Course # 01:090:293: H2
Index: 10579
Thursday, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
C/D
RAB-209A
Lisa L. Miller, Department of Political Science
This class will explore democracy and the American constitution by drawing on multiple traditions from political philosophy, history, political economy, law, race and class politics, and American literature. In particular, we will focus on how well the structural features of the Constitution and its subsequent Amendments fit with ideas about democracy as they have evolved over time.
Traditional account of the American constitution emphasizes checks and balances. But what does this mean? Does this concept help us understand whether the American political system fulfills the promise of popular sovereignty? What are checks on political power for, who uses them, and for what purpose?
We will explore common, civics education versions of the American constitutional system as well as critical scholarship that seeks to assess how this system shapes politics, particularly with respect to who has access to power, and what governments do (and for whom). We will also revisit earlier periods of American history when Americans mobilized to democratize and to demand more political responsiveness to public need. The fundamental aim of the course is to provide students with a more critical understanding of how the U.S. constitutional structure shapes political power—its origins, its exercise, and its consequences—and to understand the yawning gap between our traditional conceptualizations (like checks and balances) and the actual practice of politics.
Ultimately, the course asks: how well does the U.S. Constitution meets the needs and interests of 21st century Americans?
The course requires regular writing assignments, in-class debates, an in-class mid-term and final, and a group project that is aimed at developing proposals for constitutional reform. The project can take many forms and is based on students’ assessments of whether and how the American constitutional system should be changed (in formal and/or informal ways). The project will involve several iterative stages – ideas, literature, workshopping with the class – that will help the students understand the main components of a substantial argumentative essay.
The class fits well with core curriculum components of a WCD class in other ways as well. The class requires substantial writing, speaking, and collaborative work with feedback from me and class peers, as well as writing and revision. We will read scholarly material as well as work written for a broader audience with the express aim of understanding core claims and argumentation.
