Prithviraj Datta Political Theory Project, Brown University prithviraj_datta@brown.edu INTRODUCTION The Foundations of American Democracy This course surveys the various ideas and practices associated with the term democracy in the course of American political history. Its chief purpose is to give you an idea of how contested this term was in the course of our political tradition, as a means of situating our present political disputes in historical context. We examine rival conceptions and applications of democracy in the Revolutionary era, at the Founding, in Jacksonian and antebellum America, during the Civil War, in the Gilded Age and the Progressive era, through the New Deal, the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1980s. READINGS The following books are required. All other readings will be made available on the course website. Robert Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2006) (older editions will also do) John Dewey, Political Writings, edited by Debra Morris and Ian Shapiro (Hackett, 1993) (hereinafter PW ) Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 2002) (older editions will also do) William H. Riker, Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice (Waveland Press, 1988) REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING The course requirements are as follows: 1. Thoughtful and reflective engagement with the readings as demonstrated by class discussion is a critical component of this course. 20% of your grade will be determined by in-class participation and discussion. 2. You will be expected to write a mid-term paper of 4-6 pages on any topic of your choice covered in this class. This mid-term paper will comprise 30% of your grade. 3. You will also be expected to write a final paper of 8-10 pages on another topic of your choice covered in this class. This final paper will comprise 50% of your grade. 1
DETAILED SYLLABUS Week 1: Introduction Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America, chap. 1 Aziz Rana, The Two Faces of American Freedom, Introduction James Kloppenberg, Rethinking America s Liberal Tradition, in The Virtues of Liberalism, pp. 3-20 Week 2: Revolutionary America Thomas Paine, Common Sense The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Queries 1, 5, 8, 11, 13-14, 17-19 --- Letter to James Madison, October 28, 1785 --- Letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787 Week 3: The Founding Era The Federalist Papers, Nos. 1, 10, 14, 39, 47-51 Brutus, Essays I, IV, XVI Centinel, No. 1 Patrick Henry, Speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1788 Week 4: Jacksonian America and the Transcendentalists Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. I, Part I, Introduction, chaps. 3-5; Vol. I, Part II, chaps. 6-10, 15-16; Vol. II, Part II, chaps. 1-13, 20; and Vol. II, Part IV, chaps. 1-8 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance --- Politics Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience Week 5: The Civil War and Its Prelude John C. Calhoun, Disquisition on Government, pp. 3-58 2
Abraham Lincoln, A Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions --- A House Divided --- Address at the Cooper Institute --- First Inaugural Address --- Final Emancipation Proclamation --- Second Inaugural Address Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Week 6: The Gilded Age and the Dawn of American Nationalism William Graham Sumner, What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other, Introduction, chap. 1-2 William Jennings Bryan, The Cross of Gold Speech Woodrow Wilson, The Meaning of Democracy Herbert Croly, Progressive Democracy, Introduction, chaps. 3, 5 **Mid-term Paper due at the end of Week 6** Week 7: Multicultural America? Henry Cabot Lodge, Speech for the Literacy Test Bill, March 16, 1896 W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, chaps. 1-3 Jane Addams, The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements Emma Goldman, Woman Suffrage Horace Kallen, Democracy versus the Melting-Pot Week 8: The New Deal Era and the Foundations of the American Welfare State John Dewey, Philosophy and Democracy, PW, pp. 38-47 --- Individuality in Our Day, PW, pp.81-89 --- Renascent Liberalism, PW, pp. 153-158 --- Philosophies of Freedom, PW, pp. 133-142 3
--- The Public and Its Problems, PW, pp. 173-191 Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address --- The Four Freedoms --- A Second Bill of Rights Louis Brandeis, Dissenting Opinion in Liggett v Lee Reinhold Niebuhr, The Pathos of Liberalism Week 9: Post-War America Gunnar Myrdal, The American Creed Robert Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory, chap. 3 Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy Theodore Lowi, The End of Liberalism, pp. 42-66, 295-314 Week 10: The Civil Rights Era and the Rise of the New Left Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail --- Where do We Go from Here? Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet Students for a Democratic Society, The Port Huron Statement Clarence Thomas, Concurring Opinion in Missouri v Jenkins Week 11: Market Democracy and the Emergence of Rational Choice Theory Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, Introduction, chaps. 1, 2 Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address William H. Riker, Liberalism Against Populism, chaps. 1, 10 Jon Elster, The Market and the Forum Week 12: Conclusion Carole Pateman, Participation and Democratic Theory, chap. 1 Samuel Huntington, The Crisis of Democracy, pp. 59-101 4
Michael Walzer, What Does It Mean to Be an American? **Final Paper Due at the End of Week 12** 5