210064 SE BAK9: Political Theories and Research on Theories (2019S)

That the terms republic and democracy are used synonymously today would have been unthinkable during the times of the popular revolutions in the 18th and 19th century. The kind of political system that is usually termed “representative democracy” was developed not only in opposition to the monarchies in England and France, but also as an alternative to the ancient Greek model of democracy, which was deemed too instable. The decision to turn to the republic as the specifically modern version of self-government, has always also been an intentional effort to effectively limit and tame popular sovereignty. Stability becomes the core paradigm of political modernity. This seminar will trace the differences between republic and democracy and interrogate authors such as Abbé de Mably, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine and Toussaint L‘Ouverture.

This is a seminar in political theory and the history of ideas. It is directed towards students, who are willing and motivated to engage with complex historical and theoretical texts and discuss them in class.

By the end of this seminar, students should be able to
1) discuss and explain various theoretical concepts;
2) articulate and deploy complex political theories and relate them to contemporary academic and public debates;
3) critically assess the adequacy of core political concepts in light of contemporary and historical events;
4) defend and justify written and spoken arguments with strong textual evidence.