Midcoast Senior College Course Syllabus for
Political Compromise: Necessary for Democracy But Unacceptable to the Bases of Our Political Parties--Are We Doomed?
Spring 2019 Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 at Midcoast Senior College, 29 Burbank Ave, Brunswick, ME 04011 MSC Room 1
March 12-April 30
Copyright © 2019 Bruce W. Hauptli
Course Description:
The din and deadlock of public life in America reveal the deep disagreement that
pervades our democracy. The disagreement is not only political but also
moral as citizens and their representatives increasingly take extreme and
intransigent positions. A better kind of public discussion is needed and in their
book The Spirit of Compromise: Why
Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It (2012) Amy Gutmann and
Dennis Thompson provide an argument for a view they call “deliberative democracy”
which could help avoid the problem. In our
class we will have the opportunity come to understand the core elements of the
theory of “deliberative democracy,” and we will critically assess the authors’
arguments for it as well as the possibility that it might offer some hope of promoting
improvement in our democratic governance.
Further Detail:
The back cover of Amy Gutmann and Denis Thompson’s Democracy and Disagreement: Why Moral Conflict Cannot Be Avoided in Politics, and What Should Be Done About It (1998) says that
they develop a principled framework for
opponents to come together on moral and political issues....they show how a
deliberative democracy can address some of our most difficult controversies—from
abortion and affirmative action to health care and welfare—and can allow diverse
groups separated by class, race, religion, and gender to reason together.
Their work goes beyond that of most
political theorists and social scientists by exploring both the principles for
reasonable argument and their application to actual cases.
Not only do the authors suggest how
deliberative democracy can work, they also show why improving our collective
capacity for moral argument is better than referring all disagreements to
procedural politics or judicial institutions. Democracy
and Disagreement presents a compelling approach to how we might resolve some
of our most trying moral disagreements and live with those that will inevitably
persist, on terms that all of us can respect.
Over the past 20 years Gutmann (President of the University of Pennsylvania) and
Thompson (the Emeritus Alfred Whitehead Professor of Political Philosophy at Harvard
University) have developed their theory and explained why
moral conflict cannot be avoided in democratic politics.
They also offer a promising way of addressing such conflict.
The work we will study attempts to popularize their theory and advocates
putting it into practice. This 20
year period has seen a considerable increase in intolerance, conflict, and
gridlock—as I write this course proposal in October of 2018 we sit on the
precipice of a highly contentious mid-term election and pipe bombs are being
delivered to political and opinion leaders.
In March and April of 2019 we will have the opportunity come to understand the core
elements of the theory of “deliberative democracy,” the authors’ argument for
it, and we will critically assess them and the possibility that it might offer
some hope of promoting improvement in our democratic governance.
Text: Amy
Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, The Spirit of
Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It (revised
edition) (New Haven: Princeton U.P., 2014).
ISBN:
978-0691160856. Amazon has the
paperback edition for $16.64, the Kindle edition for $9.99, and the hardcover
edition for $18.99.
Anticipated Course Schedule: [Note; The "supplements" for the classes may be viewed before and/or after the classes and will remain on the website, they are intended to provide additional information and to put the information in an orderly order--something which sometimes gets lost in class discussions on the topics. Since they are composed before the class, there may be more material covered in the supplement than in the class. Where this material is central, it will be covered in the ensuing class. This material is "supplemental," and if you don't find it helpful, please ignore it (or ask questions about it).
Week 1--March 12: Introduction
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Introduction," pp. 1-24 before the first class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement "An Introduction to the Course" (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements).
Week 2--March 19: Valuing Compromise:
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Valuing Compromise," pp. 25-62 before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement "Valuing Compromise" (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements).
Week 3--March 26: Resisting Compromise:
Please re-read Gutmann and Thompson's "Valuing Compromise," pp. 25-62, and read their "Resisting Compromise," pp. 63-98 before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement "Valuing and Resisting Compromise" (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements).
Week 4--April 2: Seeking Compromise:
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Seeking Compromise," pp. 99-143 before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement “Cascading Intransigence and Seeking Compromise” (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements).
Week 5--April 9: Campaigning vs. Governing:
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Campaigning v. Governing," pp. 144-166 before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement "Democracy, Campaigning, and Governing" (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements).
Week 6--April 16: Governing With Campaigning:
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Governing With Campaigning," pp. 167-203 before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement "Governing Versus and With Campaigning" (click on this link to view the supplement--there will be a link back to this syllabus at the end of each of the supplements). Two links to additional reading are included in this supplement: New York Times: "The Democratic Electorate On Twitter Is Not the Actual Democratic Electorate" and “A Call for Bold Civility and Kindness”.
Week 7--April 23: Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Conclusion," pp. 204-218
Please read Gutmann and Thompson's "Conclusion," pp. 204-218
before class. You are also encouraged to look at my supplement “Governing With
Campaigning Continued, and Conclusions”
Week 8--April 30: You are also encouraged to look at my supplement “Toleration, Intransigence, and How To Proceed In Either Case”.
Recommended Supplemental Readings:
Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, Democracy and Disagreement: Why Moral Conflict Cannot Be Avoided In Politics, and What Should Be Done About It (Cambridge: Harvard U.P., 1996).
Amy Gutmann, Democratic Education (Princeton: Princeton U.P., 1999).
Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, Why Deliberative Democracy? (Princeton: Princeton U.P., 2004).
Midcoast Senior College Website
Email: hauptli@fiu.edu
Last revised on 04/27/19.
I greatly appreciate comments and corrections--typos and infelicities are all too common and the curse of "auto-correct" plagues me!