PS 240 SPRING 2009

INTRODUCTION TO
POLITICAL THEORY
TR 11AM-12:15PM 213 Kastle Hall
introtopoliticaltheory.pbwiki.com

INTRODUCTION:
This is an introductory course in ideologies and political theory. In PS 240 we seek to acquire a critical
understanding of contemporary society and politics through the lens of the political ideologies and
worldviews from which they have emerged. Primarily we will concern ourselves with the study of the
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concept of ideology and the major political ideologies of the 19 and 20 centuries, including Liberalism,
Marxism, Conservatism, Fascism and Anarchism. We will examine their views on citizenship, democracy,
power, justice, equality, human nature, freedom, civil society, economics, history and epistemology. We
will also examine how each of these ideologies might explain and evaluate current social, economic and
political conditions, and which courses of political action they might recommend to remedy these “defects”
or promote a more “positive” future.

In PS 240 we will be studying a wide variety of ideologies and perspectives, such that each of you can
expect to confront ideas, values, and beliefs that differ a great deal from your own. It is likely that we will
study concepts and ideas that you will find offensive, wrong, and/or highly questionable. However, the
purpose of this course is not merely to criticize ideas with which we disagree, nor to indoctrinate you into
a certain set of beliefs or a particular worldview; rather, we will seek an empathetic understanding of
these concepts, learning how politics and culture can be approached from a multitude of ideological
perspectives. One of the major learning goals of this course is to teach you to think critically about politics
and the political, and a healthy dose of reasoned skepticism will likely come in handy. Letʼs join together
in an active learning community this semester and investigate these interconnected issues of ideology,
political change and contemporary society!

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

Instructor: Dr. Christopher S. Rice Email: Christopher.Rice@uky.edu

Office: 1649 Patterson Office Tower Telephone: 257-7030
Office Hours: TR 3:30pm-5pm Web: christopherscottrice.com

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Grades and Examinations: Your final course grade will be based on five (5)
components:
• Exam I (February 17) – 20%
• Exam II (March 26) – 20%
• Exam III (April 23) – 20%

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 • Final Exam (May 7) – 30%
• Attendance – 10%

Course Readings: The following two (2) texts are required reading for this course:
nd
• Nancy S. Love. Understanding Dogmas and Dreams: A Text (2 ed.). Washington, DC: CQ
Press, 2006.
• Nancy S. Love, ed. Dogmas and Dreams: A Reader in Modern Political Ideologies. Washington,
DC: CQ Press, 2006.

All of the reading in this syllabus is REQUIRED. You should read all of the assigned material before the
class period for which it is assigned, be prepared to discuss it in class, and also be prepared to be
examined on it even if it is not discussed in class. Our class time will not be spent simply “going over”
the assigned readings. Rather, the readings will serve as our point of departure for the lectures and class
discussion. Indeed, most lectures will involve information not contained in the readings. So do the
readings for each class on a timely basis! You have been warned.

Exams: There will be three exams given during the course of the semester and a cumulative final
exam given during exam week. All exams will be multiple-choice. You are required to bring two (2) #2
pencils (already sharpened) with an eraser. Review questions for each exam, as well as PowerPoints for
lectures covered by each exam, may be found on the course website, usually about a week before the
exam. If you need to reschedule the final exam (see http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/finals-spring.htm for
acceptable reasons for this), you are required by university regulations to submit your request in writing to
me at least two weeks in advance.

Makeup exams will be given only for university-excused absences (See “Excused Absences” below) or if
you have obtained approval prior to the absence. If you miss an exam with an unexcused absence you
will receive a zero for the exam. If the absence is due to a foreseen reason, written verification will be
required at least one week before the scheduled exam. Permission to miss an exam must be secured
BEFORE the scheduled exam time unless the cause of the absence is unforeseen. If the exam must be
missed due to an unforeseen reason, it is your responsibility to contact me ASAP following the exam (by
phone, email or in person), but in no event later than one week following the absence. All makeup exams
for the semester will be held on the final day of classes during our regularly scheduled class period in our
regular classroom. There will be no alternative times or locations for the make-up exams.

Attendance: Regardless of what you may have heard, attendance is very important for success in
most college courses. This is especially true for my courses. A great amount of the lecture material will
not appear in the course readings, and you are responsible for all information presented in the lectures.
Moreover, the lectures will provide important clues as to what things are likely to show up on the
examinations. It is highly unlikely that you will do well in this course without regular and engaged
attendance.

For purposes of this course, attendance will be taken through the use of “attendance cards.” You MUST
bring a 3x5 index card to class every day. Other sizes of index card or scraps of paper, etc. WILL NOT
BE ACCEPTED. At some point during each class period you will be required to write a brief response to
the Question of the Day and turn this in to the TA. You will be awarded 1 attendance point for each dayʼs
attendance card on which the Question of the Day and your name are filled out BY YOU. You may not fill
out an attendance card for any other student. If we catch anyone doing this (we will compare handwriting
on the cards regularly and at random), the student falsely filling out the attendance card will lose their
attendance point for the day as well as the student for whom they were filling out the card. Attendance
credit will also not be given if you arrive late or leave early from class, or leave and return during class, or
are otherwise not present while Question of the Day is offered and cards are filled out and collected. Your
class participation grade (10% of your final course grade) will be determined as a percentage of your total

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number of earned participation points out of 20 points. That percentage will then be used to calculate 10%
of your final course grade. Because this effectively means you get to drop ~3 days worth of class
participation without penalty (for whatever reason), there will be NO makeup attendance
opportunities given for either excused or unexcused absences or for tardiness/leaving
early/leaving & reentering class. You have been warned!

Please do not bring us doctorʼs notes, yellow slips from the Clinic, funeral programs, etc. in regards to
missed attendance points. We will not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences for
purposes of attendance, only for exams (see “Exams”). Budget your allotted absences accordingly. You
may also find that coming every day is an excellent extra credit opportunity. If you accumulate more than
30 class participation points during the semester, we will still divide that number by 20. So, were you to
accumulate 23 class participation points during the semester, your class participation grade would be
115%. It is your responsibility to keep up with your own point totals for class participation throughout the
semester. Neither Dr. Rice nor the TA will calculate your class participation grade for you, so please do
not ask. Bring your 3x5 index card. EVERY. DAY. No exceptions.

COURSE POLICIES:

Classroom Standards: I expect all students to behave in a professional manner during class
time. This means coming to class on time and being ready to start class at 11am. It is disrespectful
to me and to your fellow students to come late and disrupt class, so be on time. I will not tolerate chronic
tardiness, and if you arrive to class more than 5 minutes late, you may be asked to turn around and leave.
Also, unless you have obtained prior approval from me, you may not leave class early. Furthermore, I do
not tolerate rude and disruptive classroom behavior. During class, refrain from talking during the lecture
(unless it is to ask me a question!), reading a newspaper, doing crosswords, sudoku or other
puzzles/games, sleeping, text messaging or other cellphone use, or listening to your iPod or other .mp3
players. When in class, turn-off your cell phones – silencing will not suffice when many of your phones
have a “vibrate” function that could crack a walnut. Finally, due to their potential for distracting you and
your fellow classmates, laptop computers or other devices that may be used to access the Internet are
NOT permitted in class. I reserve the right to dismiss from class any student in violation of these policies.

Email Policy: You may always feel free to contact me via email. However, I do have a few general
guidelines you must follow when doing so. Always begin the subject line of an email to me with “PS
240:”. This will put your email into the appropriate inbox, allowing me to respond to your email in a timely
fashion. Emails that do not have “PS 240:” at the beginning of the subject line may not receive a
response. Also, emails are NOT text messages/IM communications. When emailing me you should open
the email by addressing me as Dr. Rice, identifying who you are and which course you are in (and at what
time the course meets), concisely providing the nature of your problem/request, and then signing off with
your name. If you have followed these directions, you may expect a response within 48 hours of its
receipt. If you have a pressing emergency, you should speak to me during office hours, before or after
class, or by phone. As a final note, I will NOT provide your grades (nor discuss any personally-identifiable
grade information) by email or over the phone.

A Brief Note on Cheating & Plagiarism: In addition to being in generally poor

form, plagiarism and cheating are theft of othersʼ intellectual property. Plagiarism or cheating will NOT be
tolerated. If cheating or plagiarism is found to occur, it will be dealt with according to University Senate
Rule 6.4 DISPOSITION OF CASES OF ACADEMIC OFFENSES.

Classroom and Learning Accommodations: Any student with a disability who is

taking this course and needs classroom or exam accommodations should contact the Disability Resource
Center, 257-2754, room 2 Alumni Gym, jkarnes@uky.edu.

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One Last Thing – Dropping the Course: Not that I hope you choose to leave our
little soiree, but there are a couple of dates you should keep in mind should the need arise. The last day
to drop this course without it appearing on your transcript is February 4, 2009. The last day to withdraw
from the course is April 3, 2009.

COURSE SCHEDULE:
NOTE: All items in the Course Schedule are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.
These changes will be announced in class and/or on the course website. You are responsible for all
announced changes, so come to class and visit the course website often.

Introduction to Political Theory and Ideology (January 20,22)

Understanding D&D, Ch.1

Liberalism (January 27,29, February 3,5,10,12)

Understanding D&D, Ch.2
Kramnick, “Equal Opportunity and the ʻRace of Lifeʼ” (D&D)
John Locke, “Treatise of Civil Government” (D&D)
John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” (D&D)
T.H. Green, “Lecture on Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract” (D&D)
Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” (D&D)

EXAM I (February 17)

Conservatism (February 19,24,26)

Understanding D&D, Ch.3
Michael Oakeshott, “On Being Conservative” (D&D)
Irving Kristol, “The Neoconservative Persuasion” (D&D)

Marxism/Socialism (March 3,5,10,12,24)

Understanding D&D, Ch.4
Karl Marx, “Estranged Labor” (D&D)
Karl Marx, “Value, Price and Profit” (D&D)
V.I. Lenin, “Imperialism” (D&D)
V.I. Lenin, “State and Revolution” (D&D)

Spring Break (March 17,19) –– NO CLASS

EXAM II (March 26)

Anarchism (March 31, April 2,7,9,14)

Understanding D&D, Ch.5
Thoreau, “Essay on Civil Disobedience” (D&D)
Emma Goldman, “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For” (D&D)
Petyr Kropotkin, “Mutual Aid” (D&D)
Bakunin, “Scientific Anarchism” (D&D)

Fascism (April 16,21)

Understanding D&D, Ch.6
Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf” (D&D)

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EXAM III (April 23)

Ideology & Globalization in the 21st Century (April 28)

Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations” (D&D)

Make-Up Exam Day (April 30)

FINAL EXAM (May 7) – 1-3pm, 213 Kastle Hall