1. Wednesday, August 25

"The modern nation-state: Sometimes a common denominator"

It's a hard point for us to grasp, but states--as we understand them--have not always existed and still don't exist in many parts of the world. "Nation-states," as I define them above, are an even rarer form of political organization. They have been around for only a few centuries, and their desirability is still contested (often brutally) almost everywhere we look.

2. Friday, August 27

Discusssion #1: Who belongs to America and why? Samuel Huntington is one of America's most influential political sciences. But is he an influence for the good or for bad. Many people have been deeply offended by his article, "The Hispanic Challenge," others argue that Huntington is merely telling it "like it is." I have two reasons for asking you to read the article (as well as The West and the Rest). First, I want you to get emotional because real-world politics is nothing if it is not emotional. Second, the article is directly related to contemporary conflicts over the building of the modern nation-state.

Readings:

(R) S. Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge,” Foreign Policy
(S) R. Scruton, The West and the Rest, pp. vii-xi

Take a stand:

Does Samuel Huntington think that 1) Hispanics and 2) Catholics belong in the American nation-state? If so, under what conditions? If no, why not?

3. Monday, August 30

"Why are we all Modern?"

We may not always like it, but we are in many ways trapped in a modern society. In some ways, becoming part of the Notre Dame community represents an attempt to separate ourselves from aspects of the modern world. But can we succeed?

Today, we stand back from the nation-state and ask what we mean by the abstract term "modernity," as exemplified in revolutions in production, communications, social identity, and politics in the past couple centuries.

Readings:

(CR) C. Black, et al., Rebirth, pp. 4-25
(S) The West and the Rest, ch. 1

Virtual Readings:

Your generation has already benefitted from a truly revolutionary development in communications technology: the internet. Right now, we can only barely glimpse the internet's future implications, but virtual property is one of them.

Your generation is also experiencing revolutionary changes in attitudes about the human body. Genetic engineering is one well-known form, but this revolution is also evident in seemingly more mundane changes in areas like beauty products (a $200 billion business worldwide) and what I would call "human sculpturing." For example, see "The Swan." On these themes, I strongly recommend that you read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Reflect upon your generation's priorities. If you have already read the book, read it again.

4. Wednesday, September 1

"Liberalism is one Form of Modernity"

This is a very important point because there are (or there could be) other forms of modernity that are not necessarily liberal. As we shall see, elements of modernity were conspicuously present in the old communist world. Of course, these states were not at all liberal.

Readings:

(CR) John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, selections
(CR) Cranston, “John Stuart Mill and Liberty”

John Stuart Mill is the classic representative of liberal thinking. How do you see elements of his thought in all of our values and priorities? What would it be like to be around someone who didn't share these values?

If we think about the changes in western political attitudes that have occurred over the past two centuries, we are all liberals. Of course, Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, Social democrats, Christian democrats, and Greens express all kinds of different approaches to public policy. But, they operate with a certain constellation of political perspectives that we recognize as political liberalism.

Mill would like to take all of these partisan views and subject them to rigorous debate and tough, incisive questioning to create the best liberal-democratic state. Although Mill can't be credited with the following quotation, he certainly could have said it:

"So here's a bulletin about the Republican Convention and the upcoming debates: Help is not on the way. Hope is not on the way. Nothing is on the way, except how well the candidates can put across their preprogrammed points. Obviously, this is not the way it should be. The nation deserves rigorous debate and tough, incisive questioning of the candidates. Our lives could be at stake in this election, and the stage play that has become the election process is certainly not making us any safer." (Bill O'Reilly)

Although I am not requiring that you read Kingdon's America the Unusual at this point, please feel free to begin the book since he addresses many of the themes we're discussing. In particular, Kingdon is concerned with why liberal democracies take different forms (despite sharing certain core principles).

5. Friday, September 3

Discussion #2: Why are we all liberals? (Sorry about that.)

What!? How could Republicans be liberals? What would Bill O'Reilly say? Is George Bush a liberal? Rush Limbaugh?

Reading:

The Triumph and Collapse of Liberalism

Another question: Why is liberalism so different from other forms of political thought? What about liberal states? Germany is often referred to as a "militant democracy" because it actively prohibits the publication of "anti-democratic" literature. Is this a liberal policy? Are there similar practices in the US? Or do we tolerate everything?

Read about it: Germany's policy vs. Nazi propaganda

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