Core 3

Department of Sociology

Brooklyn College

Core Studies 3: People, Power, and Politics

Professor Alex Vitale

Fall 2003, Mon, Wed: 3:30-5:10, Room 2301 James

Office: 3101 James, 718-951-5935

Office hours: M 5:15-6:45, Tu 5:30-7, Th 2-3 PM

Purpose

The purpose of this course is to explore the concept of democracy in the history of the United States. We will examine the historical conflicts over the form and function of American democracy in relationship to issues of social class, race, and gender. What are the institutions of democracy, and how do they operate? Who has been excluded from the democratic process? How have changes in American democracy come about? What are the current challenges facing America’s democratic ideal? We will read a number of historic documents related to the struggles over the nature of American Democracy and compare these to current debates over the role of democracy in contemporary society.

Required Text

People, Power, and Politics, 10^th edition, available in the Brooklyn College Bookstore.

Requirements

Class Participation 15%: Students are expected to be in class on time and well prepared. This means reading the assignment, considering the study questions, and participating in classroom discussions. You should be prepared to be called upon to answer questions at any time.

Short Essays 20%: There will be four 1-2 page essays in which you will relate a recent New York Times article to the current class theme. You will get a more specific handout for each essay.

Midterm Exam 25%: There will be a midterm exam based on the study questions following each of the assigned readings.

Final Exam 40%: The final exam will also be based on the study questions and will cover material from the entire semester.

Ground Rules

If you miss class, contact the instructor by email before the next class to receive any missed assignments, handouts, etc.
Please do not disturb class with cell phones, side conversations, or excessive eating in class
Plagiarism (writing someone else’s words as your own), sharing your exam or paper with another student, or copying another student’s paper or exam will result in an F in the course.
If you feel you are not doing as well as you would like in the course you should come and see me in my office or after class. Grades can not be adjusted after an assignment is completed or once the semester is over.

Course Schedule

9/3 Introduction

9/8 The Declaration of Independence (1776) and The United States Constitution (1787)

9/10 The Federalist Papers 10 and 51 (1787-1788)

9/15 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835, 1840)

9/17 First Essay Due, Video in class

9/22 The People v. Hall (1854) and Dread Scott v. Sanford (1857)

9/24 Fredrick Douglas, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (1852)

9/29 W.E.B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America (1935) and Ida B. Wells, A Red

Record (1895)

10/1 Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma (1944)

10/7 James Baldwin, "In Search of the Majority" from Nobody Knows My Name (1960), and

Vine DeLoria Custer Died for Your Sins (1969)

10/8 Helen Zia, "To Market, To Market, New York Style" (2000)

10/15 Second Essay Due, Review session

10/20 Midterm Exam

10/22 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Address at the Seneca Falls Convention (1844) and Seneca Falls

Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions (1844)

10/27 Emma Goldman, "Marriage and Love" (1910) and "Woman Suffrage" (1917)

10/29 Margaret Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control (1931)

11/3 Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963) and Phyllis Shlafly, The Power of Positive

Women (1977)

11/5 Third Essay Due, video in class

11/10 Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844)

11/12 Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)

11/17 Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904) and "Postscript:

The Concepts of Status Groups and Classes" (1925)

11/19 William Graham Sumner, What the Social Classes Owe Each Other (1883) and Franklin

D. Roosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address (1932)

11/24 C. Wright Mills, White Collar (1951)

12/1 Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (1962)

12/3 Fourth Essay Due, video in class

12/8 Carl Wittman, "A Gay Manifesto" (1970)

12/10 Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

12/15 Review Session

12/18 Final Exam