POLS 150-000: Foundations of Amer. Democracy (Fall 2012)

This discussion-based course will provide students an opportunity to study the foundational ideas that informed the creation of the American constitutional system and the major debates in American politics from the revolutionary era to the present.  Questions addressed in the course will include reasons that justify revolution, what we mean by “rights,” the best constitution for a democracy, the role of religion in politics, how to achieve racial equality in America, and the competing visions of American liberalism and conservatism.  Readings are drawn from classic texts (including John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, The Federalist, and Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America), original documents, and the writings and speeches of leading American political figures, from James Madison and Thomas Jefferson through Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.  Course meetings will be supplemented with a series of guest lectures on topics covered in the course.

This course fulfills a GER requirement in the HSC area (History, Society, Cultures) and is one of the “Great Works” courses that make up Emory’s Voluntary Core curriculum program.  These courses are designed to provide a coherent and linked group of courses that address the questions that have traditionally been at the center of a liberal arts education. For more information on the Voluntary Core program, see http://polisci.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/special_programs/voluntarycore or contact Dr. Harvey Klehr at polshk@emory.edu

As a part of the Voluntary Core Program and space in the program is limited.  Priority in enrollment will be given to students who sign up for at least two of the following courses in the Fall 2012 semester:

• POLS 150 (Foundations of American Democracy)
• HIST 185 (Great Works in Western Civilization)
• ENG 181-008 (Writing and Literature, The Great Books)
• PHIL 115-000 (Introduction to Ethics)