POL/PHI 553/753
Dr. Zeigler
Contemporary Political Theory
Fall 2008
3 hours
Office: McCreary 113
859-622-5931 (office)
Sara.Zeigler@eku.edu
people.eku.edu/zeiglers
Course Objectives and Procedures:
We will spend the semester struggling with the dominant questions
addressed by the subfield of normative of political theory, thus
building a strong foundation in the key concepts and works of
contemporary political theory. Through discussion and writing, students
will acquire an understanding of the assigned texts, analyze the
questions posed by the theorists and critically evaluate the answers
provided. Active participation by students prepared to engage in
rigorous (yet civil) discussions of the texts is a necessary component
of the course. Students are encouraged to voice reactions and
criticisms freely, regardless of whether their remarks coincide with
the views of classmates, theorists, or the instructor.
The following required texts are available in the bookstore.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism
Goodin, Robert and Pettit, Philip (eds.) Contemporary Political
Philosophy: An Anthology, Second Edition
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice
Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars
Any additional readings will be distributed by the instructor or made
available on the web page.
Students will be divided into four groups, A, B, C, and D. Each day,
one group will be responsible for explaining and defending the text,
while other class members pose questions and criticisms. Each class
session will commence with a brief (5-10 minutes) overview of the key
arguments made in the assigned reading. This overview will be provided
by members of the group assigned to explain the text. Group members may
divide the assignment among themselves for purposes of presentation or
may alternate presentation responsibilities. Duties should be divided
evenly among group members and members are strongly encouraged to
discuss the texts and the overview outside of class.
On Fridays, class sessions will be conducted online. The group
responsible for the presentation that day will be responsible for
posing discussion questions in the forum on Blackboard. Each
group member must pose at least one GOOD question no later than
10:10am on Friday. Each class member must respond to at
least two discussion questions, posting responses online. The
threaded discussions will begin on Friday – students will have until
Monday at 10:10 (class time) to post responses. Participation in
online discussions will be graded. Responses must meet a 200-word
minimum per response, for a total of at least 400 words.
Note for students with disabilities: If you are registered with
the Office of Services for Individuals with Disabilities, please make
an appointment with the course instructor to discuss any academic
accommodations you need. If you need academic accommodations and are
not registered with the Office of Services for Individuals with
Disabilities, please contact the office on the third floor of the
Student Services Building, by email at disabilities@eku.edu or by
telephone at (859) 622-2933 V/TDD. Upon individual request, this
syllabus can be made available in alternative forms.
Grading Scale:
A= at least 90% of total points possible
B= at least 80% of total points possible
C=at least 70% of total points possible
D=at least 60% of total points possible
Course Requirements:
1. 2 one-hour in-class examinations. (30 points each, 60 total)
2. One take-home final examination. (60 points)
3. Participation in class discussions, as described above. (30 points)
4. Participation in online discussions: Each session is worth five
points, for a total of 60 points. There are 14 online discussions, so
you may miss two sets of postings without penalty. Choose wisely.
5. One 8-10 page paper. 50 points.
All exams will be in essay format and will be open-book, open-note and
will be conducted on Blackboard. The take-home exam and the paper must
be typewritten. The paper must be submitted using Safe Assignments in
Blackboard. Should you have questions regarding proper citation
of sources, consult the instructor.
Graduate students will also prepare a research paper of approximately
fifteen (15) pages in length, on a topic selected by the student in
consultation with the instructor.
Graduate students will be help to a higher standard of performance on
all assignments, in both presentation (organization, structure and
clarity of writing, documentation of work) and content (mastery of
material, quality of theorizing and argumentation).
Lucid, well-organized writing is essential to effective communication
and will be considered in evaluating written work.
Policies, Procedures, Admonitions and Advice:
1. Attendance Policy: The course is designed as a conference and the
success of that format depends upon the presence of well-prepared
conferees. Students who neglect to attend class demonstrate contempt
for their classmates, the instructor and themselves. This will not be
tolerated. More than eight unexcused absences may result in automatic
failure of the course. Because I regard failure to fulfill
responsibilities to one's group as a particularly egregious dereliction
of duty, each unexcused absence on a day when your group is "on" will
count as two absences. For the purposes of this course, "excused
absences" include verifiable medical or family emergencies, university
approved activities (accompanied by a university excuse), documentable
illness (yours or your child's) and other unforeseen circumstances that
the instructor deems to be reasonable excuses for an absence.
Students who fail to attend class regularly should also expect such
negligence to be reflected in their participation grades.
2. Preparation: Students who have not read the assigned texts are
not welcome in class.
3. Make-up Examinations: Students who have an excused absence
during the examination window will be permitted to take a make-up exam,
to be scheduled by agreement of the student and instructor. The make-up
exam may differ from the exam given to the class at the scheduled
examination time. If the original exam was administered on Blackboard,
the excuse must cover the entire period during which the exam was
available for completion.
4. Late Papers: A five-point per day penalty may be imposed on
late papers. The take-home final may not be submitted after the
deadline, except in emergencies (as defined by the instructor).
5. Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is a fundamental value for
the Eastern Kentucky University community of students, faculty, and
staff. It should be clearly understood that academic dishonesty is not
tolerated and incidents of it will have serious consequences. Anyone
who knowingly assists in any form of academic dishonesty shall be
considered as responsible as the student who accepts such assistance
and shall be subject to the same sanctions. Academic dishonesty can
occur in different forms, some of which include cheating, plagiarism,
and fabrication.
The instructor reserves the right to examine any source used by the
student before giving a grade on a paper and to give an “incomplete” in
the course if necessary, to allow time to obtain sources.
Students should be prepared to show source material to the instructor
for the purpose of verifying information. Academic dishonesty
will not be tolerated.
Students are advised that EKU's Academic Integrity Policy will strictly
be enforced in this course. The Academic Integrity policy is
available at www.academicintegrity.eku. Questions regarding the policy
may be directed to the Office of Academic Integrity. Students
have an affirmative obligation to review and comply with the standards
articulated on the web site, in addition to the course specific
policies outlined in this syllabus.
For the purposes of this course, academic dishonesty includes, but is
not limited to, the following offenses:
∑ Claiming as your own work a paper written by another person
∑ Turning in a paper that contains paraphrases of someone else’s ideas
but does not give proper credit to that person for those ideas
∑ Turning in a paper that is largely a restatement in your own words of
a paper written by someone else, even if you give credit to that person
for those ideas. The thesis and organizing principles of a paper
must be your own.
∑ Turning in a paper that uses the exact words of another author
without using quotation marks, even if proper credit is given in a
citation, or that changes the words only slightly and claims them to be
paraphrases
∑ Turning in the same paper, even in a different version, for two
different courses without the permission of both professors involved
∑ Using any external source (notes, books, other students, etc) for
assistance during an exam, unless given permission to do so by the
professor
If a student is found to have committed any of the above offenses, s/he
will receive a failing grade on the assignment or in the course,
depending upon the seriousness of the offense, in accordance with
University policy. The offense will be referred to the Academic
Integrity Office for investigation and imposition of sanctions.
Ignorance is no defense.
6. Use of Books and Notes during Examinations: All examinations
are open-book, open-note. Guides such as “Cliff Notes” or “Encarta” (or
anything in the genre) shall darken neither your door nor that of the
classroom. Ever.
7. Student Obligation to Stay Informed: The primary means of
communication, outside of classtime, will be via Blackboard and
email. Students should check their email and the Blackboard
course page at least every other day.
Student Learning Objectives and Assessment Methods:
This course addresses the following Political Science Student Learning
Objectives:
Critical Thinking: Students will become more discerning critical
thinkers and observers of political events, personalities, messages and
processes by applying theories and methodologies of political science
and through effective oral and written communication. Students
will demonstrate an understanding of major modern political thinkers
through successful completion of a term paper and examinations focusing
on the works of major theorists and the applicability of those theories
to contemporary political problems. Students will demonstrate
communication skills through competent and skillful writing on all
essay assignments.
Substantive Knowledge: Students will acquire political literacy and
will understand the institutions process and values that underpin
political behavior and events. By successfully responding to
essay questions on examinations, students will demonstrate a
substantive understanding of the theoretical works of modern political
theorists, thus exhibiting knowledge of political institutions and
values, as analyzed in theoretical works.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
August 25: Introduction, review of syllabus and requirements
August 27: Arendt, Book II, Chapter 5 (A)
August 29: Arendt, II, 6 (B). Online.
September 3:Arendt, II, 9 (C).
September 5: Arendt, III, 10 (D). Online
September 8: Arendt, III, 11 (A).
Sept. 10: Arendt, III, 12 (B).
Sept. 12: Arendt, III, 13 (C). Online
Sept. 15: First examination.
Sept. 17: Rawls, Part I, sections 1-6 (D).
Sept. 19: Rawls, I, 10-13 (A). Online
Sept. 22: Rawls, I, 14-17 (B).
Sept. 24: Rawls, I, 18-23 (C).
Sept. 26: Rawls, I, 24-25 (D). Online
Sept. 29: Rawls, I, 26-30 (A).
Oct 1: Rawls, II, sections 31-37 (B).
Oct 3: Rawls, II, 38-40 (C). Online
Oct. 6:Nozick, pp. 201-212 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (D).
Oct 8: Nozick, pp. 212-228 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (A)
Oct. 10: Hart, pp.281-288 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (B).
Online
Oct. 13: Dworkin, pp. 289-301 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (C).
Oct. 15: Shue, pp. 302-316 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (D).
Oct. 17: Thomson, p. 317-326 in Contemporary Political Philosophy
(A). Online
Oct. 22: Young, pp. 248-263 (B).
Oct. 24: Waldron, pp. 264-278 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (C).
Online
Oct 27: Walzer, Part I (D)
Oct. 29: Walzer, Part II (A)
Oct 31: Walzer, Part III (B) Online
Nov. 3 : Fall Break
Nov. 5: Walzer, Part IV (C).
Nov. 7: Walzer, Part V (D). Online
Nov. 10: Paper Work Day
Nov. 12: Foucault, pp. 541-548 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (A).
Nov 14: Wasserstrom, pp. 549-574 in Contemporary Political
Philosophy(B). Online
Nov. 17: Okin, pp. 575-590 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (C)
Nov. 19: Fraser and Gordon, pp. 591-606 in Contemporary Political
Philosophy (D).
Nov 21: Sen, pp. 473-483 in Contemporary Political Philosophy(A). Online
Nov. 24: Papers Due, no new reading, no class meeting.
Nov 25-28: Thanksgiving
Dec 1: Minow, pp. 501-521 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (B).
Dec 3: Arneson, pp. 522-537 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (C).
Dec. 5: Dahl, pp. 107-125 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (D).
Online
Dec. 8: Sunstein, pp. 126-143 in Contemporary Political Philosophy
(A/B).
Dec. 10: Elster, pp. 144-158 in Contemporary Political Philosophy (C/D).
Dec. 12: Administration of Survey instrument, distribution of
passwords for final exam. Attendance mandatory.