Contemporary Political Theory
POT 3064 (Summer A 2013)
Chemistry and Physics Building 117
M,W,F 5-7:15pm
Joaquin A. Pedroso
Office Hours: Mondays, 4-4:50pm
Bookstore Café (that’s right, no “office” for me)
Jpedr002@fiu.edu
Course Description
This course is a survey of contemporary scholarship in political philosophy. We will focus first on the main currents of contemporary thought and then turn our attention towards issues of authority and hierarchy towards the end of the semester. We will study how key thinkers have understood the classic problems in political philosophy and highlight how their thought is relevant to contemporary issues.
Course Mechanics
This is an advanced undergraduate course in political theory/philosophy. We will be delving into abstract theoretical and philosophical issues that require sustained engagement with the texts (this may require reading hundreds of pages every week) and active participation in class. Students will be evaluated on a midterm paper (6-7 page) due June 3 rd
(worth 30% of the final grade), a final paper (10-12 page) due June 21 st
(worth 60% of the final grade) and daily participation in class (worth 10% of the final grade).
Academic Misconduct
College students often misunderstand the point of an education. Academic integrity and doing your own work is often times seen as an occupational hazard in a student’s endeavor to score an “A” rather than integral to the purpose of education. By doing our own work rather than relying on the work of others we cultivate valuable research skills and learn how to better think and express ourselves. Plagiarism and academic misconduct are counter-productive to this endeavor.
All of the following are considered plagiarism:
 Turning in someone else’s work as your own.

Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit.
 Failing to put someone else’s words in quotation marks.

Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation.
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
Changing words, but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit.

Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not.
These descriptions were taken from http://online.fiu.edu/faculty/resources/plagiarism
(accessed 06/11/2012)
For a more detailed explanation of academic misconduct and its consequences please see http://undergrad.fiu.edu/academic_misconduct/index.html.
Required Papers
These papers are supposed to be analytic papers and NOT opinion pieces or book reviews. You are not simply to summarize readings or give your opinion about the readings but rather to provide an argument and take a position. The student should be sure to provide a clear, concise, and coherent argument for the position they take and not engage in demagoguery or political activist grandstanding. The reader will not care about the student’s political views or which positions s/he takes, but rather how well that position is argued. Finally, all papers should cite properly. APA or Chicago style is usually appropriate for the humanities and social sciences but any recognized style will do.
Paper Prompts
First Paper Prompt (choose only one ):
Option 1:
Compare and contrast the Liberalism and Libertarianism. Be sure to highlight important areas of divergence and convergence. Are these two philosophies essentially the same or fundamentally different? Is some interpretational nuance necessary to distinguish them at all? Be sure to show an understanding of Liberalism and Libertarianism in your response.
Option 2:
Compare and contrast Marxism and Communitarianism. Do they have anything in common? If so, where do they overlap? If you feel they are fundamentally distinct philosophies explain why you think so. Be sure to show an understanding of Marxism and Communitarianism in your response.
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Option 3:
Does Citizenship Theory presuppose any of the other political philosophies studied in class? In other words, in order for Citizenship Theory to make sense, does it assume the basic insights of any of the other theories discussed in class? Be sure to explain which theories it presupposes (it can be more than one) and why you think so. If you think
Citizenship Theory assumes nothing, explain why you think so.
Final Paper Prompt (choose only one):
Option 1:
If we were to apply the ideas of liberty and equality, as we understand them in the political sense, to the realm of economics or the capitalist firm, what changes would these entities have to go through in order to respect and enhance both liberty and equality? Do you think the “free market” and the capitalist firm already has mechanisms by which there can be both worker liberty and equality [say in terms of the liberty to equally participate in the decision-making process]? Be sure to include examples from the readings.
Option 2:
Saul Newman envisions an understanding of politics that transcends the typical liberal tension between equality and liberty (instead he privileges the ideal of “equa-liberty”).
He points out that rather than being at odds with one another they can actually complement each other. What is equa-liberty? Do you think that Newman’s anti-state stance is correct or is he misunderstanding the idea of liberty/equality/both? Also, how does Feminism and Multiculturalism enter into postanarchist considerations? Do these considerations have a place in discourses concerning workplace democracy? Does
Feminism and Multiculturalism have anything to contribute to a theory of equa-liberty?
Be sure to include examples from the readings.
*For the final paper prompts feel free to use outside sources to SUPPORT your argument but not to MAKE it.
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Required Books
All required texts are available at the University Bookstore (except for Wolff’s
Democracy at Work which you can easily purchase online).
Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002), 2 nd edition. ISBN# 0-19-878274-8
Robert Paul Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism (Berkley: University of California Press,
1998). ISBN# 0-520-21573-7
Richard Wolff, Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism (Chicago: Haymarket Books,
2012). ISBN# 978-1-60846-247-6
Saul Newman, The Politics of Postanarchism (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
2010). ISBN# 978-0-7486-3495-8
Schedule
Week 1 (May 13-17)
M: Introduction
W: Utilitarianism
Kymlicka, Introduction, CH 2
F: Liberal Equality
Kymlicka, CH 3
Week 2 (May 20-24)
M: Libertarianism
Kymlicka, CH 4
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W: Marxism
Kymlicka, CH 5
F: Communitarianism
Kymlicka CH6
Week 3 (May 27-31)
M: University closed (Memorial Day)
W: Citizenship Theory
Kymlicka, CH 7
F: Multiculturalism
Kymlicka, CH 8
Week 4 (June 3-7)
M: Feminism
Kymlicka, CH 9
*First Paper DUE (Monday, June 3 rd )
W: Anarchism
R.P. Wolff, CH 1, 2
F: Anarchism (cont.)
R.P. Wolff, CH 3
Week 5 (June 10-14)
M: Workplace Democracy
Richard Wolff,
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W: Workplace Democracy (cont.)
Richard Wolff,
F: Workplace Democracy (cont.)
Richard Wolff,
Week 6 (June 17-21)
M: Postanarchism
Newman, Introduction, CH 1 -2
W: Postanarchism (cont.)
Newman, CH 3-4
F: Postanarchism (cont.)
Newman, CH 5-6
*Final paper DUE Friday June 21 st
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