POLITICAL SCIENCE FORUM
PE 380
(CRN1425)
Spring 2004
Dr. William R. Nylen (main instructor), Dr. Wayne Bailey, Dr. Anne Hallum, Dr. Eugene
Huskey, Dr. Gary Maris.
Course Description:
This course is intended to contribute to making Political Science majors comfortable with group
discussions and debates about politics. More than that, however, it’s designed to get majors to
think and talk about politics like Political Scientists and, hopefully, to enjoy doing so. We will
examine a number of contemporary issues in international relations, national politics and state &
local politics. Sometimes, we will be visited by individuals engaged in these issues; other times,
it will be just us.
“Argument” is not a dirty word. Neither should argumentation be scary or intimidating. It’s
fun. Seriously.
Each week, there will be an assigned set of readings to orient class discussion. In addition, each
student will write a one-to-two page paper reacting in a clear and academically respectable
manner1 to that week’s readings (all papers must be electronically submitted via Drop Box to the
Blackboard website no later than noon of the day that the class meets). Students should come to
class prepared to read excerpts of their paper to the class, and to defend their arguments if
necessary. Students should also feel free to challenge each other, and their professors, during
discussions and in their papers, as long as it’s done ‘in a clear and academically respectable
manner’.
Course Requirements & Grading:
This course is graded on a pass/not pass basis. The most basic component of a student’s grade
will be simple attendance: any more than two unexcused absences will result in a failing grade.
Similarly, any more than two assignments that are either not turned in, turned in past the
deadline, or deemed unacceptable by Dr. Nylen will result in a failing grade. Finally, students
are required to actively and substantively participate in class discussions.
“Academically respectable” means rationally and logically constructed argumentation
devoid of bombast, unnecessary hyperbole, empirically groundless ideological or polemical rants,
ad hominem argumentation, and/or any other type of demeaning diatribe against individuals or
groups with whom we disagree or who we just don’t understand.
1
Course Content:
The following schedule is an incomplete work-in-progress. Students should check Blackboard
each week for updates and additions/subtractions:
I. Introduction: Debate, Discourse & Intellectualism (1/13)
How do political scientists debate, research, and otherwise talk about issues in politics?
Readings: Bayley op ed (Blackboard).
II. International Politics, Pt. 1: (½0 & ½7)
A. “Nation Building” and Installing Democracy: comparing Iraq & Afghanistan, and Germany &
Japan (½0)
Readings: collection of internet readings (Blackboard).
B. The Bush Doctrine – Unilateralism v.s. Multilateralism (½7)
Readings: Robert Kagan, “Power and Weakness” in Policy Review, No.113 (June 2002)
& other internet readings (Blackboard).
III. State & Local Politics: (2/3 & 2/10)
A. Sprawl/development/property rights v.s. Environmental activism/community rights
1. Wildlife & Forest Conservation (2/3)
– Visitor: Jennifer McMurtrary, Transportation and Wildlife Associate for Defenders of Wildlife:
“How to Improve Transportation Planning for Wildlife and Important Habitat”
Readings: http://www.defenders.org/publications/CitizensGuide.pdf & other internet
readings (Blackboard).
2. ‘Power Elites’ v.s. Citizens Initiatives: Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment (2/10)
– Visitor: Barbara Herrin, the Amendment’s Campaign Manager for the state
Readings: http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/ (“press releases”, especially
John Kennedy’s “Citizen Initiatives Draw Fire”, Alicia Ulfert’s “Lawmakers want hard
road for initiatives”, and Jackie Hallifax’s “King wants to rein in citizen initiatives before
2004").
B. Land Use & Water Rights (2/17)
– Visitor: Michele Moen, local environmental activist
– “Six Fairy Tales About Growth” video (in class)
Readings: TBA
IV. International Politics, Pt. 2: (2/24)
C. The Danger of Absolute Power & A Crusading Ethos in Government (2/24)
– Moveon.org Video: “Uncovered: the whole truth about the Iraq war” (in class)
Reading: Chris Hedges, “The Plague of Nationalism” [Chapter Two] in War is a Force
that Gives us Meaning (Anchor, 2003).
V. National Politics: (3/9- )
A. Election year 2004 & Political Polarization in America (3/9)
Readings: William R. Nylen, “Elitist Democracy, Civic Disengagement, and Citizen
Politics in the United States” [Chapter One] in Participatory Democracy versus Elitist
Democracy: Lessons from Brazil (Palgrave, 2003) & assorted internet readings
(Blackboard).
B. Elections 2000 & 2004
– Special Presentation: Dr. Wayne Bailey
Readings: TBA
C. Comparing the late-19th century with today: if we’re currently in the midst of a new
State-corporate alliance (a la The Robber Barons of the Gilded Age), are we on the eve of a new
progressive/populist era?
Readings: Selections from Kevin Phillips. Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of
the American Rich (Broadway Books, 2002).