POT 3203 Fall 2024

Week 3 Module

THEME: Liberalism

DEADLINES:

Deadlines:

Quizzes and Part A Questions: Monday 9/9 at 11:30 pm in Webcourses.

 Part B posts: Wednesday 9/11 at 11:30 pm in Yellowdig.

MATERIALS TO READ THIS WEEK:

Ball et al., chapter 3 Liberalism

View: One video, streaming form the UCF Library (subject to quiz)

French Revolution

13 minutes 31 seconds

https://fod-infobase-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=161080Links to an external site.     i have attached this video transcript below in pdf

ALSO: Examine two statistical figures in Files under Assigned Materials:

 Piketty, Parental Income and Access to University.

Campbell, Comparative Taxation in the Industrialized World.

PRESENTATION

This module will show the many surprising layers of meaning attached to the label and ideology of liberalism. Some students embracing “conservatism” will come to realize this week and next that their ideas are better defined by classical liberalism or libertarianism than by conservatism properly speaking. Ball et al. do a good job at presenting these multiple layers of liberalism.

I will not add to their materials this week. However, in Week 5 we will discuss the question whether the current party polarization prevailing in American politics is driven by ideologies. The answer might surprise some students.

WEEK 3 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Identify the several varieties of liberalism and the historical circumstances in which they emerged.
2. Describe the conceptions of liberty (or freedom) at the core of each variety or variant of liberalism.
3. Show how each variant of liberalism performs the four functions of ideology described in Chapter 1.
4. Discuss Adam Smith’s contributions to the liberal tradition.
5. Describe the differences between welfare-state liberalism and socialism.
6. Identify the main defining features of the liberal conception of democracy, that is, liberal democracy.
7. Know the point and purpose of J. S. Mill’s “harm principle.”
8. Understand the distinction between “positive” and “negative” liberty.
9. Know what the “two selves” or “dual self” (higher and lower selves) doctrine is and how it informs T. H. Green’s and other welfare-state liberals’ understanding of freedom.
10. Understand the “conservative” origins of the first welfare state in Bismarck’s Germany.

PART A TASKS in Webcourses

See Tips for Posting in Part A in Files.

Q-0:  Is there an idea or a claim expressed in the readings that you find difficult or confusing or unclear? If so, tell us which idea this is. Cite the document title and page where you encountered this idea. We cannot help you if the description of what is unclear is overly broad. You do not need to answer this question. If everything is clear, there is not point in answering.

Q-1:  What does the textbook say about the similarities and the differences between the liberalism of FDR and Obama?

200 words minimum. State your word count.

 NOTE: In answering the question in Part A, you must strive to demonstrate that you reflected on the meaning of the readings and viewing. There is no right or wrong answer. There are only answers demonstrating shallow and perfunctory or serious and deep reflections on the material. We want to see the latter.

Your Part A answer is graded 50% for thoughtful content and 50% for good writing.

PART B TASKS in Packback

You must submit three separate posts in Packback.

See Tips for Posting in Part B in Files.

Task-1: Answer the question raised by the instructor. This week’s question is:

Freedom from or Freedom to? The case of Higher Ed.

In your evaluation, are freedom and justice better understood today as freedom from government and as the generalization of unfettered market exchanges in the fashion of neoclassical liberalism or perhaps even of Nozick’s libertarianism? Or are freedom and justice better understood today as the actual ability of all citizens to develop their individual capacities in the fashion of T.H. Green.

In answering this question, do the following:

• Describe the contrast between these various approaches to liberty and justice in the realm of access to higher education.
• Provide concrete examples drawn from the two statistical figures in Files.
• Clearly indicate your preferred conception and justify your selection with arguments.

SOURCE: Ball et. Chapter 3, Piketty and Campbell.