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212-346-1146 cmalone@pace.edu  

POL 244
Dr. Christopher Malone
Spring 2002
Office: 55W Choate House
cmalone@pace.edu
Phone: 773-3428
Office hours:  Tuesday, 2pm-5:30pm;
Wednesday, 4pm-5:30pm

Political ideas may embody abstract principles, but they are also tied closely to reality: they reflect social concerns and shape governing institutions and political practice. This has been especially true in the American case. Particularly, American political theorists have responded to the pressures of events and sought in turn to solve the problems of the day, hence molding political outcomes. We see this time and again in every period of American history.

During the Revolutionary period, political thought focused heavily on justifying independence; soon thereafter the concern shifted to the appropriate governing arrangements for the new republic. Questions concerning slavery, race, sectionalism, and national authority dominated the political discourse in the first half of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, the social landscape was altered by industry, technology, urbanization and corporate organization. American political thought had to confront the problem of how best to refashion the political order to accommodate the new urban-industrial reality in an increasingly diverse society. During the past several generations the expanded state proposed by Progressive and New Deal theorists has posed problems for political thought across the ideological spectrum, including questions of both gender and race.

This semester we will follow these developments in American political thinking over the course of American history to identify questions theorists posed for themselves, the historical context that framed their work, the impact of their ideas on politics, and the enduring significance of those ideas.

Course Requirements and Grading
This class presumes that students have taken introductory courses in political science, especially American government or political theory. Most importantly, though, the class requires dutiful attendance, careful reading and preparation, and a willingness to engage actively in class discussion. Specific requirements and the grading for the course are as follows:

1) PLEASE TURN ALL CELL PHONES OFF BEFORE ENTERING CLASS AND LEAVE THEM OFF FOR THE DURATION OF EACH CLASS!!!!
2) Complete assigned readings before class meetings. Please be aware that sometimes the volume of reading is heavy, as is common in other political theory courses. Please bring all assigned readings to class.
3) Attend classes regularly and on time. Class attendance will factor into your final grade.
4) Write ten one-page summaries of the assigned readings. Summaries must be submitted at the start of class period in which the reading will be discussed. Where multiple readings are assigned for a class period, you may summarize one or more of the readings. Where multiple chapters in a book are assigned, you may summarize one chapter. Only one summary may be submitted per class. If you are absent, you may arrange to have someone else deliver the summary or email it to me BEFORE class begins. I will not accept late summaries for any reason.
5) Participate in class discussions of the assigned readings. Each week I will call upon several students to “lead” the class in a discussion of the assigned readings. Students will be alerted the previous week of their turn to lead. I expect that each student will be called upon to be discussion leaders no more than three times during the semester.
6) Complete all written assignments. Written work for the course will consist of three papers, each 4-5 pages long. The course is divided into four units. All students will write a paper on the first unit of the course and either the second or the third unit. The dates the papers are due will be announced well beforehand, but will usually follow the completion of the respective unit by one week. The last paper, a take-home final, will be due at the scheduled time for the final exam. Guidelines for the papers will be forthcoming. Past experience with emailed papers in attached form has led me to conclude that I will only except them in the rarest of circumstances. Suggested topics for each paper will be distributed.

Grading
In computing your grade, the three papers and class participation will be given equal weight, yielding four grades of 25% each. Class participation will be based on timely submission of summaries, attendance, and your leadership of the class discussion of assigned readings.

I expect you to complete written assignments on time. Extensions will be given in the rarest of circumstances and only for valid reasons. In most cases, documentation will be required. Otherwise, late work will be penalized.

Students are expected to do their own work in this course. This means you should take the ideas we discuss and put them into YOUR OWN WORDS. I should not have to remind you that plagiarism is a violation of Pace University’s academic code of ethics and will not be tolerated. In a time when access to information is more readily available due to the proliferation of new websites everyday, the line between good scholarship and plagiarism becomes increasingly blurred. If you are unsure what does and what does not constitute plagiarized material, please see me BEFORE you turn in any written work.

Books
This course relies upon several books available at the college bookstore and a set of readings that will be placed on e-reserve in the library. The following have been ordered for purchases from the bookstore. If you choose not to buy them from there, please make sure you purchase the same edition elsewhere, since we will be reading them closely in class.

· Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers.
· Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life.
· W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk.
· Josephine Donovan, Feminist Theory.
 

Schedule of Class Assignments
The dates below are only approximate. As this schedule is subject to revision, students are responsible for keeping up with any announced changes.
 

Part I: From Colony To Nation

January 23rd – Foundations of American Political Thought: The Concept of a Liberal Society
· No Assigned Readings

January 30th – The Revolutionary Principle and the Political Ideas for a New Nation
· Jefferson, “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” (e-reserve)
· Jefferson, “An Act Establishing Religious Freedom” (e-reserve)
· Jefferson, “Declaration of Independence” (e-reserve)
· Thomas Pain, Common Sense (e-reserve)

February 6th, 13th and 20th – The Case For and Against the Constitution: Federalists and Antifederalists
· The Federalist Papers, #’s 1, 9-12, 14-15, 21, 23, 37-39, 45-51, 56-57, 62-63, 68-70, 78, and 84
· The Antifederalists, - To Be Assigned (e-reserve)

Part II: Tensions in the New American Republic

February 27th – Debating the Powers of the New National State
· Jefferson, “First and Second Inaugural Addresses” (e-reserve)
· Hamilton, “Report on Manufactures,” (e-reserve)

March 6th – Race, Slavery and the Limits of National Authority
· Justice Thurgood Marshall, “Race and the Constitution” (e-reserve)
· Chief Justice Roger Taney, “Dred Scott v. Sandford (e-reserve)
· George Fitzhugh, “Cannibals All!” (e-reserve)
· Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, “First Joint Debate” (e-reserve)

MARCH 13TH – SPRING BREAK

Part III: Industrial Conflict and the Progressive State

March 20th and April 3rd – Class Strife, Social Darwinism, and the State as a Constructive Instrument
· William Graham Sumner, “What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other (e-reserve)
· Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life, chapters 1, 5, 7, 9-13

Part IV: Enduring Challenges Of Inclusion

April 10th – Living Behind the Veil
· DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk

April 17th – Ain’t I a Woman? Feminism and American Political Thought
· Donovan, Feminist Theory

April 23rd – Separation or Integration? Race and American Political Thought in Modern Times
· Martin Luther King, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (e-reserve)
· Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet” (e-reserve)
· bell hooks, “Black Women and Feminism” (e-reserve)

May 1st – FINAL EXAM (TAKE HOME)