This class draws on ancient, modern, and contemporary thinkers to reflect on wide-ranging issues in democratic politics: the tension between positive and negative freedom, the underlying dangers of a manipulable populace, the important but not unproblematic demarcation of public and private spheres, the justifiability of exclusion in democracy, and the delicate balance between individualism and collective governance.
By examining the works of historical and contemporary thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Arendt, Pateman, Pettit, Mansbridge, and Phillips, this class introduces important debates in democratic theory with a critical lens. The intellectual exercises we employ in this class will provide you with theoretical tools to appraise major debates in contemporary democratic politics. This class intends to:
1. Introduce important debates in the history of democratic theory with a critical lens.
2. Use theoretical tools to assess issues in democratic politics.
By examining the works of historical and contemporary thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Arendt, Pateman, Pettit, Mansbridge, and Phillips, this class introduces important debates in democratic theory with a critical lens. The intellectual exercises we employ in this class will provide you with theoretical tools to appraise major debates in contemporary democratic politics. This class intends to:
1. Introduce important debates in the history of democratic theory with a critical lens.
2. Use theoretical tools to assess issues in democratic politics.
- Teacher: Yi-Hsuan Huang