Professor: Daniel Levin Office Hours: Office: OSH 210D Wed: 11-12 am Phone: 801-587-9096 Tues: 2-3 pm Email: daniel.levin[at]utah.edu Thur: 10:45-11:45am http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~dlevin/ or by appointment
Political Science 6025: American Political Thought Spring 2015, Wed 2-5 pm, OSH 208
This course will survey the history of political and social thought in the United States from the arrival of English speaking peoples until the present day through an exploration of writings, speeches, and letters. But like any survey of such an extensive period that encompasses such diverse literatures and possibilities, this course has been constructed from conscious choices in terms of what to include and exclude. For this semester, I have placed foremost the question of how the American political tradition has made its piece with American economic history. While the most persistent American economic system has been capitalism, we will take pains to note the other systems which were present in early America, mercantilism and slavery, and we will be especially careful to denote how changes in the forms of American capitalism manifest themselves in American political arguments. We will also read authors who are often read for other purposes (say, Thoreau on nature and Betty Friedan on feminism) in terms of their encounter with capitalism and mass society. This course is also notable for what it leaves out or treats too minimally: race, gender, religion, immigration, the Civil War and Reconstruction, federalism, Imperialism, and foreign relations. These are conscious choices made because of the lack of time to achieve all goals and to shape a coherent narrative that reaches from the Founding to the present. No one regrets the neglect of these issues more than myself.
Assigned Books: The primary text for our discussions is Isaac Kramnick and Theodore J. Lowi, American Political Thought: A Norton Anthology, W.W. Norton, 2008 (ISBN: 978-039392886 ). All readings not otherwise indicated may be found in that text. There are four additional required texts: Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (Basic Books, ISBN: 978-0465014996); Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Dover Thrift, ISBN: 858- 1000011187); Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (Penguin, ISBN: 978-0140481341); Henry David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience (Signet Classics, ISBN: 978-0451532169); and Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. by Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (University of Chicago Press, ISBN: 978-0226805368). Additional readings will be found in Canvas.
Course Requirements: The format of this course will require a great deal of reading and participation in classroom discussion. There will also be four short (approx. 5 page) required papers. The central assignment for this writing intensive course is a research paper of approx. 20 pages. By Feb. 11, you must submit an executive summary, which will contain no more than two paragraphs describing your intended subject and including your thesis along with a preliminary bibliography. I must approve your proposal before you proceed. Instructions for the research paper are on Canvas.
Student participation in class discussion will be a large portion of your final grade, and attendance is necessary. I expect that you will complete ALL of the assigned reading BEFORE the class for which it was assigned and reserve the right to call on anyone at anytime.
Participation Date Assigned Date Due 20% First Essay January 28 February 6 by noon 10% Second Essay February 25 March 4 by noon 10% Third Essay April 1 April 10 by noon 10% Final Essay April 22 May 1 by 5 pm 10% Research Paper Jan. 14 April 22 (exec summary by 2/11) 40%
Electronic Devices: The use of laptop computers, tablets, and cellphones during class is strictly prohibited. For an explanation of this policy, please see here.
Academic Misconduct: All quotes must be cited as such and include a clear reference to the work from which they were drawn; they will otherwise be treated as plagiarism. All use of materials other than course materials must be accompanied by full citations. All work in this course is assigned as individual work; working as groups or teams is strongly discouraged (and may be treated as cheating), as is all but the most casual assistance from others; this includes spouses and other family members. If you intend to submit a paper which significantly draws upon work for another class, you must first receive explicit permission to do so from both myself and the other instructor. Any form of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the course and other disciplinary action, up to expulsion from the University. Please note that you should keep a copy of your work. When working on a computer, always make a back-up; computer malfunction is not an excuse.
Accommodation of Sincerely Held Beliefs: I will work with students who require schedule changes due to religious or other significant obligations. I will not consider requests based on course content. Because the history of American politics has included many debates over race, sexuality, religious practice and belief, and political ideology, any class that did not address such issues would be substantially limited. Students are required to attend all classes and to read all assignments. All assignments and lectures are related to our subject matter, and I do not include gratuitously salacious material. If you have any objection to the frank and open discussion of any of the topics above, including the use of adult language when appropriate to subject matter, please drop the class.
Policy on Late Papers, Unsubmitted Work and Incompletes: Papers will be accepted until 5 pm on the date due. Late papers will lose one stepped grade (i.e. B+ → B) if submitted within a week of date due; papers will not be accepted after a week. Failure to complete any assignment will result in failure of the course. A grade of Incomplete is only available in cases of documented emergency or medical condition. Papers must be submitted both in hard copy and through Canvas. To encourage multiple drafts and proper proofreading, all submissions must have a marked, edited print version of an earlier draft stapled to the final draft.
Americans with Disabilities Act Notice: Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations to meet the expectations of this course should provide reasonable prior notice to the instructor and to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD) to make arrangements. Written material in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification.
January 14 - The Protestant Self Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography Cotton Mather, A Christian at His Calling, 52 Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth, 53; Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, 66 Canvas: from Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
January 21 - Federalists and Anti-Federalists Alexander Hamilton, Letter to James Duane, 163 The Constitution of the United States, 170 Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, The Federalist Papers, 191-244 (esp. Federalists 9, 10, 39, 48, and 51) Richard Henry Lee, Letters from the Federal Farmer, 248 Robert Yates, Essays of Brutus, 256 George Washington, Farewell Address, 319 Thomas Jefferson, To Elbridge Gerry, 364; To Samuel Kercheval, 372 Canvas: Christopher Duncan, “Men of a Different Faith” Richard Matthews, from If Men were Angels 3
January 28 - The Argument over Improvements and the Size of the National State Alexander Hamilton, First Report on the Public Credit, 297; Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, 304; Report on Manufactures, 309 John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland, 327 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 342-344; Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, 348; To Reverend James Madison, 358 Henry Clay, Speech on the Tariff, 389 John Quincy Adams, First Annual Message to Congress, 392 Andrew Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 419; Veto of Maysville Road Bill, 424; Bank Veto Message, 427 Daniel Webster, Speech on Jackson’s Veto of the United States Bank Bill, 443 Canvas: Drew McCoy, from The Elusive Republic John Larson, from Internal Improvement
February 4 – Government and Economy in Jacksonian America Tocqueville, Democracy in America, pgs. 53-93, 165-186, 199-216, 479-576, 661-776 Canvas: Sheldon Wolin, from Tocqueville Between Two Worlds
February 11 - The Transcendentalist Challenge to Capitalist Mass Society Henry David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, 471; Politics, 476 Henry David Thoreau, Life without Principle, 491 Canvas: Diggins, “Locke, Calvinism, and the Transcendentalist Negation”
February 18 - Free Labor, Slavery and Union Orestes Brownson, “The Laboring Classes,” 456 Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, 497 Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on the State of Virginia, 546 William Lloyd Garrison, Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 559 Frederick Douglass, Lectures on Slavery, 591; “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” 594 Harriet Beecher, Stowe, from Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, 598 John C. Calhoun, Speeches on Slavery, 601; Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions, 604; George Fitzhugh, from Cannibals All!, or, Slaves Without Masters, 636 James Henry Hammond, “Mud Sill” Speech, 647 Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois, 649; Speech on the Dred Scott Decision in Springfield, Illinois, 654; Cooper Union Address, 666; New Haven Address, 667; First Inaugural Address, 668; Address to Congress, 676; Gettysburg Address, 683; Second Inaugural Address, 684 Thurgood Marshall, “The Constitution’s Bicentennial,” 1433
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February 25 - The Gilded Age and Populism William Graham Sumner, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other, 703 Andrew Carnegie, “The Gospel of Wealth,” 730 Russell H. Conwell, “Acres of Diamonds,” 737 Henry Demarest Lloyd, Wealth Against Commonwealth, 764 Lester Ward, Sociocracy, 773; Plutocracy and Paternalism 779 James Baird Weaver, “A Call to Action,” 791 National People’s Party Platform, 801 Lorenzo Dow Lewelling, Speech at Huron Place, 806 William Jennings Bryan, The “Cross of Gold” Speech, 809 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., “Dissent in Lochner v. New York,” 1052 Canvas: Hofstadter, from Social Darwinism in American Thought
March 4 - Radicalism, Labor, Muckrakers, and the Social Gospel Benjamin Tucker, Liberty, 816 Emma Goldman, Anarchism: What It Really Stands For, 818 Daniel De Leon, Reform or Revolution, 828 Eugene V. Debs, Unionism and Socialism, 834; Speech to the Jury, 840 Samuel Gompers, The American Labor Movement, 848 Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities, 988 Upton Sinclair, from The Jungle, Monsignor John Ryan, A Living Wage, 1001 Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, 1002 Walter Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis, 1007
March 11 - The Progressive Era Charles Beard, The Economic Basis of Politics, 1017 John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems, 1036; Liberalism and Social Action, 1156 Walter Lippman, from Public Opinion, 1058 Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life, 1065 Theodore Roosevelt, “The New Nationalism,” 1086 Louis Brandeis, “The Living Law,” 1095; “Industrial Absolutism and Democracy,” 1099 Woodrow Wilson, "The New Freedom," 1102 Canvas: Louis Brandeis, “A Curse of Bigness” Ronald J. Pestritto, “Roosevelt, Wilson and the Democratic Theory of National Progressivism” Eldon J. Eisenach, “Some Second Thoughts on Progressivism and Rights”
March 25 - The New Deal Herbert Hoover, “The Challenge to Liberty,” “The Fifth Freedom,” 1141-1147 Charles A. Beard, “The Myth of Rugged American Individualism,” 1147-1156 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “Commonwealth Club Speech,” “First Inaugural Address,” “Annual Message to Congress,” “The Four Freedoms,” “A Second Bill of Rights,” 1170-1190 Walter Lippman, “Planning in an Economy of Abundance,” 1206 Canvas: Philip Abbott, from The Exemplary Presidency Russell Hanson, from The Democratic Imagination in America 5
April 1 - Mad Men: The Post War Problematic Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1344 Canvas: Daniel Reisman, Nathan Glazer, from The Lonely Crowd William Whyte, from The Organization Man
April 8 - Defining Americanism: Anticommunism and the 1960s Reinhold Niebuhr, from The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, 1211 Arthur M. Schlessinger, Jr. “What Is Loyalty? A Difficult Question,” 1222 William F. Buckley, from God and Man at Yale, 1228 Whittaker Chambers, from Witness, 1231 Louis Hartz, “The Concept of a Liberal Society,” 1247 Barry Goldwater, from The Conscience of a Conservative, 1256 C. Wright Mills, from The Power Elite, 1264; "Letter to the New Left," 1273 Daniel Bell, "The End of Ideology," 1277 Young Americans for Freedom, “The Sharon Statement,” 1281 Students for a Democratic Society, “The Port Huron Statement,” 1290 Mario Savio, “An End to History,” 1301
April 15 - The Great Society and Reaction Robert Dahl, from Who Governs?, 1282 John Rawls, from A Theory of Justice, 1370 Irving Kristol, “Capitalism, Socialism, and Nihilism,” 1381 Robert Nozick, from Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 1391 Milton Freedman, from Free to Choose, 1411 Michael J. Sandel, “The Public Philosophy of Contemporary Liberalism,” 1477 Amitai Etzioni, “Communitarianism and the Moral Dimension,” 1511 Web: Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Great Society Web: Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address Canvas: Daniel Rodgers, from The Age of Fracture Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention Address
April 22 - The Cultural Critique of Contemporary Democratic Capitalism Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism Jerry Rubin, A Yippie Manifesto, 1353 Canvas: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Dumbing Down Deviancy”