Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:47:21.166Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Teaching Democracy: A Survey of Courses in Democratic Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2004

Ronald J. Terchek
Affiliation:
Professor emeritus in the Government and Politics Department at the University of Maryland, College Park (rterchek@gvpt.umd.edu; www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/terchek). He is the author of Republican Paradoxes and Liberal Anxieties: Retrieving Neglected Fragments of Political Theory and Gandhi: Struggling for Autonomy, and co-editor (with Thomas C. Conte) of Theories of Democracy: A Reader. In 2000, he was named the University of Maryland's Mentor of the Year

Extract

Democratic theory is an exciting field today, both in its rich, textured, abundant research and in the varied courses taught at American colleges and universities. We use its subject matter as a benchmark to judge the politics of the United States as well as that of other countries. The scope of research in this subfield has expanded debates about the meanings, purposes, and reach of democracy, and it raises questions for instructors about what to teach. This essay examines material taught in undergraduate courses and graduate seminars on democratic theory. How these courses are put together reflects what instructors hope to achieve and—on a larger scale—the state of debate among scholars in the subfield.

Type
REVIEW ESSAYS
Copyright
2003 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Syllabi

Bohn DavidBrigham Young UniversityWinter 2002 Theories of Human Freedom: Race and Racism, Equal Freedom and Democratic PracticeAvailable at fhss.byu.edu/polsci/courses/Winter02/308--001Win02.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Brett NathanDalhouse UniversityFall 2002 Liberalism and DemocracyAvailable at www.dal.ca/~philwww/hmpage/Syllabi/4470S.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Cain Michael J.G.St. Mary's College of MarylandFall 2001 Democratic Political Thought
Caraley DemetriosColumbia UniversityFall 2001 Colloquium on Democratic Political Theory and Ethics
Conte ThomasGettysburg CollegeSpring 2002 The Democratic Tradition
Damico Alfonso J.University of Iowan.d. Problems of Democracy
Grey RobertGrinnell CollegeFall 1999 The Diffusion on [sic] Democracy. Available at web.grinnell.edu/courses/pol/F99/POL357--01/. Accessed 23 July 2002
Heclo HughGeorge Mason UniversitySpring 2002 Democratic Theory and PracticeAvailable at classweb.gmu.edu/hheclo/govt101/govt101syl_s02.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Kaplan JonathanUniversity of TennesseeKnoxvilleFall 2000 Philosophical Foundations of DemocracyAvailable at web.utk.edu/~jkaplan/Syllabus-390.html. Accessed 23 July 2002
Klesner Joseph L.Kenyon CollegeFall 1999 Modern DemocraciesAvailable at www2.kenyon.edu/depts/psci/psci41/syllabus.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Little RichardSouth Dakota State UniversityFall 1997 Democracy in Mass SocietyAvailable at www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rlittle/PS406.html. Accessed 23 July 2002.
Markell PatchenUniversity of ChicagoSpring 2000 Democratic TheoryAvailable at home.uchicago.edu/~pmarkell/entww.html. Accessed 23 July 2002
Martin Robert W.T.Hamilton CollegeSpring 2001 Democratic Theory
Mayer RobertLoyola University ChicagoFall 2002 DemocracyAvailable at homepages.luc.edu/~rmayer/plsc374/syllabus.html. Accessed 23 July 2002
Mendel-Reyes MetaSwarthmore Collegen.d. Democratic Theory and PracticeAvailable at www.cpn.org/cpn/sections/tools/syllabi/mendel-reyes.html. Accessed 23 July 2002
Menefee-Libey DavidPomona CollegeFall 2001 Democracy and Citizenship in the Contemporary United StatesAvailable at www.politics.pomona.edu/dml/democracy.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Portis EdwardTexas A&M UniversitySpring 2001 Theories of DemocracyAvailable at www-polisci.tamu.edu/Portis/369/Syllabus%20369.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Smith Anna MarieCornell UniversityFall 1997 Contemporary Democratic TheoryAvailable at falcon.arts.cornell.edu/ams3/664.html. Accessed 25 July 2002
Urbinati NadiaColumbia UniversityFall 2001 Democratic Theory
Verba SidneyHarvard UniversitySpring 2002 Representation, Equality, and DemocracyAvailable at www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~sa58/Syllabus/Syllabus.htm. Accessed 23 July 2002
Warren MarkGeorgetown UniversitySpring 2002 Political Theory Minor SeminarAvailable at www.georgetown.edu/departments/government/faculty/warrenm/govt706S02.pdf. Accessed 23 July 2002
Arendt Hannah1958 The Human ConditionChicagoUniversity of Chicago Press
Aristotle. The Politics. Several editions
Bachrach Peter1980 The Theory of Democratic Elitism: A CritiqueWashington, D.C.University Press of America
Barber Benjamin1984 Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New AgeBerkeleyUniversity of California Press
Barber Benjamin1996 Jihad vs. McWorldNew YorkBallantine
Bellah Robert1985 Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American LifeBerkeleyUniversity of California Press
Benhabib Seyla1996 Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the PoliticalPrincetonPrinceton University Press
Bobbio Norberto1987 The Future of Democracy, ed. Richard Bellamy, trans. Roger GriffinMinneapolisUniversity of Minnesota Press
Connolly William E.1991 Identity/Difference: Democratic Negotiation of Political ParadoxIthacaCornell University Press
Connolly William E.1995 The Ethos of PluralizationMinneapolisUniversity of Minnesota Press
Dahl Robert1961 Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American CityNew HavenYale University Press
Dahl Robert1982 Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy: Autonomy vs. ControlNew HavenYale University Press
Dahl Robert1998 On DemocracyNew HavenYale University Press
de Tocqueville AlexisDemocracy in America. Several editions
Dewey John1954 The Public and Its ProblemsNew YorkH. Holt
Diamond Larry1996 Is the third wave over? Journal of Democracy 7 320 37Google Scholar
Downs Anthony1957 An economic theory of political action in a democracy Journal of Political Economy 64 2135 50Google Scholar
Dryzeck John1996 Democracy in Capitalist Times: Ideas, Limits, and StrugglesNew YorkOxford University Press
Dworkin Ronald1978 LiberalismIn Public and Private Morality, ed. Stuart HampshireCambridgeCambridge University Press113-43
Elshtain Jean Bethke1995 Democracy on TrialNew YorkBasic Books
Esquivel Adolfo Pérez1996 Conditionality, human rights and democracy Beyond Law 5 15 6Google Scholar
Foucault Michel1980 Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977, ed. Colin GordonNew YorkPantheon Books
Gandhi Mahatma1997 Hind Swaraj and Other WritingsAnthony ParelCambridgeCambridge University Press
Gilbert Alan1999 Must Global Politics Constrain Democracy?: Great-Power Realism, Democratic Peace, and Democratic InternationalismPrincetonPrinceton University Press
Guehenno Jean-Marie1995 The End of the Nation-StateMinneapolisUniversity of Minnesota Press
Habermas Jürgen1996 Three normative models of democracyDemocracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the PoliticalSeyla BenhabibPrincetonPrinceton University Press21 33
Habermas Jürgen1998 Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy, trans. William RehgCambridgeMIT Press
Held David1995 Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan GovernanceStanfordStanford University Press
Held David1996 Models of DemocracyStanfordStanford University Press
Huntington Samuel1993 The clash of civilizations Foreign Affairs 72 322 49Google Scholar
Kymlicka Will1990 Contemporary Political Philosophy: An IntroductionOxfordOxford University Press
Kymlicka Will1995 Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority RightsOxfordOxford University Press
Lindblom Charles1977 Politics and MarketsNew YorkBasic Books
Locke JohnSecond TreatiseSeveral editions
Machiavelli NiccolòDiscourses on LivySeveral editions
Macpherson C. B.1962 The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: Hobbes to LockeOxfordOxford University Press
Madison JamesAlexander HamiltonJohn JayFederalist PapersSeveral editions
Mandela Nelson1994 Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson MandelaBostonLittle Brown
Michels Robert1999 Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy, trans. Eden and Cedar PaulNew Brunswick, N. J.Transaction Books
Mill J. S.On LibertySeveral editions
Mill J. S.Representative GovernmentSeveral editions
Mouffe Chantal1988 Radical democracy: Modern or postmodernIn Universal Abandon?: The Politics of PostmodernismAndrew RossMinneapolisUniversity of Minnesota Press31 45
Nozick Robert1974 Anarchy, State, and UtopiaNew YorkBasic Books
Offe Claus1984 Contradictions of the Welfare StateCambridgeMIT Press
Ohmae Kenichi1995 The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional EconomiesNew YorkFree Press
Okin Susan1989 Justice, Gender, and the FamilyNew YorkBasic Books
Pateman Carole1970 Participation and Democratic TheoryCambridgeCambridge University Press
Pettit Phillip1997 Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and GovernmentOxfordOxford University Press
Phillips Anne1995 Politics as PresenceOxfordOxford University Press
Plato The RepublicSeveral editions
Rawls John1971 A Theory of JusticeCambridgeHarvard University Press, Belknap Press
Rawls John1993 Political LiberalismNew YorkColumbia University Press
RousseauEssay on the Origin of InequalitySeveral editions
RousseauSocial ContractSeveral editions
Sandel Michael1982 Liberalism and the Limits of JusticeNew YorkCambridge University Press
Schattschneider E.E.1960 The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in AmericaNew YorkReinhart and Winston
Schmitt Carl1985 The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy, trans. Ellen KennedyCambridgeMIT Press
Schumpeter Joseph1942 Capitalism, Socialism, and DemocracyNew YorkHarper and Brothers
Suu Kyi Aung San1991 Freedom from Fear: And Other Writings, ed. Michael ArisNew YorkPenguin Books
Taylor Charles1994 Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of RecognitionPrincetonPrinceton University Press
Walzer Michael1983 Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and EqualityOxfordOxford University Press
Walzer Michael1997 On TolerationNew HavenYale University Press
Wolin Sheldon1996 On fugitive democracyDemocracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, ed. Seyla BenhabibPrincetonPrinceton University Press31–45
Young Iris Marion1990 Justice and the Politics of DifferencePrincetonPrinceton University Press
Young Iris Marion2000 Inclusion and DemocracyOxfordOxford University Press