Fall 1999
Government 491I
Guillermo O’Donnell
219 Hesburgh Center.
Phone 1-7756
ODONNELL.1@ND.EDU
Office hours : 219 Hesburgh Center, Tu. 10.00:12.00, and 10.00:12.00. Otherwise by appointment.
There is no other term that elicits, as democracy does, so much discussion and (at least nominal) support in the contemporary world. The meanings of democracy are many, since its origins in Athens until today, ranging from common sense conceptions to sophisticated (albeit not necessarily better) theoretical formulations. Furthermore, the emotions triggered by democracy are enormous, including those who thought it was the worst possible kind of polity and the millions that in recent times took to the streets and risked their lives demanding it.
We will begin by studying the historical trajectory of the idea of democracy as well as of others that came to be closely associated with it—-republicanism and liberalism. Then we will examine various kinds of contemporary issues and theories. We will not end with THE TRUTH about democracy. Rather, my hope is that we will end up with an informed awareness of the various aspects involved in the practice and theory of democracy, including some puzzling predicaments. I believe that conscious and highly educated citizens should enhance democracy with an appropriate understanding of its virtues and its limits.
This is a writing seminar. As a seminar, I expect you to participate by means of thoughtful presentations about selected readings, and to contribute to the general discussions. As a writing seminar, along the semester I will request from you several short pieces in which you reflect on some of the issues or problems we are discussing. In order to facilitate our discussions, the authors of these pieces will share them with all the seminar participants, with sufficient anticipation.
There will be a final take‑home exam. Alternatively, if the student prefers to write a final paper, I expect him/her to discuss it with me no later than the first week of November. The final grade will take into account this final exercise (40%), the brief written pieces (40%), and participation in class discussions (20%)--but notice that these are approximate figures; there is no sense in being mechanical in these matters.
Introductions. Presentation of the goals and scope of the seminar.
August 30
Written assignment: Write your own definition of “democracy,” and deliver it in my office no later than August 28 noontime. Note: I am requesting a definition; i.e., 10 lines should be more than enough.
September 1
No class: But: read for the next two classes!
September 6
Classic Democracy (Athens).
Read: Hansen (1991) 55‑85, 125‑160, 203-224, 225‑242, 266‑277, 296‑320
September 8
Classic Republics I (Rome).
Read: Finer (1997) 395-418, 423-441
Classic Republics II (Italy)
Read: Waley (1988) 6‑7, 32‑45), 55‑68, 97‑143
September 15
Republicanism; legacies.
Read: Rubinstein in Bock et al. (1990)
Skinner in Dunn (1992)
September 20
Some historical/ideological roots (I)
Read: Manent (1994) 20‑52
September 22
Some historical/ideological roots (II)
Read: Manent (53-79, 103-113)
September 27
Republicanism and Democratic Revolutions (I)
Read: Fontana in Dunn (1992)
Wood in Dunn (1992)
September 29
Republicanism and Democratic Revolutions (II).
Read: Federalist n. 10, 47, 48, and 51
Kramnick (1990) 260-288
But read: Some attempts at synthesis.
Offe & Preuss (1991)
Walzer (1989)
O’Donnell (1999a)
October 11
Read : Schumpeter (1942) 269-283
Held (1987) 145-164
October 13
Overview: Where are we at?
Contemporary Democracy (II): Sartori (1)
Read: Sartori (1987) vol.I, 21‑35, vol.II, 298‑306,
Read: Sartori (1987) vol II, 337-362
November 1
Contemporary Democracy (III): Dahl
Read: Dahl (l989) 105-131, 135-162, 213‑224, 280‑308
November 3
Constitutionalism and Rule of Law (I)
Read: Federalist n. 78
Holmes (1995)
November 8
Constitutionalism and Rule of Law (II)
Read: Bellamy (1996)
O’Donnell (1999b)
November 10
Phillips in Benhabib (1996)
Pateman in Phillips (1987)
Walby (1994)
November 15
Read: Taylor in Taylor (1994)
Habermas in Taylor (1994)
Gutmann in Taylor (1994)
Kymlicka in Dissent (1996)
Contemporary Democracy (V): Rawls and “Liberal” Democracy.
Read : Rawls in Copp (1993)
Hampton in Copp (1993)
Wolin (1996)
November 22
Contemporary Democracy (VI): Habermas and “Deliberative” Democracy
Read: Habermas (1996) 287-314, 359-373, and 463-475
November 24
Recent discussions on deliberative theories.
Read: Fearon in Elster (1998)
Johnson in Elster (1998)
Sanders (1997)
Young in Benhabib (1996)
November 25: Happy Thanksgiving!
November 29
Foundations of Democracy. Agency, autonomy, dignity
Read: Kuflik (1994)
Lane (1988)
O’Donnell (1999c)
December 1
General discussion, overview of the semester (I)
Read: Dunn in Dunn (1992)
December 6
General discussion, overview of the semester (II)
Read: Verba et al. (1995) 1-48, 500-533
Putnam (1993 and 1995)
Last class: Take-home exam handed.
Further general discussion. Conclusions?
December 14: Take‑home exams due in my office, no later than 12AM.
Bell, Terence and Hanson, Russel, eds., Political Innovation and Cultural Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
Benhabid, Seyla, ed., Democracy and Difference. Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996).
Bock, Gisela; Skinner, Quentin; and Viroli, Maurizio, eds., Machiavelli and Republicanism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Copp, David, Jean Hampton, and John E. Roemer, eds., The Idea of Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Dahl, Robert, Democracy and its Critics (New Haven: Yale University Press, l989).
Elster, Jon, ed., Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Federalist Papers (any edition).
Finer, S.E., The History of Government from the Earliest Times, Volume I (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997)
Fontana, Biancamaria, ed., The Invention of the Modern Republic (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Habermas, Jurgen, Between facts and Norms (Cambridge, MA: The Mit Press, 1996).
Hansen, M. H., The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes (Oxford: Oxford Univesity Press, 1991).
Held, David, Models of Democracy (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987).
Held, David, ed., Political Theory Today (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991).
Kramnick, Isaac, Republicanism and Bourgeois Radicalism. Political Ideology in Late Eighteenth-Century England and America (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990).
Manent, Pierre, An Intellectual History of Liberalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).
Méndez, Juan, Guillermo O’Donnell, and Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, eds., The (Un)Rule of Law and the Underprivileged in Latin America (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999)
Phillips, Anne, Democracy and Difference (University Park: University of Pennsylvania Pres, 1993)..
Rawls, John, Political Liberalism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).
Sartori, Giovanni, The Theory of Democracy Revisited. I. The Contemporary Debate; The Theory of Democracy Revisited. II. The Classical Issues (Chatham: Chatham House Publishers, 1987).
Schedler, Andreas, Larry Diamond, and Marc Plattner, eds., The Self-Restraining State. Power and Accountability in New Democracies (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1999).
Schumpeter, Joseph, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (New York: Harper & Row, ([1942]1975).
Taylor, Charles, et.al. Multiculturalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).
Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality. Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge USA: Harvard University Press, 1995).
Waley, Daniel, The Italian City Republics (London: Longman, 1988).
2) JOURNAL ARTICLES and CHAPTERS IN BOOKS (Note: Books fully referenced in listing of books, above)
Bellamy, Richard, “The Political Form of the Constitution: The Separation of Powers, Rights, and Representative Democracy,” Political Studies 44 (1996) p.436-456
Benhabib, Seyla, “Toward a Deliberative Model of Democratic Legitimacy,” in Benhabib, S., ed. (1996) p.67-94
Collier, David, and Steven Levitsky, “Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research,” World Politics, 49, n.3 (1997), p.430-451
Dunn, John, “Conclusion” in Dunn, J., ed. (1992) p.239-266
Fearon, James D., “Deliberation as Discussion,” in Elster, J., ed. (1998) p.44-68
Hampton, Jean, “The Moral Commitments of Liberalism,” in Copp, D., et al., eds. (1993) p.292-313
Holmes, Stephen, “Constitutionalism,” in Seymour Martin Lipset, ed., The Encyclopedia of Democracy (London: Routledge, 1995), p.299-306
Johnson, James, “Arguing for Deliberation: Some Skeptical Considerations,” in Elster, J., ed. (1998) p.161-184
Kuflik, Arthur, “The Inalienability of Autonomy,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 13, n.4 (1994), p. 271-298
Kymlicka, Will, "The Good, the Bad, and the Intolerable," Dissent (Summer 1996) p.22-30
Lane, Robert, “Procedural Goods in a Democracy: How One is Treated Versus What One Gets,” Social Justice Research, 2, n.3 (1988) p.177‑192
Nippel, Wilfried, “Ancient and Modern Republicanism: ‘Mixed Constitution’ and ‘ephors’,” in Fontana ed. (1994) p.6-26.
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Horizontal Accountability and New Polyarchies,” in Schedler et al., eds. (1999a) p.29-52.
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Polyarchies and the (Un)Rule of Law in Latin America,” in Méndez et al., eds. (1999b) p.303-337.
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Democratic Theory and Comparative Politics,” multicopied (1999c)
Offe, Claus, and Ulrich K. Preuss, “Democratic Institutions and Moral Resources” in Held, David, ed. (1991) p.143‑171
Pateman, Carol, “Feminist Critiques of the Public/Private Dichotomy,” in Phillips, A. ed. (1987) p.103-126
Phillips, Anne, “Dealing with Difference: A Politics of Ideas, or a Politics of Presence?,” in S. Benhabib ed. (1996) p.139-152
Putnam, Robert , “Social Capital and Public Affairs,” The American Prospect (Spring 1993), p.1‑8
Putnam, Robert, “Bowling Alone. America’s Declining Social Capital,” Journal of Democracy, 6, n.1 (1995), p.65-78
Rawls, John, “The Domain of the Political and Overlapping Consensus,” in Copp, D. et al., eds. (1993) p.245-269
Rubinstein, Nicolai, “Machiavelli and Florentine Republican Experience,” in Bock G., et al., eds. (1990) p.3-16
Sanders, Lynn, “Against Deliberation,” Political Theory, 25, n. 3 (1997) p. 347-376
Walby, Silvia, “Is Citizenship Gendered?,” Sociology, 28, n.2 (May 1994) p.379‑395.
Walzer, Michael, “Citizenship” in Bell, T. et al, eds., eds. (1989) p.211‑219
Wolin, Sheldon, “The Liberal/Democratic Divide. On Rawl’s Political Liberalism,” Political Theory, 24, n.1 (February 1996), p.97-14
Wood, Gordon, “Democracy and the American Revolution,” in Dunn ed. (1992) p.91-105.
Young, Iris M., “Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy,” in Benhabib S., ed. (1996) p.120-135
From: Prof. Guillermo O’Donnell
219 Hesurgh Center
1-7756
ODONNELL.1@ND.EDU
To : Reserve Book Room:
Re: Readings for course Government 491I (20 students)
New texts to be added to past Fall’s readings (it was course 491J)
Two photocopies of each enclosed:
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Horizontal Accountability and New Polyarchies,” in Schedler et al., eds. (1999a) p.29-52.
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Polyarchies and the (Un)Rule of Law in Latin America,” in Méndez et al., eds. (1999b) p.303-337.
O’Donnell, Guillermo, “Democratic Theory and Comparative Politics,” multicopied (1999c)
Nippel, Wilfried, “Ancient and Modern Republicanism: ‘Mixed Constitution’ and ‘ephors’,” in Fontana ed. (1994) p.6-26.
Adcock, F.E., Roman Political Ideas and Practice (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1964).