Voice, Violence, and Democracy (317-0-20)
Instructors
Dilip P Gaonkar
847/491-5853
2240 Campus Dr. Rm 2-148 Frances Searle Building
Meeting Info
Frances Searle Building 2378: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This course has two objectives. The first objective is to try to understand how and why "democracy" today has come to be regarded as the only "legitimate" form of government. This was not always the case. After a brief and dramatic appearance more than two thousand years ago in the ancient Greece, "democracy" was regarded more often negatively as a dangerous and unstable form of government susceptible excesses of both "voice and violence." However, starting in the late eighteenth century in the aftermath of two great revolutions, the American and the French, followed by the end of the Second World War in 1945 and the end of the Cold War in 1991, democracy has had a series of spectacular ascents. Today democracy is seen as the only viable and legitimate form of "self-governance" and as an expression of "popular sovereignty." How did this happen? The second objective is to examine the growing disenchantment with democracy in the very midst of its triumphal march. The discontent with democratic governance is no longer confined to "new democracies" in poor or developing countries where they are often afflicted with massive corruption, demagogic leadership, and electoral violence and fraud. Increasingly mature democracies in advanced countries in Europe and North America are also suffering from a legitimacy deficit due to issues related to economic inequality, a high rate of unemployment or chronic under-employment, immigration, racial and religious conflicts. This is evident from the resurgence of populism, especially authoritarian versions of populism, in recent decades in many parts of the world. This, in turn, has given rise to growing chatter about the coming death of democracy. In this course, we will primarily focus on the following question: How can these two seemingly contradictory claims about democracy- the reports about its impending death and need for its continuing existence for securing legitimacy to govern- plausibly coexist and have currency in political discourse and thinking today.
Class Materials (Required)
No textbook required.