Fall/Winter Timetable

POL2001H1F L0101

Theoretical Bases of Political Institutions

Course Description

Intended primarily for students whose primary field of study is not political theory seeking a graduate-level course in that field. The course will examine familiar political institutions and practices from the perspective of historical and contemporary political-theory debates regarding their foundations, their normative point(s) or purpose(s), and proposals for improving them. Topics to include the rule of law, representative democracy, political parties, public opinion, and the welfare state.

Themes

This course is a survey of leading texts in 20th century political thought. This course blends a “great books approach” with a thematic approach. We will read the works of canonical political theorists and discuss their distinctive contributions, including concepts such as the original position (Rawls), the critique of the social (Arendt), disciplinary power (Foucault), gender (Bulter), postcolonialism (Fanon), and deliberative democracy (Habermas). At the same time, we will pay attention to the way that a debate about political obligation and civil disobedience, normalization and resistance runs through these different works.