CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES AND CULTURES: FOUNDATIONS OF THE STATE AND SOCIETY

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1 CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES AND CULTURES: FOUNDATIONS OF THE STATE AND SOCIETY DEGREE: IE MODULE DEGREE COURSE YEAR: FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH SEMESTER: 1º SEMESTER 2º SEMESTER CATEGORY: BASIC COMPULSORY OPTIONAL NO. OF CREDITS (ECTS): 6 3 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH SPANISH OFFICE HOURS: PREREQUISITES: NONE 1- SUBJECT DESCRIPTION The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the historical and political-cultural foundations of the state and society. The aim is two-fold: to help students discover the social value of law and its relation to the state, and hence acquire a critical sense of its evolution; and to provide them with a historical perspective that can help them grasp and confront the complexity of an increasingly globalized and unstable political order. The course will begin with a brief introduction of the medieval order. It will then focus on the development of the state and the major ideas that shaped its evolution throughout the Modern Age and into the Contemporary Age, with an emphasis on key turning points such as the liberal revolutions or the advent of constitutional democracy. 2- OBJECTIVES AND SKILLS Objectives 1) To provide a general perspective of the historical and political-cultural evolution of the state 2) To indentify major political and legal systems and situate them in their historical context 3) To articulate and trace the evolution of key ideas regarding the state, law and society 4) To learn how to engage these ideas in an informed and critical manner Outcomes 1) Use of and sensitivity towards primary texts 2) The analysis and critical assessment of arguments and theories 3) Development of an understanding of historical perspective 4) The ability to formulate and express a persuasive argument or position both orally and in written work Edited by IE Publishing Department. 1

2 3- METHODOLOGY AND WEIGHTING The course consists of a blend of discussion and lecture, based on material presented in class as well as engagement with the assignments. Interactivity is essential to the learning process and students will be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about the core themes of the class. One or several readings will be assigned to each seminar and provided in advance. It is critical that the readings be made ahead of each session, since a large part of each class is dedicated to the joint analysis and debate of what has been previously read. Course material of 6 credits ECTS (6 x 25 h/credit = 150 h. of course work/student) Activities Sessions Classroom hours Factor Individual Study Total Hours ECTS Theoretical & Seminar Classes* , ,04 Exams ,96 Total *Includes all practical, tutorial, group and miscellaneous activities as indicated within the course program. 4- CONTENT Note: each seminar consists of 2 sessions. SEMINAR 1 Introduction The introduction to the course will serve two goals. First, it will provide an overview of the topics that we will cover, and will raise the question of the ever-changing relation between the stat and society. Second, it will develop a methodology that will not only allow us to interpret the changes that those have undergone since the Medieval Age, but will also help us seize and address the current challenges they present. SEMINAR 2 The Medieval Order The medieval order was largely determined by factors that emphasized the irrelevance of the individual in relation to the community, and his imperfections in relation to the perfection of the community. Those factors contributed to the theocratic vision that was held of the world, and helped shape a conservative attitude that tended to the preservation of an order deemed divine. Like other medieval scholars, John of Salisbury would attempt to understand and interpret that order by depicting corporative society in the manner of a human body that requires each of its members to carry out a specific function. How did corporative society relate to the state and power? 2

3 SEMINAR 3 The Modern State and the Invention of Sovereignty In his Six Books of the Republic, Jean Bodin would develop a concept of power that was unknown to medieval political thought: The idea of sovereignty intrinsically modern would henceforward inform the exercise of power well into the Contemporary Era. Does sovereignty admit any limits? How would the effective exercise of sovereignty alter the relation between the state and society? SEMINAR 4 Rationalist Natural Law and Absolute Sovereignty The Protestant Reformation and the development of Legal Humanism would largely undermine the foundations of the political and legal order. The emergence of rationalist or modern natural law would not only provide a new basis for the sovereign s power, but would also help justify his absolute power. Nevertheless, modern natural law would equally lead to a revolutionary interpretation of the origin of power, its end, and its limits, thus allowing for the development of liberalism. In his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes would make a strong case in favor of absolute rule, notwithstanding his revolutionary understanding of the origin of power and the state. SEMINARS 5 & 6 Liberalism and the Natural Rights of Man Modern natural law would also allow for the discovery of a series of rights inherent to human nature. The theory of subjective rights would largely inform the liberal outlook of the state, especially in terms of its end and the limits to its power. In his Second Treatise of Civil Government, John Locke would make the case for a state whose main raison d être is the guarantee of man s inalienable natural rights. SEMINAR 7 Mid-term examination SEMINAR 8 The Age of Revolution: From the Social Contract to National Sovereignty Just like Hobbes and Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau believed in the rational nature of man. If, in a state of nature, man was absolutely free, how then could the existence of the state, which naturally restricted that freedom, be rationally explained? In his Social Contract, Rousseau would argue that at the origin of power and the state, there lies an agreement of individual wills. This idea lay at the basis of the liberal dogma of national sovereignty. In his famous pamphlet, What is the Third Estate, distributed at the eve of the French Revolution, the Abbé Siéyès would argue that sovereignty belonged to the third estate, which he identified with the nation. 3

4 SEMINAR 9 Natural Rights vs. Historical Rights France s 1789 liberal revolution ushered in an age of great political instability. In his Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke not only provides us with an interesting reading of the French revolution and of liberal short-comings, especially with regard to the guarantee of those abstract rights of men that were proclaimed, but also offers precious insight into Britain s constitutional tradition, emphasizing the importance of history in shaping a nation s constitution and determining the rights of its citizens. SEMINAR 10 Revolution in the Colonies. Republicanism and Checks and Balances No taxation without representation was not only the slogan of the American Revolution; it actually lay at the origin of judicial review, an essential component of American republicanism and its system of checks and balances. In a series of articles promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution, The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton defined judicial review and emphasized its important relation to democracy. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville identifies those aspects of American constitutionalism that impede the tyranny of the majority. SEMINAR 11 Social Realism and the Crisis of the Liberal State The industrial revolution, coupled with democratization, would slowly bring about the demise of the liberal state. Under the influence of Auguste Comte s positivism, legal realists would revisit the role of the state, the relation of the individual with society, and the ultimate function of law. In The Division of Labour in Society, Émile Durkheim would emphasize the importance of social solidarity in ensuring the individual s well-being and guaranteeing his rights. Carl Schmitt would present the law as an ultimate instrument of decision-making. SEMINARS 12 & 13 Totalitarianism and the Instrumentalization of the State The totalitarian regimes that arose in the interwar period would put the state and its institutions, including the legal and judicial apparatus, at the service of political ideology. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt emphasized the specific nature of totalitarian regimes and warned against confusing Nazism and Stalinism with the absolute states of the ancien régime. 4

5 SEMINAR 14 The Advent of Constitutional Democracy. A Definitive Model? The emergence of constitutional democracy following World War II dissociated sovereignty from the political principle that had informed its exercise since the rise of the modern state. To avoid the excesses of sovereignty, both fundamental rights and liberties, as well as the democratic nature of the regime, were placed outside of the reach of political will. Can the democratic order that has so far prevailed withstand the intellectual, economic, financial and political disorder that has marked the beginning of the twenty-first century? To what extent is the state, as we have come to know and understand it, equipped to address increasingly global challenges? SEMINAR 15 Final Examination 5- EVALUATION SYSTEM (ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY) Item Criteria Instrument Weight Attendance and - Active participation in class Notes of the professor 10% participation - Participation in the group assignments Assignments - Development of comprehension Evaluation of weekly 30% and argumentative skills. reading responses (10 - Well-structured reasoning and Assignments, expression. words each) Midterm in class exam Final essay Final Exam - Domain of argumentative skills In class exam 15% in relation to a given topic. - Domain of argumentative skills Evaluation of Final essay 25% in relation to an original idea, ( words) question or hypothesis. - Domain of the theory and the In class exam 20% practice of the subject. RETAKE POLICY Each student has 4 chances to pass any given course distributed in two consecutive academic years (regular period and July period). Students who do not comply with the 70% attendance rule will lose their 1st and 2 nd chance, and go directly to the 3rd one (they will need to enrol again in this course next academic year). Grading for retakes will be subject to the following rules: Students failing the course in the first regular period will have to do a retake in July (except those not complying with the attendance rules, which are banned from this possibility). Dates and location of the July retakes will be posted in advance and will not be changed. Please take this into consideration when planning your summer. The retake will consist of the following: - July retake: an exam that covers the material for the entire course. - Retake in the ordinary period: submit all required work for the course. - The maximum grade that a student may obtain in the retake will be 8 out of 10. Students who fail to obtain a satisfactory result in the 1 st or 2 nd course period will be required to take the 3 rd and 4 th Humanities Program, designed for repeating students. 5