief on Rakove, chapters 1-11)

Feb 11             *Jack Rakove, Original Meanings, 5-11.

Feb 13             *The Constitution

                                    http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Feb 18             THE FEDERALIST DEBATES (click here for readings). You might also want to look at the grade sheet used for this assignment.

                                    (assignment due) 

The Early Republic: Hamilton vs. Madison

Feb 20             *The Leadership Divides

                                    http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=875&Itemid=27

                                    (due: reading brief on all Feb 20 readings)

Scroll down, click “the leadership divides,” scroll to the bottom for readings.

1- The Leadership Divides through “Debates in the House of Representatives on the First Report on Public Credit 9-18 February 1790” (an intro and a reading).

Go back to menu, click “the collision,” scroll to the bottom for readings.

3- The Collision through “Consolidation” (editorial introduction and one reading).

4- “Parties,” 22 Jan 1792 (one reading).

5- “Fashion,” March 20, 1792 through Philip Freneau, “Rules for Changing a Limited Republican Government into an Unlimited Hereditary One” (multiple readings).

6- Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, May 23 1792 (one reading).

7- Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, “Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration of the Government,” Aug 1792 (one reading).

8- James Madison Further Essays for the National Gazette, “Spirit of Governments,” Feb 18, 1792 only (one reading).

Feb 25             *Zvesper, John. 1984. “The Madisonian Systems.” Western Political Quarterly, 37: 236-256.

                        *Lance Banning. 1984. “The Hamiltonian Madison,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 92: 1: 3-28.

The Antebellum Period to the American Civil War

Feb 27             THE SECTIONAL DEBATES (click here for readings)

                                    (assignment due) 

Mar 4              *Frederick Douglas, My Bondage, My Freedom

                                    http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouMybo.html

                                    (due: reading brief on Frederick Douglas)

                                    1- Chapter VI. Treatment Of Slaves On Lloyd's Plantation.

                                    2- Chapter XXII. Liberty Attained.

                                    3- Chapter XXIII. Introduction To The Abolitionists.

                                    4- Chapter XXIV. Twenty-One Months In Great Britain.

Mar 6              *Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery

                                    http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/washington/toc.html

                                    1- Chapter I. A Slave Among Slaves

                                    2- Chapter V. The Reconstruction period.

                                    3- Chapter VII. Early days at Tuskegee.

                                    4- Chapter XI. Making their beds before they could lie on them.

                                    5- Chapter XVII. Last words.

Mar 13            Term Papers Due (click here for the assignment.)