Special Topics in the Humanities (370-5-20)
Topic
Integrity and the Politics of Corruption
Instructors
Shmuel Nili
Scott Hall, Room 20
Office Hours: http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/shmulik-nili.html
Meeting Info
Scott Hall 201 Ripton Room: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
If all seasoned politicians in a fragile democracy are implicated in wide-scale corruption, but if the country is facing an acute economic crisis requiring experience at the helm, what should be done about the corrupt, and who should decide? What compromises, if any, are appropriate when considering kleptocrats who are effectively holding their people hostage - for instance, rulers who systematically abuse loans from foreign creditors, but who rely on the fact that their vulnerable population will suffer if loans are cut off entirely? What compromises, if any, are morally appropriate when dealing with dictators who threaten to unleash violence unless they are guaranteed an amnesty by the democratic forces trying to replace them? This upper-level seminar delves into such fraught political problems, revolving around different kinds of corruption and abuse of political power. In order to grapple with these problems, we examine in detail two ideas related to "the people." The first is the idea of the sovereign people as the owner of public property, often stolen by corrupt politicians. The second is the idea of the people as an agent with its own moral integrity - an integrity that might bear on intricate policy dilemmas surrounding the proper response to corruption. In the process of examining both of these ideas, students will acquire familiarity with prominent philosophical treatments of integrity, property, and - more generally - public policy.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this seminar, you should be able to…
- Demonstrate the ability to recognize, understand, and distinguish prescriptive from descriptive issues, questions, and claims.
- Demonstrate ability to identify the values presupposed by an outlook or discourse
- Recognize the complexity of ethical issues; be able to consider and propose multiple alternative perspectives on such issues
- Understand, and appreciate insights in multiple intellectual traditions
- Engage in constructive, reflective dialogue about evaluative issues and demonstrate ability to communicate about them.
Class Materials (Required)
Shmuel Nili, The People's Duty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019). ISBN 9781108691680
All other course readings will be available on Canvas
Class Notes
- Students who have never taken a philosophy/political theory course before are welcome to the class if they are interested in thinking about moral issues in politics.
- However, you should not take this class if you have no interest in moral and/or political philosophy.
- If your motivation for taking this class is solely rooted in your need to fulfill a distro requirement, you will likely not enjoy nor do well in this seminar.
Class Attributes
Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Ethics & Values Distro Area