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Introduction to Political Theory (201-0-20)

Instructors

Jacqueline Stevens
Scott Hall, Rm 304

Meeting Info

Technological Institute L361: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

In this course we will analyze canonical political theoretical texts in conversation with contemporary U.S. jurisprudence and politics, paying special attention to themes of sovereignty, nationalism, war, the rule of law, speech, sex, race, religion, and resistance. The objective is for students to acquire the knowledge and competencies of a responsible citizen. This means that you should leave this class with the ability to think, write, and speak about political theories and their relation to laws and legal obligations, as well as strategies for supporting, challenging, or resisting prevailing political intuitions and their institutionalization. You should be able to understand and defend your own interpretations of political conflicts, violence, and law. To do so will require you to become familiar with key historical events relevant to contemporary debates about the rule of law, speech, and religion, to which much of the lectures will be devoted. Assigned readings include works by Plato, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Rosa Luxemburg, Frantz Fanon, and Carole Pateman. Please note: this class requires you read about 100 pages of political theory weekly, on average. This is a course for those who enjoy reading and discussing challenging texts. The authors assigned for this class wrote in very different times and contexts, and had different political priorities. Each week please reflect on whether the author's objective is a state with a primary goal of institutionalizing ideas about nationality; a state with the overriding objective of institutionalizing justice, or thwarting injustice; or a state whose power is instrumental to protecting individuals' safety, property, or flourishing. Which author's commitments and aspirations do you find most inspiring and most objectionable?

Registration Requirements

Attendance at first class required

Learning Objectives


  • Students learn about some of the central themes, questions, and concepts that animate political theory and the history of political thought. They explore various visions of good government across different periods, and various concepts that have been central to political thought such as merit, equality, liberty, and justice.

  • Students acquire familiarity with some of political theory's canonical texts, gaining in the process interpretive and critical reading skills.

  • Students improve their analytical skills by engaging with lines of arguments offered in political theory's historical and contemporary texts, assessing their strength and evaluating competing claims, and offering arguments of their own. By the end of the course students should have a good sense of major claims and debates pertaining to multiple areas of political theory.

Teaching Method

Lecture and discussion sections

Evaluation Method

Paper # 1: 25% Paper # 2: 25% Final exam: 25% Class participation: 25%

Class Materials (Required)

Aristotle, Politics: A New Translation (Hackett: 2017, translated by C.D.C Reeve) (1624665578)
Hobbes, Leviathan (Cambridge: 1996, revised student edition) (0521567971)
Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Hackett: 1980) (9780915144860)
Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Hackett: 1992) (0872201503)
Machiavelli, The Prince (University of Chicago Press: 1998, 2nd edition) (0226500438)
Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 2004) (0802141323)

Class Attributes

Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Harris Hall L06: Thurs 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - University Hall 112: Thurs 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM