Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca
Faculty of Political Science, administration and Communication Studies
Year of study: 2011-2012
1 st semester
General Information regarding the course, seminar and papers
Title of the discipline: Contemporary Political Theory
Code: UPS2221
Number of credits: 7
Place and scheduling of the classes: Faculty of Political Science
- Course: Wednesday, 14-16, room II/1
- Seminar: Thursday 16-18, room II/4
Name, scientific title: Kantor Irina Ana, Phd., assistant professor
Contact Information( e-mail, telephone): kantor.kantor7@gmail.com
Office hours: TBA
Name, scientific title: Lupu Horia, Phd. Candidate, teaching assistant
Contact Information( e-mail, telephone): horialupu@yahoo.com
Office hours: TBA
SYLLABUS
The objective of the Contemporary political theory course is to introduce the students to some of the most important trends of the contemporary political theory with the purpose to familiarize them with the main theoretical frames of the XXth century political thought. The basic idea of the course is to identify the relation, link and interdependency between theoretical perspective, the reflection on politics as a human activity, and the political action as such. Consequently, the course comprises those development directions in political theory from the XXth to XXIst century which are relevant for the different types of understanding and scientific explanations of the political phenomenon.
Complementary or competitive, these orientations have evolved in the intellectual, discursive and scientific study of the political phenomenon, during the time period that this course focuses on. The course has as starting point the progressive-eclectic analysis of the history of political science by Gabriel Almond in his study: Political Science: The
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history of the Discipline, published in the volume “Manual de Stiinta Politica, in which the author points the best moments in the scientific evolution of the XXth century political science. There will be analyzed the following directions and schools in contemporary political theory, underlying the importance the importance of these contributions for the development of political science: 1. Pozitivism and its correspondence with the XXth century political theory; 2. Political Philosophy and the anti-science perspective of contemporary political theory. Traditions and tendencies in contemporary political philosophy; 3. Marxism, neomarxism, post-marxism. Postmodernism; 4. Critical Theory; 5. Rational Choice Theory.
Abilities:
The main purpose of the course is to help students develop abilities to reflect, debate and critically discuss orally and in written on the subjects presented in the course. This will be based on forming and developing abilities such as identifying the problems of the text, operating with its concepts, actively and critically communicating, participating in the debates, analyzing the scientific text. At the end of the course the students will know and use in the scientific analysis the following theories, concepts, words and phrases from contemporary political theory:
progressive-eclectic perspective
post-empirical perspective
post-behavioral perspective
positivism, logical positivism, neo-pozitivism
historicism
causality, causal models, deduction, induction, inference, evidence, false, testable
facts-values distinction, is and ought to be: ethic neutrality, ideal types, leadership, ethics of persuasion and ethics of responsiveness, deontological ethics, rationalization, intellectualization.
Realism, rationalism, iron law of oligarchy, elites’ circulation, machtpolitic, rational democracy, empirical democracy.
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Modern theories of justice, justice, equality, liberty, distributive justice, distributive criterions, principals of distribution, utilitarianism, neo-kantianism and theory of justice.
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Neomarxism, hegemony, identity, agent, structure, bureaucratic apparatus, power, ideology.
Postmodernism, subjectivity, objectivity, power, genealogy, archeology of power, justice-truth-power.
Critical theory, emancipatory knowledge, public space, daily life, system, manipulation power
Behavioral political science, deductive and mathematics methods, economical models
Rational choice, methodological individualism
Compulsory bibliography:
Brian Barry . Is Democracy Special? In vol. Democracy and Power . Clarendon Press
Oxford 1991.
Daniel Bell. East Asia and the West: The Impact of Confucianism on Anglo-
American Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec,
Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 262-280
Roxanne L. Euben. Changing Interpretations of Modern and Contemporary Islamic
Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips
(eds.), 2006, Pp. 297-313
R.E. Goodin şi H.-D. Klingemann , ed., Manual de ştiinţă politică. Iaşi: Polirom. 2005
Michel Foucault.
The Subject and the Power. În vol. Readings in Contemporary Political
Sociology. Kate Nash ed. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers
Jurgen Habermas . The Public Sphere. În vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology . Robert E. Goodin şi Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997.
John M. Meyer. Political Theory and the Environment.
In The Oxford Handbook of
Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 773-791
Gaetano Mosca , The Rulling Class. Elementi di Scienza Politica 1939. McGraw –Hill
Book Company.New York, Toronto London
Ludwig von Mises.
Money, Method and the Market Process. Cap. 2 The Treatment of
“Irrationality” in the Social Sciences. Cap. 3 Epistemological Relativism in the Sciences of Human Action.
Sciences 2003. http://www.mises.org/http://www.mises.org/ Human Action. http://www.mises.org/http://www.mises.org/
Michels, Robert.
2001. Political Parties. Batoche Books. Kitchener.
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Robert Nozick.Distributive Justice.
În vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology . Robert E. Goodin şi Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997.
John Rawls.Justice as Fairness . În vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology
. Robert E. Goodin şi Philip
Sartori, Giovanni 1999, Teoria democraţiei reinterpretată. Iaşi. Editura Polirom
Leo Strauss . Que’est – ce que la philosophie politique ? Presses universitaires de France
1992
Michael Walzer. Complex Equality
. În vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology
. Robert E. Goodin şi Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997
Max Weber
. Caracterul “obiectiv” al cunoaşterii în domeniul ştiinţelor sociale şi politice
(1904). În vol. Teorie şi metodă în ştiinţele culturii
. Polirom 2001. Pp. 9-66.
All the materials can be found in the Library of Political Science’ Faculty.
Materials used in the educational process: computers, projector, internet access.
Evaluation:
The students will work on a week-by-week basis, in order to follow the readings and to prepare the reviews of the readings for the course and seminar. The evaluation will be based on debates and in-class discussions, homeworks and in-class essays, individual and group presentations.
The active participation to courses and seminars will add up to 30% of the final grade.
The participation will be evaluated on the basis of the reviews, participations in the inclass discussions, presentations at the seminars on the reading (30% participation in seminar, 30% reviews of the reading materials, 40% activity through discussions and presentations). The reviews of the readings (the mandatory texts from bibliography) are obligatory for each student, on a weekly basis.
Two essays will take place during the semester, each of them in-class, open-books maximum 800 words essay. They will add up to another 30% of the final grade (15 % each).
The final part of the evaluation will be oral examination and will add up to 40% of the final grade. Passing the exam will be based on both intermediate and final evaluations.
Administrative and organization details and dealing with the exceptional situations:
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1.
The notion of plagiarism is defined according to the norms of Political Science department, described at: http://www.polito.ubbcluj.ro/polito/documente/reguli_plagiat.pdf
In the case of plagiarism to any of the examinations (final, partial or seminar evaluations) the course is considered failed with grade 1.
2.
Any attempt of fraud during one of the examinations will be sanctioned with the elimination from the exam as well as expel.
3.
ART.29(2) The student’s Statute UBB – the attendance at the seminars is compulsory in proportion of 75%
4.
The rules of the evaluation are the same for all the examinations.
Themes and calendar of courses and seminars
5.09.2011
1. Course: Introduction to contemporary political theory. Significance and relevance to the development of the political science
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000. Part I. pp 1-
16.
Seminar: Evaluation of the general knowledge of political science. Presentation of the requests of the course and seminar. Presentation of the course evaluation forms.
12.10.2011
2. Course: Political science in the XXth century. Almond’s approach.
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000.
Part II. Pp. 16-32
Seminar: “A progressive-eclectic history” or Almond’s neo-positivism
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000.
Part I.
Seminar questions:
- What is Almond’s vision regarding the moments in the development of political science in the XXth century, and how are these characterized?
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- How does Almond define his own vision over the history of the discipline of political science and what is his explanation for the chosen terminology?
- Which is the core of methodology for Almond, in terms of knowledge?
19.10.2011
3. Course: Political science in the XXth century and competing visions of the history of the discipline. General presentation.
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000.
Part I. III. Pp. 32-44
Seminar: Positivism and its influence on the development of the political science.
Max Weber: The distinction fact-values. The meaning and its methodological significance.
Bibliography: Max Weber .
The “objective” character of knoeledge in the field of social and political sciences (1904) . In vol.
Teorie şi metodă In ştiinţele culturii
.
Polirom 2001. pp. 9-66.
Optional: Max Weber. The meaning of “axiological neutrality” in sociological and economic sciences (1917). ) . In vol.
Teorie şi metodă In ştiinţele culturii
. Polirom
2001. pp.133-180
Seminar questions:
- What means, for Weber, the objective character of scientific knowledge in political and social sciences?
- What is the sense of axiological neutrality for Max Weber?
26.10.2011
4. Course: Realism in context
2. Gaetano Mosca , The Rulling Class. Elementi di Scienza Politica 1939.
McGraw –Hill Book Company.New York, Toronto London.
3. Robert Michels . Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarhical
Tendencies of Modern Democracy.
1915 Glencoe: Free Press 1964.
Sartori, Giovanni 1999,
Teoria democraţiei reinterpretată . Iaşi. Editura Polirom
Seminar: Realism and axiological neutrality. Methodology and ideology in political science in the beginning of the XXth century.
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Bibliography: Gaetano Mosca , The Rulling Class. Elementi di Scienza Politica
1939. McGraw–Hill Book Company.New York, Toronto London. pp. 394-495.
Michels, Robert. Political Parties.
2001. Batoche Books. Kitchener. .Part One.
Leadership in Democratic Organizations. Ch. 2. Mechanical and Techical
Impossibility of Direct Government by the Masses. P. 20/31. Part Six. Synthesis:
The Oligarchical Tendencies of Organization. Chap. 2. Democracy and The Iron
Law of Oligarchy. pp. 224-235 .
Sartori, Giovanni 1999,
Teoria democraţiei reinterpretată.
Iaşi. Editura Polirom pp. 59-73; 75-98.
Seminar questions:
- look at the reading materials from a comparative point of view
2.11.2011
5. Course: Political philosophy and the anti-science perspective
Bibliography Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman. Part
III. pp. 32-35. Leo Strauss .
Que’est – ce que la philosophie politique ?
Presses universitaires de France 1992
Seminar: Strauss’s critique to positivism. The role and relevance of political philosophy.
Bibliography: Leo Strauss .
Que’est – ce que la philosophie politique ?
Presses universitaires de France 1992. pp. 15-58; La philossophie politique et l’histoire. pp
59-94.
Seminar questions:
- What is the contribution of Leo Strauss in the development of political philosophy?
- What is the content of Leo Strauss’s critique of positivism, and its importance/relevance?
9.11.2011
6. Course: Contemporary political philosophy. Traditions and trends
Bibliography: Bhiku Parekh. Political Theory. Traditions in Political
Philosophy . In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman,
2000.
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Seminar: Innovators and classics. Political philosophy in USA: Rawls, Nozick and
Walzer. I
Bibliography: John Rawls . The Domain of the Political and Overlapping
Consensus . In vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E.
Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 273-287.
John Rawls.Justice as Fairness . In vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers.
Oxford. 1997. pp. 187-201.
Robert Nozick.Distributive Justice. In vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An
Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers.
Oxford. 1997. pp. 203-246
Seminar questions:
- How does John Rawls define justice ?
- What is the role of the concept - natural state – in Rawls’ theoretic construction?
- What is Nozick’s basis of argumentation in his construction of the term justice ?
- What is the main critique of Nozick regarding Jhon Rawls’s Theory of Justice ?
16.11.2011
EXAMINATION I – Write an essay of 800 words in 120 minutes, with all the materials in front.
7. Course: Post-empirical, post-behavioralism
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman. 2000.
Part III. pp. 35-37.
Dryzek J., Farr, J and Leonard, S.
eds. Political Science in History. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press. 1995.
Seminar: Innovators and classics. Political philosophy in USA: Rawls, Nozick and
Walzer. II
Bibliography: Michael Walzer. Complex Equality . In vol.
Contemporary Political
Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell
Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 487-503.
Bryan Barry. Humanity and Justice in Global Perspective . In vol.
Contemporary Political Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip
Pettit, editori. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 525.540.
Seminar questions:
- What means the theory of goods, by Michale Walzer, and in what context was this theory elaborated?
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- What means domination and monopol in Michael Walzer’s perception, and what is the role of its theory?
- What are the distributive principles in Michael Walzer’s theory of justice?
23.11.2011
8. Course: Integralism and maximalism.1. Marxism, neomarxism, post-marxism.
Bibliografie: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman. 2000. Part III. pp.
37-39. Kate Nash.
Contemporary Political Sociology. Globalization, Politics and
Power. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers 2000.
Seminar: Marxist tradition in the political theory in the XXth century. Neomarxism – Hegemony and power in Antonio Gramsci. Louis Althusser.
Bibliography:
Louis Althusser. Contradiction et surdetermination. In vol. Pour Marx.
. Paris.
Francois Maspero. 1980.pp. 85-117
Seminar questions:
- What is the analysis of contradiction (content and meaning) in Louis Althusser’s theory?
30.11.2011
9. Course: Post-modernism
Bibliography: Kate Nash.
Contemporary Political Sociology. Globalization,
Politics and Power. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers 2000.
Michel Foucault. Power, Right, Truth . In vol.
Contemporary Political
Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell
Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp.543-550.
Michel Foucault.
The Subject and the Power.
In vol. Readings in Contemporary
Political Sociology. Kate Nash ed. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers. 2000.pp. 8-26.
Zygmund Bauman . A sociological Theory of Postmodernity. In vol. Readings in
Contemporary Political Sociology. Kate Nash ed. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers.
2000. pp. 27-42.
Seminar: Post-modernism and the analysis of power. Michel Foucault
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Bibliography: Michel Foucault. Power, Right, Truth . In vol.
Contemporary
Political Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori.
Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 543-550.
Michel Foucault.
The Subject and the Power.
In vol. Readings in Contemporary
Political Sociology. Kate Nash ed. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers. 2000.pp. 8-26.
Zygmund Bauman . A sociological Theory of Postmodernity. In vol. Readings in
Contemporary Political Sociology. Kate Nash ed. Oxford. Blackwell Publishers.
2000.pp. 27-42.
Seminar questions:
- What is the concept of power in Michel Foucault’s view?
- What are the terms of construction and subjectivity in Foucault’s analysis and what the role of these in the analysis of power?
- What is the role of knowledge and truth in elaborating the analysis of power, in
Foucault’s view?
- What is the sense of the concept goverementality?
7.12.2011
10. Course: Critical theory: old and new
Bibliography : Iris Marion Young. Political theory: an overview.
In A new
Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000.
Jurgen Habermas . The Public Sphere.
In vol. Contemporary Political
Philosophy. An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editori. Blackwell
Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 105-109.
Seminar: Public and private in Critical theory
Bibliography: Jurgen Habermas . The Public Sphere.
In vol.
Contemporary
Political Philosophy.An Anthology . Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit, editors.
Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 1997. pp. 105-109.
Habermas and the Public Sphere . Craig Calhoun ed. The MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachussetts, and London, England 1997.
Seminar questions:
- What is the definition and history of the concept - public sphere?
- What is the significance and role of the concept - public sphere - in the analysis of mass democracies?
14.12.2011
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11. Course: Integralism and maximalism 2. Rational choice approach
Bibliography: Gabriel A. Almond . Political Science: The history of the discipline.
In A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman. 2000.
Part III. pp. 39-44.
Brian Barry.
Political theory: old and new in A new Handbook of Political Science.
Goodin and Klingeman, 2000.
Seminar: The rational choice perspective from economy, political and decisionmaking sciences
Bibliography: Bryan D. Jones.
Politics and the Architecture of Choice. Bounded
Rationality and Governance. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London
2001. pp. 3-55.
John Scott . Rational Choice Theory, Sage Publications 1999.
Seminar questions:
- How does John Scott characterize the importance of rational choice in the development of political science?
- What are the principal characteristics of rational choice theory?
21.12.2011
12. Course: Alternative political theories. Confucianism. Islamism
Bibliography: Daniel Bell. East Asia and the West: The Impact of
Confucianism on Anglo-American Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 262-280
Roxanne L. Euben. Changing Interpretations of Modern and Contemporary
Islamic Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec,
Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 297-313
Seminar: Alternative political theories. Confucianism. Islamism
Bibliography: Daniel Bell. East Asia and the West: The Impact of
Confucianism on Anglo-American Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 262-280
Roxanne L. Euben. Changing Interpretations of Modern and Contemporary
Islamic Political Theory.
In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec,
Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp. 297-313
Seminar task:
- Configure a case-study of an alternative political theory using the bibliography texts.
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11.01.2012
13. Course: The political theory and the environment
Bibliography: John M. Meyer. Political Theory and the Environment.
In The
Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp.
773-791
Seminar: The political theory and the environment
Bibliography: John M. Meyer. Political Theory and the Environment.
In The
Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Dryzec, Honig, Phillips (eds.), 2006, Pp.
773-791
Seminar task:
- Operationalize the previously discussed approaches of the political theory in regard to the environmental-oriented activities.
18.01.2012
EXAMINATION II – Write an essay of 800 words in 120 minutes, with all the materials in front.
14. Course: Conclusions, evaluation.
Seminar: Review, main conclusions of the course, evaluation of the seminar.
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