Spring 2022  |  POL 3235W Section 001: Democracy and Citizenship (55381)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022
Tue, Thu 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 235
Enrollment Status:
Open (54 of 58 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
This course considers the nature of contemporary democracy and the role that members of the political community do, can, and should play. While approaches in teaching the class vary, students can expect to read historical and contemporary texts, see films and videos, to approach questions about the nature of democracy, justifications for democracy, and challenges faced by contemporary democracy. Topics will include such questions as the role of civil society in democratic life, deliberative democracy, as well as questions about how members of political communities can best participate in democratic life. Students will write a longer essay that allows them to demonstrate their capacities to understand and explain complex ideas and to make a theoretically compelling argument, using appropriate supporting evidence. prereq: Suggested prerequisite 1201
Class Notes:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?a-bose+POL3235W+Spring2022
Class Description:

Democracy seems to be an intuitively simple concept to many Americans. Americans know what democracy, and the corresponding values of freedom and equality mean because they live under a democratic system of government that guarantees liberty and justice for all, and equality regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. Likewise, Americans know that being a citizen means we have certain rights. (and duties?) When we delve a little deeper into what these concepts mean, however, we discover that this apparent certainty papers over a host of disagreements, divisions, and uncertainties. These complexities have bubbled up to the surface today, as they have historically, through a number of contemporary concerns espoused by the Occupy Movement, the Tea Party Movement, Black Lives Matter, anti-establishment politics, etc.


This class helps students to engage in the contemporary problems of democracy by grounding the conversation in the historical debates of democratic theory. Rather than suggesting any simple answers, our class will instead pose questions with which we, together, must wrestle. What is the democracy? How should we understand basic concepts of democracy like freedom, equality, and solidarity? How should we respond when these concepts come into conflict? Is capitalism inherently in conflict with democracy? Working through these questions, we will tack back and forth between theoretical debates and contemporary and historical political problems, gaining a more nuanced understanding of the political stakes behind these questions, as well as a more critical perspective from which to understand the political challenges of this moment in history.

Who Should Take This Class?:
Any student is welcome to take this course, whether a political science major or not. The questions we deal with are issues affecting all students, and we will work to connect contemporary issues with theoretical and historical texts in a way that is both rigorous enough to engage majors while being accessible to those without a background in political science.
Grading:

Attendance: 10%

Paper 1: 35%

Paper 2: 35%

Final Presentation: 20%

Workload:
approximatley 40 pages of reading per class
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55381/1223
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
20 March 2017

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2022 Political Science Classes

To link directly to this ClassInfo page from your website or to save it as a bookmark, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=3235W&term=1223
To see a URL-only list for use in the Faculty Center URL fields, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=3235W&term=1223&url=1
To see this page output as XML, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=3235W&term=1223&xml=1
To see this page output as JSON, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=3235W&term=1223&json=1
To see this page output as CSV, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=3235W&term=1223&csv=1
Schedule Viewer
8 am
9 am
10 am
11 am
12 pm
1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm
10 pm
s
m
t
w
t
f
s
?
Class Title