Democracy: Four Hundred Years in the Making

• Week 1: The origin point of modern politics—ancient Greece
  Perhaps counter-intuitively, while democracy originated in the world of classical Greece, classical Greek political philosophers were not necessarily advocates of this form of government. We will examine the ambivalence to democracy in the classical world and see how the ancient theorists’ concerns ‘land’ on a contemporary audience.
  Readings: Aristotle, Plato
• Week 2: Democracy in the modern era—resisting the divine right of kings
  Poignantly for our current moment, this week we revisit the origin point of democracy as a radical political movement. Through the work of John Locke, we will explore the foundation of democratic critics of authoritarianism. In reading Locke, we are reminded of the inherent radicalism of this approach to political life.
  Readings: John Locke, The Second Treatise on Government (excerpts)
• Week 3:  Democracy and society
  By the 19th century, democratic progress in the Anglo-American world was unmistakable. Universal male suffrage, an end to legal slavery in the British Empire and the nascent women’s suffrage movement all demonstrate the success of democracy. Even so, concerns about the limitations of democratic politics began to arise, especially around the issue of social conformity and tyranny of the majority, issues we’ll explore.
  Readings: J.S. Mill, On Liberty
• Week 4: Democracy and industrial capitalism
  As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, theorists of democracy deepened to include critics of liberal democracy. At the same time, the effects of industrial capitalism were impossible to ignore. Debates between liberal and social democracy invigorated democratic movements in this period.
  Readings: Rosa Luxemburg
• Week 5: The mid-20th century—reviving democracy, post-Second World War 
  As the 1960s counter-culture began to unfold, concerns about democracy deepened. New forms of political activism erupted, prompting new forms of political identity and new demands on political life. Democratic theorists tried to accommodate these challenges to classical democratic thought. John Rawls proposed a new lens through which to explore issues of structural inequality and identity politics from within democratic thought.
  Readings: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
• Week 6: Democracy in new age of authoritarianism
  In the final decade of the 20th century, scholars predicted “the end of history” (as Francis Fukuyama’s influential book was titled). Instead, democratic backsliding has been a salient feature of the new century. This week we will explore democratic theory on the defensive.
  Readings: Shoshana Zuboff, “Surveillance Capitalism and the Challenge of Collective Action”;
  Hannah Arendt on totalitarianism and democracy (excerpts)

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the historical context of democratic movements and theory
• Explore a range of sources, including classical democratic theorists and contemporary activists
• Experience the draw of democratic movements from the emergence of democracy to the present
• Recognize how the field of democracy has shifted and changed to accommodate different priorities and sensibilities from various contexts

• Lectures in a facilitated-discussion, seminar format 
• Participation in discussions
  
• Weekly readings and supplementary resources accessed through Canvas
  
• Reflective essay (applicable only to certificate students)

No textbook is required. We will provide all course materials online.