GOVT 2302.02
TR 10:50a – 12:05p
Room 119
Tentative Course Outline
Introduction to the Course
lecture from
readings: from MORAL CONTROVERSIES IN AMERICAN POLITICS, Foreword, xiii-xxvii,
Introduction, xxix-xxxiv
Part I. License, Liberties, Rights, and Obligations
lecture from The Structure of Liberty, ???
readings: from various sources
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Apostle Paul, the EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, Chapter 13
Augustine,
Aquinas,
John Calvin, from ON GOD AND POLITICAL DUTY
John Locke, from THE SECOND TREATISE OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Liberty of Subjects” from LEVIATHAN
David Hume, OF THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT
Hanna F. Pitkin, OBLIGATION AND CONSENT, II
A. John Simmons, THE PRINCIPLE OF FAIR PLAY
Isaiah Berlin, TWO CONCEPTS OF LIBERTY
Charles Taylor, WHAT’S WRONG WITH NEGATIVE LIBERTY
J.S. Mill, ON LIBERTY
Willmoore Kendall, THE “OPEN SOCIETY” AND ITS FALLACIES
DAVID LYONS, LIBERTY AND HARM TO OTHERS
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGIN OF EQUALITY
John Rawls, A KANTIAN CONCEPTION OF EQUALITY
John Rawls, DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
Robert Nozick, DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
Allan Gibbard, NATURAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Thomas Scanlon, LIBERTY, CONTRACT, AND CONTRIBUTION
Thomas Nagel, EQUALITY
Michael E. Levin, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
Edmund Optiz, EQUAL BUT NOT THE SAME
Richard Norman, DOES EQUALITY DESTROY LIBERTY?
Ronald Dworkin, We Do Not Have a Right to Liberty
H.L.A. Hart, BETWEEN UTILITY AND RIGHTS
Part II. Historical Context of the American Concept of Rights and
Liberties:
lecture from THE STRUCTURE OF LIBERTY, ???
readings: from THE ESSENTIAL BILL OF RIGHTS (unless otherwise noted by *)
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Chapter 1 -- The Common Law and Covenanting Traditions
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Chapter 2 -- Elementary Books of Public Right
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James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies
Richard Bland, Rights of the Colonies
Samuel Adams, Rights of the Colonists
John Tucker, An Election Sermon
Thomas Jefferson, Summary Views
First Continental Congress, Declaration and Resolves
Edmund Burke, Conciliation With the Colonies
Thomas Paine, Common Sense*
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Chapter 4 -- A New and More Noble Course
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Virginia Declaration of Rights and Constitution
New Jersey Constitution
Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights and Constitution
Delaware Declaration of Rights
Massachusetts Declaration of Rights
James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance
Thomas Jefferson, Statute of Religious Liberty
Chapter 5 – We Have Errors to Correct
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John Locke, Second Treatise
Algernon Sidney, Discourses
Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters No. 38
Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws
David Hume, Of the Original Contract
William Blackstone, Commentaries
Chapter 3 -- An Expression of the American mind
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Magna Carta
Virginia Charter
Mayflower Compact
Petition of Right
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Massachusetts Body of Liberties
Maryland Act Concerning Religion
New Jersey Concessions
Pennsylvania Frame of Government
English Bill of Rights
Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges
Articles of Confederation
Vices of the Political System
The Northwest Ordinance
Conventional History of the Constitution
Chapter 6 – The General Voice Calls for a Bill of Rights
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Federalists Defend Absence of a Bill of Rights - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84
Antifederalists’ Criticisms of the Constitution
Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention
New England and Virginia Ratifying Convention
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Jefferson-Madison Correspondence I
Jefferson-Madison Correspondence II
Madison Argues for Constitutional Amendments
Congressional History of the Bill of Rights
the Bill of Rights’ applicability to the states
 The Texas Constitution and Bill of Rights
Part III. Specific policy areas
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due process of law**
freedom of expression**
equal protection**
privacy**
voting rights**
assembly**
abortion
affirmative action
Death Penalty
Gay rights
Religion
Gun control
English-only
Pornography
Hate Speech** – James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son”
Comparative context:
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Freedom House index
Possible Guest Speakers:
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spokesperson from NAACP – racial gerrymandering
prosecutor
ACLU spokesperson
Anti-Defamation League spokesperson
NRA spokesperson