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CSS 230

 Sophomore Tutorial in Government: 2009-2010

State and Society in the Modern Age

Sarah Elise Wiliarty

Email: swiliarty@wesleyan.edu
Office: 409 Public Affairs Center
Office hours: Thursdays 11-12; 2:30-3:45
Classroom location: CSS Library

Course Description

 The sophomore tutorial in government analyses the emergence and functioning of the modern nation state, primarily in the West. We are interested in how the nation state came into being and what forms of government have evolved over the past 200 years or so. We will also examine a variety of challenges to the nation state, including modernization, the deepening of democracy and the emergence of the European Union. Throughout the class, our focus will be on the question of what is required for the emergence and maintenance of a democratic political system.

When political scientists approach these issues, we are looking for generalities and systemic explanations. We seek to draw out common theoretical principles from a variety of diverse empirical cases. Political scientists may ask questions such as: What forces in a society tend to produce democratic outcomes? Under what conditions is a revolution more or less likely? Where does sovereignty rest? There isn't a general agreement among political scientists about how to attempt to answer these questions. In this course, we read both classic texts and newer works on these topics and consider which approaches are most satisfying.

 Topics

 1.         What is the State?

2.         What is Democracy?

3.         American Exceptionalism

4.         The Challenge of Modernization

5.         Paths to Modernity: Liberalism, Fascism, Social Democracy

6.         The Deepening of Democracy

7.         The Welfare State

8.         Democracy in Europe

 Requirements

 Assignments will consist of weekly essays of five double-spaced pages. Each week you will receive a handout about the readings for the following week. Handouts will contain questions and suggestions which will underscore important topics in the readings. These topics will serve as a focus for both discussion and the essays. All of the weekly readings are required and have been placed in the Olin Reserve Room and on electronic reserve. The books which will be used most extensively will be available for purchase at Broad Street Books. Do not feel that you must buy all of these! They are available at the bookstore if you want them, but you can also get them at the Olin Reserve Room. There is also a long CSS tradition of students sharing books so ask around if you are interested in that possibility.

 Berman, Sheri. 2006. The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press.

 Held, David. 2006. Models of Democracy. Third Edition. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

 Huntington, Samuel. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Inglehart, Ronald and Pippa Norris. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Markoff, John. 1996. Waves of Democracy: Social Movements and Political Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

 Moore, Barrington. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press. [Optional to purchase, but a real CSS classic.]

 Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapters 2 - 4.

 Siedentop, Larry. 2002. Democracy in Europe. New York: Columbia University Press.

 Tilly, Charles. 1993. Coercion, Capital and European States, AD 990-1992. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. 1984. Democracy in America. Edited and abridged by Richard D. Heffner. New York: Mentor.

Course Sections

Week I: What Is The State?

Readings:

 Tilly, Charles. 1990. Coercion, Capital and European States, AD 990-1990. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

Wikipedia.org: entries for 'state' and 'nation-state'.

Week II: What Is Democracy?

Readings:

 Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapters 1 - 7.

 Held, David. 2006. Models of Democracy. Third Edition. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Chapters 1 - 4. Read 1-2 additional chapters, your choice. 

Sen, Amartya. 1999. "Democracy as a universal value," Journal of Democracy, vol. 10, no. 3: 3-17.

Week III: American Exceptionalism

Readings:

Tocqueville, Alexis de. 1984. Democracy in America. Edited and abridged by Richard D. Heffner. New York: Mentor.

            Part One:          All

            Part Two:         Book I, chapters 16-18, 25

                                    Book II, chapters 26-31; 34

                                    Book III, chapters 38-39, 41

                                    Book IV, all

Note: If you have some other edition of the book, these selections will not match.                           

Putnam, Robert. 1995. "Bowling alone: America's declining social capital," Journal of Democracy, vol. 6, no. 1: 65-78.

 -----. 2005. The Economist. Special section on the United States. July 14, 2005.

 Lipset, Seymour M. 2000. "Still the exceptional nation?" Hoover Digest, no. 2. http://www.hooverdigest.org/002/lipset.html

Week IV: The Challenge of Modernization

Readings:

 Huntington, Samuel. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapters 1, 2, 5, 7.

Week V: Paths to Modernity: Liberalism, Fascism, Social Democracy

Readings:

 Moore, Barrington. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press. Chapters 1 - 2. [Optional to purchase, but a real CSS classic.] 

Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapters 2 - 4.

Week VI: The Deepening of Democracy

Readings:

 Markoff, John. 1996. Waves of Democracy: Social Movements and Political Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

 Banaszak, Lee Ann, Karen Beckwith, and Dieter Rucht. 2003. Women's Movements Facing the Reconfigured State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1, 12, one other chapter of your choice.

 Caraway, Teri L. 2004. "Inclusion and Democratization: Class, Gender, Race and the Extension of Suffrage," Comparative Politics, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 443-460.

 Inglehart, Ronald and Pippa Norris. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 1-4.

Week VII: The Welfare State

Readings:

 Berman, Sheri. 2006. The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Chapter 1.

 Additional readings TBA.

Week VIII: Democracy in Europe

Readings:

 Siedentop, Larry. 2002. Democracy in Europe. New York: Columbia University Press.

 Additional readings TBA.

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