L 10 Y5857: Introduction to Political Theory (Online) UCLA Extension Fall 2012 Alan D. Buckley, Ph.D., Instructor Course Description This course offers exposition and analysis of selected political theorists and concepts from Plato to the present. Instruction focuses on fundamental questions about the problem of citizenship as it has been discussed in Western societies since ancient Greece, exploring how the thinking of Aristotle, Locke, and Marx is connected to concrete political problems and, most especially, to change and conflict in their societies. This course requires participation in a threaded discussion group two hours per week and completion of all assigned reading prior to each online session. Fulfills in part the new General Education requirement of the College of Letters and Science. Enrollment limited to 25; advance enrollment required. This is an online class. All computing and Internet connectivity is the sole responsibility of the student. Assigned Texts Terence Ball and Richard Dagger. 2011. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 8th ed. New York: Pearson. Terence Ball and Richard Dagger. 2011. Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader, 8th ed. New York: Pearson. Course Goals In general, after you finish reading and studying each chapter, you should understand the following: Week 1, Introduction: Political Theory and Ideologies: Describe what the term ideology originally meant. Define the term ideology, as it will be used in this course. Identify the four functions of a political ideology. Specify the connection between ideology and human nature. Discern the link between different ideologies and their respective understandings of freedom. Understand the connection between ideology and revolutionary political changes.
Week 2, The Democratic Ideal: Week 3: Liberalism: Week 4, Conservatism: Recognize the difference between democracy as an ideal -- the democratic ideal -- and the different conceptions of democracy held by competing ideologies. Describe what democracy originally meant. Recognize the main features of the republican tradition as it evolved from Aristotle and Polybius to the American founding. Outline the rise, decline, and revival of the democratic ideal from ancient Greece to the present. Describe the ways in which the meaning of democracy has changed over the course of Western history. Identify the reasons for which non-western, non-liberal regimes such as the people s democracies of China and the Soviet Union have claimed to be democratic. Know what is meant by the claim that democracy is an essentially contested concept. Summarize the important contributions of Euripides, Pericles, Aristotle, Machiavelli, John Adams, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Michael Walzer, Danielle Allen, and others to the study of democracy Identify the several varieties of liberalism and the historical circumstances in which they emerged. Describe the conceptions of liberty (or freedom) at the core of each variety or variant of liberalism. Show how each variant of liberalism performs the four functions of ideology described in Week 1. Describe the differences between welfare-state liberalism and socialism. Identify the main defining features of the liberal conception of democracy, that is, liberal democracy. Summarize the important contributions of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas Paine, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, William Graham Sumner, T. H. Green, Donald Allen, Murray Rothbard, Thomas A. Spragens, Jr., and others to liberalism. Identify the several varieties of conservatism. Describe the similarities and differences between these variants. Identify and explain the main features of Edmund Burke s political thought. Explain why conservatism in the United States so often resembles early or classical liberalism. Describe how each variant of conservatism fulfills the four functions of an ideology, as described in Chapter 1.
Week 5, Marxism: Week 6, Neo-Marxism: Explain classical conservatism s ambivalent attitude toward democracy. Describe classical conservatism s critique of classical liberalism. Explain contemporary conservatives critique of welfare or welfare-state liberalism. Compare and contrast the classical and modern conservatives conceptions of human nature, freedom or liberty, and their respective understandings of democracy. Summarize the contributions of Edmund Burke, Joseph de Maistre, William Wordsworth, José Ortega y Gasset, Miahcel Oakeshott, Jacquetta Hawkes, Robert H. Bork, Ralph Reed, and others to conservative thought. Distinguish between utopian and scientific socialism. Describe the main features of Marx s materialist conception of history. Describe what Marx thinks is wrong with capitalism. Describe the steps in the revolutionary sequence as Marx envisions them. Describe democracy and freedom as characterized by Marx. Describe the ways in which Marx s theory fulfills the four functions of an ideology, as outlined in Chapter 1 Summarize the contributions of Thomas More, Robert Owen, Friedrich Engels, and others to Marxist thought. Describe the part Engels played in (re)interpreting Marx s theory. Define revisionism and Eduard Bernstein s role in revising Marxian theory along evolutionary lines. Outline Bernstein s critique of revolutionary socialism and the arguments and evidence he advanced in defense of evolutionary socialism. Describe the central features of Lenin s reinterpretation of Marxian theory to suit Russian conditions. Describe Lenin s notion of a vanguard party, and explain why he thought it to be necessary. Outline Lenin s critique of revisionism. Outline Lenin s theory of imperialism and its explanatory function for Marxist- Leninists. Describe Stalin s contributions to and reinterpretation of Marxism-Leninism. Describe Mao Zedong s contributions to and reinterpretation of Marxism- Leninism. Describe the origins and identify the main features of anarcho-communism. Identify the origins and main features of Fabian socialism. Describe the several explanations for the absence of a large-scale socialist party or movement in the United States.
Week 7, Fascism: Summarize the contributions of Eduard Bernstein, V.I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, Mikhail Bakunin, Emma Goldman, Edward Bellamy, and Carol C. Gould to neo-marxist thought. Identify the main features of Enlightenment thought. Identify the main features of the Counter-Enlightenment. Trace the connection between the Counter-Enlightenment and the several varieties or variants of twentieth-century fascism. Describe the main tenets of fascism as found in the Italian and German variants. Describe the view of freedom found in the several variants of fascism. Describe and explain the fascist conception of, and attitude toward, democracy. Summarize the contributions of Joseph-Arthur de Gobineau, Benito Mussolini, Alfredo Rocco, and Adolf Hitler to fascist thought. Week 8, Liberation Theory and the Politics of Identity: Week 9, Green Theories: Week 10, Islamic Thought Describe the characteristics common to all liberation ideologies. Describe the main features or tenets of the several liberation ideologies. Describe the conception of liberty or freedom found in each of these liberation ideologies. Summarize the contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr., Steve Biko, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sarah Grimké, Marilyn Frye, John Corvino, Oren Lyons, Gustabo Gutierrez, Pete Singer, and others to the theories of identity. Describe the green critique of the other ideologies examined in preceding lessons. Describe the main features of an emerging green ideology. Describe key differences within the green movement. Explain how problems of time horizons and collective action are especially troublesome for environmentalists. Summarize the contributions of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Dave Foreman, Petra Kelly, and others to environmental and ecological thought. Describe the main features of Islamic thought and the politics of Islamicism. Describe key differences within different Islamic sects. Summarize the contributions of Bernard Lewis, Abd al-salam Faraj, and others to Islamic and Islamacist thought.
Grading Policies Success in this class will depend upon your ability to: (1) think critically; (2) read and write college-level English prose; (3) master important facts about various political theories and ideologies; (4) work both independently and collaboratively in a group setting. I expect students to: read this syllabus carefully, check your email each day, log on to the class website a minimum of three times each week, read all of the assigned materials, submit all Discussion Board postings Complete Fifteen-Minute quizzes, a midterm and a final. If you anticipate an unavoidable absence from class, please email me and request alternative assignments. Otherwise, I will penalize late assignments. In any case, please do not enroll in an intensive, ten-week online course if you know that you are going to be away from your Internet access for more than 5 or 6 days during the length of the course. Please note that students are responsible for their own Internet access and computing resources. A loss of connectivity is not an excuse for late assignments. Some Internet service providers (ISPs), such as America Online, are notorious for inferior, unreliable service. In previous semesters, students have lost Internet connectivity in the middle of exams. Students who wait until the last possible moment to submit an assignment also run the risk of an unanticipated service disruption that prevents timely submission. If you have any questions about the reliability of your ISP or if you encounter connectivity problems, please contact your ISP or Gregory Villa at coursemanager@uclaextension.edu. Dr. Buckley is not able to assist you with computing or connectivity problems. In addition, please make sure that your email client accepts incoming messages with multiple addressees. Some email services (HotMail, AOL, Yahoo) allow users to "block spam," that is, advertising messages. Such features not only block unwanted messages but they may also block my messages for the class addressed to you. My email messages to you may also be blocked if you have exceeded the data storage limit of your email service. I am not always notified when my messages fail to reach you and cannot be responsible for the proper configuration and maintenance of your email service. Your grades in this class will be based on: (1) your weekly Discussion Board writing assignments and your responses to the postings of the instructor and other students; (2) completion of Fifteen-Minute Quizzes; (3) a Midterm; and (4) a Final. This class uses a grading system that, unfortunately, is a bit complicated. The complications arise because: (1) there are several different types of assignments--quizzes, threads, exams; and (2) these assignments are weighted differently.
Your final class grade is based on 900 points. Your midterm and final are each worth 50 points. Your Discussion Board threads are worth 100 points each week. To earn 100 points (a "perfect" score), you must post thoughtful, relevant, well-written messages and respond to the messages of the instructor and other students by each week's deadline. You can post messages ahead of the deadlines if you wish. If you earn a perfect score each week and complete seven weeks worth of threads, you'll receive 700 points. The Fifteen-Minute Quizzes are each worth 10 points, for a total of 100 points. These assignments are discussed in greater detail, below. Discussion Board Because of the nature of this course, I have found that punctual postings and responses are critical to both the success of the course and the success of individual students. It is impossible for me to read and respond to several hundred messages and assignments in the last week of class. Therefore I have created a grading policy that rewards both the quality and timeliness of your responses and assignments. About half of your Discussion Board grade will be based on the punctual completion of assignments. Thus, you could minimally fulfill the Discussion Board requirement (3 points) simply by turning in all of the assignments on time, assuming that your contributions demonstrate that you tried your best. The rest of the Discussion Board grade will depend on the quality of your work. Your postings should be well written and clearly address the issues being discussed. I expect each writing assignment to have: (1) A clear thesis statement, which addresses directly the question posed by the instructor; (2) A body of factual examples or logical arguments that support your thesis; these examples or arguments may be drawn from either the assigned readings or footnoted sources researched independently by the student; (3) A succinct concluding paragraph. Posted threads drawn from the work of another must be appropriately cited; plagiarized threads will be penalized. Your main Discussion Board post should be no more than 250-300 words in length. Long, rambling, unfocused messages discourage readership and suggest fuzzy thinking. It is more difficult to express ideas in short essays than in long ones. In addition, your responses to the postings of other students must be thoughtful and demonstrate careful consideration of your colleague's ideas. Responses like, "Nice job," do not satisfy the requirements of this assignment. These responses must include a comment on a posting from each of the two weekly threads. The rest of the Threaded Discussion grade will depend on the quality of your work. Your postings should be well written and clearly address the issues being discussed. I expect each writing assignment to have:
1. A clear thesis statement, which addresses directly the question posed by the instructor; 2. A body of factual examples and logical arguments that support your thesis; these examples or arguments may be drawn from either the assigned readings or footnoted sources researched independently by the student; 3. A coherent paragraph structure; and 4. Appropriate citations for materials drawn from the works of others; plagiarized threads will be penalized. I expect that your responses to the postings of other students will be respectful and conducive to a collaborative learning experience. Controversy and disagreement cannot be avoided in a political science class but disrespectful, insulting language and intellectual intolerance (i.e., "flaming") will not be permitted. Writing about the factors necessary for a successful, online learning experience, Rupert Wegerif (http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/vol2_issue1/wegerif.htm) writes: "Forming a sense of community, where people feel they will be treated sympathetically by their fellows, seems to be a necessary first step for collaborative learning. Without a feeling of community people are on their own, likely to be anxious, defensive and unwilling to take the risks involved in learning... This style is democratic, respectful, open to challenges, prepared to give grounds for statements and seeking critically grounded consensus." It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. I expect students to abide by the commonly accepted rules of academic discourse. Disagreements based on opposing interpretations of facts, including disagreements with the Instructor, are encouraged. Ad hominem attacks and name-calling, which are altogether too typical of much political discourse in America today, will be penalized. I read each posting and every response and grade them all. I do not necessarily respond to each posting in the Discussion Board, however. If I do not respond to your posting, please take no offense. I respond only when I wish to advance the discussion. Your Discussion Board postings will be scored according to the following chart: Quality and Punctuality of Posted Assignment Relevance and Punctuality of First Response Relevance and Punctuality of Second Response Total for each week's assignments Total points for 7 required postings 90 points 10 points 10 points 100 points 700 points
Fifteen-Minute Quizzes Each Saturday you will take a "Fifteen-Minute Quiz," so-called because you have Fifteen- Minutes to answer ten multiple choice questions from a particular chapter. These are "open book" quizzes. You can only take each quiz one time. Quizzes are available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Time Zone. If you begin the quiz at 9:59 p.m., you'll only have one minute to complete it, so make sure that you give yourself at least Fifteen-Minutes to complete the quiz. Each Fifteen-Minute Quiz is worth 10 points. Midterm Exam The Midterm Exam will be conducted online on Saturday, November 3. The exam will comprise 50 multiple choice questions. Some of the multiple choice questions may come from the Online Quizzes. The Midterm will be cumulative. The Midterm will be a timed exam, lasting 60 minutes. If you exceed the allowed time limit, your score may be penalized. You may take the exam at any time between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Pacific Time). You may only take the exam one time. You may not logon to the exam, print it, logoff, work offline, and then re-logon to record your answers. Failure to follow these instruction can result in a failing grade. In past semesters, some students have been inadvertently disconnected while taking their online exams. Service disconnections cannot be restored by Dr. Buckley and do not constitute an excuse for missing the exam. If you have any questions about the reliability of your Internet service, please contact your service provider or Gregory Villa coursemanager@uclaextension.edu before you begin the exam. Final Exam The Final Exam will be conducted online on Saturday, December 15, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Pacific Time). The Final is also a timed exam that may only be take one time. The exam will comprise 50 multiple choice questions. Some of the multiple choice questions may come from the Online Quizzes. The Final will be cumulative.
Course Grading System: The following grade scale will be used for this class. Assignments 900-855 A 854-810 A- 809-783 B+ 782-747 B 746-720 B- 719-693 C+ 692-657 C 656-630 C- 629-720 D+ 719-567 D 566-540 D- 539-0 F Week 1: Introduction to Political Theory and Ideology o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 1; Reader, Part One. o October 1--Self-orientation. Please review all class materials and email questions to Dr. Buckley (buckley_alan@smc.edu). You may also post messages on the class bulletin board. o October 3--Post Essay on Week 1 Discussion Board; for practice only, not for credit. o October 6--Post Responses on Week 1 Discussion Board; for practice only, not for credit. o October 6--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 1. Week 2: The Democratic Ideal o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 2; Reader, Part Two. o October 10--Post Essay on Week 2 Discussion Board. o October 13--Post Responses on Week 2 Discussion Board. o October 13--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 2. Week 3: Liberalism o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 3; Reader, Part Three. o October 17--Post Essay on Week 3 Discussion Board. o October 20 --Post Responses on Week 3 Discussion Board. o October 20--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 3.
Week 4: Conservatism o Reading: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 4; Reader, Part Four. o October 24--Post Essay on Week 4 Discussion Board. o October 27--Post Responses on Week 4 Discussion Board. o October 27--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 4. Week 5: Marxism o Reading: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 5; Reader, Part Five. o November 3--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 5. o November 3--MIDTERM EXAM, 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Pacific Time) Week 6: Neo-Marxism o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chaps. 6; Reader, Part Six. o November 7--Post Essay on Week 6 Discussion Board. o November 10--Post Responses on Week 6 Discussion Board. o November 10-Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 6. Week 7: Fascism o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 7; Reader, Part Seven. o November 14--Post Essay on Week 7 Discussion Board. o November 17--Post Responses on Week 7 Discussion Board. o November 17--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 7. November 22--Thankgiving Holiday, No Assignments Week 8: Liberation Theory and Politics of Identity o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 8; Reader, Part Eight. o November 28--Post Essay on Week 8 Discussion Board. o December 1--Post Responses on Week 8 Discussion Board. o December 1--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 8. Week 9: Green Theory o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 9; Reader, Part Nine. o December 5--Post Essay on Week 9 Discussion Board. o December 8--Post Responses on Week 9 Discussion Board. o December 8--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 9. Week 10: Islamic and Islamicist Thought o Readings: Ball and Dagger, Chap. 10; Reader, Part Ten.
o December 15--Complete Fifteen-Minute Quiz for Chapter 10. December 15 FINAL EXAM, 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Pacific Time)