POLS 486 Citizenship and Civic Life in the 21^st Century Citizenship

Dr. Brunell

Spring 2014

Course Purposes

To educate students about citizenship and civic life, mostly as they evolved in the American context, but to explore other traditions and cultural practices as needed, if desired.

To discuss with students how the practices of good citizenship can best be nurtured, practiced and expressed in the 21^st Century.

To reclaim the mythology of civic and political life and to help students discover civic and political heroes whose character and behavior they can seek to emulate.

To give students an opportunity to explore the principles and values that undergird their civic traditions and to learn to articulate their own in the abstract and vis-à-vis contemporary political issues that matter to them.

Learning Outcomes

The course will develop student learning in the following Learning Outcomes sought by the Political Science Department:

KNOWLEDGE. Evidence of factual and theoretical knowledge about the historical evolution of American political culture and traditions of civic life.

WRITING. The ability to WRITE coherently, logically and persuasively about politics (e.g., public affairs, political issues, matters of civic interest, problems that confront the world, issues of social justice).

SPEAKING. The ability to SPEAK coherently, logically and persuasively about politics (e.g., public affairs, political issues, matters of civic interest, problems that confront the world, issues of social justice).

VALUES. The ability to identify one’s own political values and to assess others’ political statements in terms of the values and ideals that matter to them.

JUDGMENT. The ability to reach a sound political judgment based on analysis of factual evidence and political argument.

OPENMIND. The ability to see facts as they are and yet seriously contemplate unrealized possibilities.

CIVIC INTEREST. An interest in public-spirited participation in civic affairs, including as a spectator.

Units

1. What is Citizenship? Citizenship in evolutionary perspective

2. The American Civic Tradition

Myths and heroes

The interior and exterior dimensions of democracy

3. What do good citizens do? Practicing good citizenship

Civic engagement

Issue exploration

Dialogue with other citizens

Reflection

Texts and Selected Readings

C – found in Course Content in Blackboard; J – find in journals through Foley Library

Readings for Unit 1 on Citizenship:

Held, David. 1995. “Stories of Democracies Old and New.” Democracy and the Global Order: From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance. Stanford: Stanford University Press. (C)

Van Gustareen, Herman. 1994. “Four Conceptions of Citizenship.” In Bart van Steenbergen, ed. The Condition of Citizenship. London, Thousand Oaks, New Dehli: Sage. (C)

Alba, Richard D. 1995. “Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe/Ausländer--Aussiedler--Asyl: Eine Bestandsaufnahme” (Books). Contemporary Sociology 24(4): 326-329.

Schattle, Hans. 2012. “A Dual Dynamic between Globalization and Citizenship.” Globalization & Citizenship. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. (C)

Reading for Unit 2 on The American Civic Tradition

Needleman, Jacob. 2002. The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam (Penguin Group). (C)

Readings for Unit 3 on What Good Citizens Do

Tocqueville, Alexis de. 1990. “Chapter VII: Relation of Civil to Political Associations” and “Chapter XII: Political Associations in the United States.” Democracy in America. Vol I. New York: Vintage Books. (C)

Arendt, Hannah. 2003. Excerpts from The Human Condition. In Joseph Losco and Leonard Williams, eds. Political Theory: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Vol. II. Machiavelli to Rawls. 2^nd Edition. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Company. (C)

Putnam, Robert N. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.”

Journal of Democracy 6(1): 65-78. (J)

PS: Political Science & Politics. Symposium: Political Civility. Volume 45. Issue 3. (July 2012). (J)

Graded Assignments

Class attendance and participation 10%

Paper 1 on your civic/political hero (5-7 pgs) 20%

Paper 2 on issue of contemporary political concern that you are passionate about (5-7 pgs) 20%

Group Presentation on your issue 10%

Paper 3 report on your participant-observation of civic group(s) (7-10 pgs) 20%

Final Exam Paper on changes in your conception of civic life, good citizenship (10-15 pgs) 20%

Guidelines for each paper will be posted in Blackboard