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POLITICAL SCIENCE 13 Power and Justice

POLITICAL SCIENCE 13 Power and Justice. INTRODUCTION. Instructor: Tracy B. Strong Office: SSB 374 Office hours: M: 2-3; W 11-12; by appt (534 7081) or drop in Email: tstrong@ ucsd.edu I am assisted by Ike S harpless and Caleb Scoville . Outline and logic of the course.

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POLITICAL SCIENCE 13 Power and Justice

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  1. POLITICAL SCIENCE 13Power and Justice

  2. INTRODUCTION • Instructor: Tracy B. Strong • Office: SSB 374 • Office hours: M: 2-3; W 11-12; by appt (534 7081) or drop in • Email: tstrong@ucsd.edu • I am assisted by Ike Sharpless and Caleb Scoville.

  3. Outline and logic of the course • Requirements for the course include attendance, participation in section (10%), 2 midterms (25% each) and a final in-class exam (40%). • March 31: Introduction: Political Theory, the Political, Politics, and Political Science. • SECTION ONE: Power and the politics of identity in difficult situations • April 2: FILM: "Obedience" by Stanley Milgram • April 7-9: The limits of selfhood and identity: • READING: Bettelheim: "Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations" (reader) • April 14,16: The self and political commitment • READING: Koestler, Darkness at Noon (BOOKSTORE) • April 21, 22: What does it mean to be a citizen? • READING: Plato, Apology, Crito (BOOKSTORE) • April 28 : What obligations does a citizen or anyone else have? • READING: Pitkin, “Obligation and Consent” (reader) • FIRST MIDTERM, April 30 IN CLASS –BRING BLUEBOOKS • SECTION TWO: Justice and the politics of identity in a changing world • May 5, 6: Persons, Humans and Citizens • READING: "Griswold v. Connecticut"; "Roe v. Wade"; "Webster v. Reproductive Health Services"; "Planned Parenthood v. Casey": in Shapiro, ed. The Abortion Decisions (BOOKSTORE). • May 12, 14: Selfhood and Society • READING: Mill, On Liberty (BOOKSTORE) • May 19: Politics, Contracts and Technology • READING: Locke (reader); “In the Matter of Baby M” (2 Court decisions in reader) • SECOND MIDTERM ON May 21 – BRING BLUEBOOKS • MAY 25 = MEMORIAL DAY • SECTION THREE: The Limits of Citizenship and Citizenship at the Limit • START READING ELLISON • May 28: If not a citizen then what? • READING: Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” (reader); (Optional) Kateb, “Walt Whitman and the Culture of Democracy” (reader) • June 2, 4: Being in and being out: who speaks for whom? • READING: Ellison, Invisible Man (BOOKSTORE) • FINAL IN CLASSROOM AT SET TIME (June 12, 11:30-2:30)

  4. Reading: you are asked to read the works of a number of individuals. • How to approach them. • These are particular individuals -- political theorists.

  5. Political Theory • That which is POLITICAL is about the arrangements that people make to live a life in common, that is with others who are not their blood relations. • Implies sharing (having something in common) and thus difference or individuality. (I and you) • I like to think of human activities as answers to questions. Thus: • psychology is the answer to the question of what or who am I? • Religion to the question of why do I suffer • economics to that of how do I get what I want • morality to that of what should I do • and POLITICS to that of the simultaneous answer to what am I and who are we? (Eg what one is claiming when I says (I take this to be political) “I am an American” – It is thus a claim on others.

  6. What makes something political? • I hold a claim that I make to apply to others A. “Eavesdropping on private conversations without a warrant is un-American.” B. “How can you say that? The country is in danger from terrorists.” • “Well, that is what I feel.” “A’s” response is not political

  7. A. “Eavesdropping on private conversations without a warrant is un-American.” B. “How can you say that? The country is in danger from terrorists.” A. “The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution clearly forbids it.” A’s response is political.

  8. But not resolved • B. “In cases like this one the President can make an exception. Lincoln did it during the Civil War.” • Now we have an argument, an argument that is political. It cannot be resolved except in the interaction of A and B. Hence politics involves conflict.

  9. Note this difference for a non-political exchange A. 2 + 2 = 4. B. I think it is 22. A. No – that is a “plus” sign, not some symbol for association. B. Oh, of course! You are right.

  10. And from this one A. I would like to buy that car. B. It really too expensive for you, given your income. A. Nevertheless, I am going to – I really want it. [Or: Damn! I guess you are right.] Here, no claim is made to something common to the two, there is no “I” to “We” claim.

  11. And this one A. Eavesdropping on private conversations without a warrant is un-American. B. Perhaps so, but that is a small price to pay given the danger. • Here, any notion of a common claim (“being American”) is ruled out. B reveals his preference and willingness to pay a price.

  12. What has gone wrong here? • King Lear (that one) has in the First Act asked “Which of [our daughters] shall we say does love us most?” and proposed to divide his kingdom accordingly. Cordelia famously refuses the test. Lear banishes her and decides to live alternately with others (Goneril and Regan), taking his very large retinue of knights and retainers with him. The daughters object to the extent of Lear’s retinue. He responds:

  13. LEAR [To GONERIL] I'll go with thee:Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,And thou art twice her love. GONERIL Hear me, my lord;What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,To follow in a house where twice so manyHave a command to tend you? REGAN What need one? KING LEAR O, reason not the need: our basest beggarsAre in the poorest thing superfluous:Allow not nature more than nature needs,Man's life's as cheap as beast's:… Act II, sc. 4

  14. What is theory? • THEORY is derived from the Greek word theoros - spectator, often a delegate from one city to another to observe their rituals. • Theory is seeing , getting it. “Oh! I see.” And KNOWING what it is that you have gotten in such a way that you can make it available to yourself and to others. • POLITICAL THEORY is thus understanding about politics: most generally about what humans try to do when they live a life with others. • These political Theorists are central to who we are, i.e. to how we understand ourselves when we live in a political matter. • Who is “we” -- explain. -- anyone who finds these voices in him or her or rejects them. -- provocation as modality of knowing

  15. Political Theory • 1/ who is “we”? What do we find out about about “we”? • E.g. of property 2/ how do we study this in this course? classic texts literary texts (give us a world) scholarly analyses theory in practice(court cases)

  16. Power • 1. power to make a decision • 2. power to set an agenda • 3. power to control what counts as a contestable item

  17. Justice… • Why is it hard to determine it?

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