Sylabus
IMS FSV UK – Katedra severoamerických studií
Winter Semester
Garant
Tomáš Klvaňa, Ph D, MA
Course
Populism in the United States
Class Description
Populism in politics is among most mentioned words today. The course sets it in the context of U.S. history and Western political thought. It explores the question of how we got here and why. Students will read short texts and excerpts from political philosophy and political science. They will watch key political speeches. They are required to participate actively in class discussions, analyze and evaluate the ideas introduced in class lectures, texts and videos.
Desired Outcomes
Students will understand the phenomenon of populism in the U.S. politics from political, historic and philosophical perspectives. They will demonstrate an ability to explain current wave of populism, which threatens liberal democracy, in its various contexts.
Assessment Components 10% -- Class Attendance 25% -- Class Activity (discussion moderated by professor based on course reading, films and lectures; possible short quizzes based on readings) 25% -- Midterm Presentations (students present in teams on selected topics from U.S. political history: Anti-Federalist Movement in opposition to the constitution in 1787; the Jacksonian Democracy of the 1820s and 1830s; the Populist Movement of the late 19th century; Father Charles Coughlin; Huey Long; George Wallace) 40% -- Final Examination (three hand-written essays in class; comprehensive; open notes and books: students are allowed to use the course resources)
A failure to submit or fulfill any of the above would result in the F grade for the course.
Assessment Expectations
Grade A: Excellent work demonstrating a critical and observant approach to the subject, sound research and an ability to express thoughts cogently and persuasively. Grade B: Very good work. Grade C: Satisfactory work. Grade F: Failure to achieve a passable standard.
Grading
A = 91-100, B = 81-90, C = 71-80, F = 70 and below
Required Text(s)
Book (excerpts)/Papers
· Publius Decius Mus – The Flight 93 Election. The Claremont Institute, Sept. 5, 2016 http://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-flight-93-election/
· Richard Hofstadter – The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Harvard University Press, 1965, 3-40
· Plato – Apology http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html
· Plato – The Republic, Book VIII http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.9.viii.html
· Harvey Mansfield – Machiavelli’s Enterprise. The New Criterion, October 2013 https://www.newcriterion.com/issues/2013/10/machiavellias-enterprise
· Thomas Hobbes – De Cive (excerpts) http://www.unilibrary.com/ebooks/Hobbes,%20Thomas%20-%20De%20Cive.pdf
· Mark D. Brewer – Populism in American Politics. De Gruyter, The Forum 2016; 14(3): 249-264 https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/for.2016.14.issue-3/for-2016-0021/for-2016-0021.pdf
· Robert R. Barr – Populists, Outsiders and Anti-Establishment Politics. Party Politics 2009, vol. 15, 29-48
· Benjamin Moffit, Simon Tormey. Rethinking Populism: Politics, Mediatisation and Political Style. Political Studies: 2014 vol. 62, 381-397
· Bart Bonikowski – Three Lessons of Contemporary Populism in Europe and the United States. The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Fall/Winter 2016, vol. XXIII, Issue I, 9-24 https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bonikowski/files/bonikowski_-_three_lessons_of_contemporary_populism_in_the_united_states_and_europe.pdf
· Isaiah Berlin – To Define Populism, The Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library (transcript of an LSE Conference, London, 1967), 1-19 http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/lists/bibliography/bib111bLSE.pdf
· William F. Buckley Jr. – On Experiencing Gore Vidal: Can there be any justification in calling a man a queer before ten million people on television? Esquire, August 1969, 108-129 https://www.scribd.com/doc/273145095/On-Experiencing-Gore-Vidal
Speeches (transcripts). Videos of the speeches will be analyzed in class.
· Donald J. Trump’s 2016 RNC Acceptance Speech https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/DJT_Acceptance_Speech.pdf
· Donald J. Trump’s 2017 Inaugural Address https://www.whitehouse.gov/inaugural-address
· Ronald W. Reagan’s 1964 A Time for Choosing TV Address http://cdn.constitutionreader.com/files/pdf/constitution/ch123.pdf
· Barry M. Goldwater’s 1964 RNC Acceptance Speech http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwaterspeech.htm
· Bernie Sanders’s speech on the state of the political revolution at the People’s Summit 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf0KiVubDr
Films/Videos
· Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal. (2015) Documentary film by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville.
· Video interviews with Harvey Mansfield and Mark Blitz
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1
Introduction. Donald J. Trump: “I Alone Can Fix It”. How Did We Get Here?
In-class videos: Donald Trump (excerpts)
Week 2
The Flight 93 Election
In-class videos: Donald J. Trump’s Inaugural Address
Required reading: The Flight 93 Election & The DJT Inaugural Address transcript
Week 3
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
Required reading: Hofstadter
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