Government 320

G. Calvin Mackenzie

The Rights Revolution and Its Discontents

Fall 2008

Course Description

This course explores a political tradition that has advocated a greater role for government in extending rights, protections, and opportunities to all citizens, particularly minorities, women, and the poor. In the second half of the 20th century, people began to speak of a "rights revolution." The character of that revolution and the criticisms of it are the primary focus of this course.

Course Organization

The class will meet twice a week: usually one meeting for a lecture and the other for a discussion of the week's topic and readings. You should complete each week's assigned reading prior to the lecture on that topic and be prepared to discuss it at the discussion meeting. Everyone will be expected to participate in discussion each week.

Instructor Information

Office: Diamond 267 Ext. 859-5306 E-mail: gcmacken

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday: 11:00 - 11:45am; 1:15 - 2:15pm

Wednesday: 2:45 - 4:00pm

Class Policies

Except in the most unusual circumstances, work submitted by students will be evaluated and returned at the following class.
All work in this course is due no later than the beginning of class on the date on which it is assigned. Work received after the assigned due date will be penalized at the rate of one-half letter grade per day. There will be no extensions of this deadline nor alterations of the penalty for late submission.
Everyone is expected to attend every class. Your participation in class is valued, and the quality of your participation will be a component of your grade for the course. Any absence will lower that grade. Anyone who misses 3 class meetings risks being dropped from the course.
Successful completion of the course requires the submission of all written assignments and satisfactory compliance with attendance expectations.
Each class will begin promptly at the scheduled time. You should be in your seat and ready to begin at that time. Respect should be paid to anyone who is speaking to the class, whether student or instructor. Everyone should refrain from leaving the room during class meetings.
No audio, video, or photographs of the class may be recorded without the explicit consent of the instructor.
All telephones, pagers, or other electronic communication devices should be turned off during class time, and none may be brought into the room during exams. The use of laptop computers for note taking is encouraged, but laptops should be used for no other purpose during class meetings.
All college rules regarding originality of student work and plagiarism apply in this class and will be vigorously enforced.

Grades

Course grades will be calculated in the following way:

Class participation = 10%

Argument presentation = 10%

Midsemester exam = 25%

Paper = 30%

Final exam = 25%

Readings

You should purchase the following books for the course:

Robert H. Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline

Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom

Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R.

All other readings will be on electronic reserve or on line. Those on electronic reserve are followed by (R) in the listing below.

Class Arguments

The class will be divided into 4 teams. Each team will be assigned to 3 separate arguments during the semester. The argument dates, the propositions, and the assigned teams are indicated on the class schedule below. The team listed first will support the proposition; the team listed second will oppose it. Team members will work together to formulate and prepare their argument, but one team member only will make the presentation. Each team member will make one such presentation during the semester. The presentation should last not less than 20 nor more than 25 minutes. Presentations may include Powerpoint slides, handouts or any other aids. After the presentations for both teams have finished, the presenters will field questions from the rest of the class. Everyone is expected to pose questions.

The Paper

Everyone will write a 10-12 page paper vigorously arguing for or against one of a list of propositions that will be provided by the instructor. The arguments should be aggressively researched and should rely heavily on the best available empirical evidence. The paper may be in the form of an essay, a policy memorandum, or a legal brief. All papers are due no later than the date indicated in the schedule below.

Topic List and Reading Assignments

Sep 4 Lecture: Course Introduction

FONER, xiii-137

BORK, 1-119

HOFSTADTER, 3-59

Sep 9 Lecture: Populism, Progressivism and Popular Rights

HOFSTADTER, 60-269

FONER, 139-194

Eric Goldman, Rendezvous With Destiny, 66-81, 146-161 (R)

Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism, 1-10, 98-108, 279-305 (R)

Mrs. Arthur Dodge, "Woman Suffrage Opposed to Woman's Rights" Annals (1914), 99-104 (JSTOR)

Charles H. Parkhurst, "The Inadvisability of Woman Suffrage," Annals (1910), 36-37 (JSTOR)

Anna Spencer, "The Logical Basis of Woman Suffrage," Annals (1910), 10-15 (JSTOR)

Sep 11 Discussion: Populism, Progressivism and Popular Rights

Sep 16 Lecture: The New Deal, the State, and the Individual

HOFSTADTER, 270-326

FONER, 195-274

Alan Brinkley, The End of Reform, 3-14 (R)

Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Three Addresses" in Edwin C. Rozwenc, ed., The New Deal: Revolution or Evolution?, 46-61 (R)

Herbert Hoover, "The Revolutionary New Deal" in Otis Graham, ed., The New Deal: The Critical Issues, 81-90 (R)

Sep 18 Discussion: The New Deal, the State, and the Individual

Sep 23 Lecture: Rights and Entitlements: A Great Society?

FONER, 275-306

Murray N. Rothbard, "The Great Society: A Libertarian Critique" (502-511) in Marvin E. Gettleman and David Mermelstein, eds., The Great Society Reader (R)

Paul Goodman, "The Poverty of the Great Society" (512-519) in Marvin E. Gettleman and David Mermelstein, eds., The Great Society Reader (R)

G. Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot, The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s, 84-133 (R)

Allen Matusow, The Unraveling of America, 217-271 (R)

Joseph A. Califano, Jr., "How Great Was the Great Society?" in Barbara C. Jordan and Elspeth Rostow, ed., The Great Society: A Twenty Year Critique, 123-131 (R)

Sep 25 Discussion on the Great Society.

Sep 30 Lecture: Critiques of the Welfare State

FONER, 307-332

Charles Murray, Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980, 147-177 (R)

Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin, "The Conservative Revival" in America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s, 213-228 (R)

Ronald Reagan, "A Time for Choosing" (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganatimeforchoosing.htm)

Hugh Heclo, "General Welfare and Two American Political Traditions," Political Science Quarterly, 101/2 (1986), 179-196 (JSTOR)

Oct 2 Argument 1: In retrospect, the Great Society and the liberal policy initiatives of the 1960s have undermined individual initiative, greatly increased the size and cost of government, and created undesirable dependency on government programs among many of the poorest Americans.

Affirmative: Cal Mackenzie

Negative: Chris Gorud

Oct 7 Lecture: Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience

Martin Luther King, Jr., "A New Day in Birmingham" in Why We Can't Wait, 46-63 (R)

Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/letter.pdf)

Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, 633-672 (R)

G. Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot, The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s, 134-183 (R)

John F. Kennedy, "Speech to the Nation on the Situation at the University of Mississippi" (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/mediaplay.php?id=8915&admin=35)

Lyndon B. Johnson, "Speech to Congress on the Voting Rights Act of 1965" (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/mediaplay.php?id=26805&admin=36)

Charles V. Hamilton, "Social Policy and the Welfare of Black Americans: From Rights to Resources," Political Science Quarterly, 101/2 (1986), 239-255 (JSTOR)

Oct 9 Argument 2: The civil rights movement succeeded. Black Americans now possess all the essential rights of American citizens.

Affirmative: Megan Dean

Negative: Josh Kelton

Oct 14 FALL BREAK. NO CLASSES.

Oct 16 MID-SEMESTER EXAM

Oct 21 Lecture: The Women's Movement and Women's Rights

BORK, 173-185, 193-225

Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 15-32 (R)

Jo Freeman, "The Women's Liberation Movement: Its Origins, Structures And Ideas" (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/womlib/)

Virginia Sapiro, "Feminism: A Generation Later," Annals (May, 1991), 10-22 (JSTOR)

John R. Thelin, "Good Sports? Historical Perspective on the Political Economy of Intercollegiate Athletics in the Era of Title IX, 1972-1997," The Journal of Higher Education (July-August, 2000), 391-410 (JSTOR)

Oct 23 Argument 3: Public policy contributed little to the recent progress made by American women.

Affirmative: Jake Obstfeld

Negative: Tim Porter

Oct 28 Lecture: Affirmative Action

BORK, 226-249

Roland G. Fryer, Jr., and Glenn C. Loury, "Affirmative Action and Its Mythology,"The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 147-162 (JSTOR)

Stanley Fish, "The Nifty Nine Arguments Against Affirmative Action in Higher Education,"The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (Spring, 2000), 79-81 (JSTOR)

Myron Magnet, The Dream and the Nightmare, 183-204 (R)

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-516.ZS.html)

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-241.ZS.html)

"Amicus Curiae Brief Of Ward Connerly In Support Of Petitioners" in Gratz And Grutter (http://chronicle.com/indepth/michigan/documents/briefs/petitioner/connerly.pdf)

California Proposition 209 (1996) (http://vote96.sos.ca.gov/BP/209text.htm)

Oct 30 Discussion: Affirmative Action

Nov 4 Lecture: Sexual Orientation and Rights

Dan Black et al., "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available Systematic Data Sources,"Demography (May, 2000), 139-154 (JSTOR)

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0478_0186_ZS.html)

Lawrence v. Texas (2003) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZS.html)

"Key Marriage Articles" (http://www.buddybuddy.com/mar-key.html)

Public Agenda, "Gay Rights Issue Guide" (http://www.publicagenda.org/citizen/issueguides/gay-rights)

Stanley Kurtz, "Beyond Gay Marriage," The Weekly Standard (August 4-11, 2003) (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/938xpsxy.asp?pg=1)

Focus on the Family, "Is Marriage in Jeopardy?" (http://www.family.org/socialissues/A000000646.cfm)

Nov 6 Argument 4: No American has a right to marry a person of the same gender.

Affirmative: Molly Corbett

Negative: Sam Handler

Nov 11 Lecture: Tolerance, Pornography, and Free Speech

Samuel Walker, The Rights Revolution: Rights and Community in Modern America, 89-114 (R)

BORK, 123-153

Kate Ellis, et al., "Feminism and Pornography," Feminist Review (August 1990), 15-18 (JSTOR)

Jeffrey E. Faucette, "The Freedom of Speech at Risk in Cyberspace: Obscenity Doctrine and a Frightened University's Censorship of Sex on the Internet,"Duke Law Journal (April 1995), 1155-1182 (JSTOR)

David Cole, "Playing by Pornography's Rules: The Regulation of Sexual Expression,"University of Pennsylvania Law Review (November 1994), 111-177 (JSTOR)

The Minneapolis Anti-Pornography Ordinance (http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/other/ordinance/newday/AppA.htm)

Nov 13 Argument 5: There is no compelling evidence that pornography is harmful and it should not be restricted by government at any level.

Affirmative: Ben Ossoff

Negative: Randi Arsenault

Nov 18 Lecture: Religious Liberty and the First Amendment

BORK, 272-295

Michael J. Sandel, Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy, 55-90 (R)

"Supreme Court Decisions on Religious Liberty" (http://atheism.about.com/library/decisions/indexes/bl_l_DecisionIndex.htm)

American Civil Liberties Union, "Religious Liberty" (http://www.aclu.org/religion/index.html)

"Religion and Prayer in U.S. Public Schools" (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_pray.htm)

Nov 20 Argument 6: Voluntary prayers should be permitted in American public schools.

Affirmative: Andrew Sherman

Negative: Craig Zevin

Nov 25 Lecture: The Right to Privacy

Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis, "The Right to Privacy," Harvard Law Review (December 15, 1890), 193-220 (JSTOR)

Charles Fried, "Privacy," Yale Law Journal (January 1968), 475-493 (JSTOR)

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0381_0479_ZO.html)

Roe v. Wade (1973) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZO.html)

Helen Nissenbaum, "Protecting Privacy in an Information Age: The Problem of Privacy in Public,"Law and Philosophy, (November 1998), 559-596 (JSTOR)

Lisa Nelson, "Protecting the Common Good: Technology, Objectivity, and Privacy,"Public Administration Review (September 2002), 69-73 (JSTOR)

Nov 27 THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec 2 Argument 7: In the electronic age, government cannot guarantee nor enforce a right to privacy.

Affirmative: Sam Carson

Negative: Ben Wakana

Dec 4 Lecture: The Challenges of the 21st Century

BORK, 273-343

Charles R. Epp, The Rights Revolution, 26-70 (R)

Dec 4 FINAL EXAM: 7:00-9:00pm

STUDENT PAPERS ARE DUE NO LATER NOON THAN DECEMBER 11, 2008.

Last update: September 12, 2008; 8:00am