Political Science 452 (American Political Theory)

Study Sheet for Final Exam

Exam: December 8 (Thursday), 12:30-2:30

The following is a list of the key terms, concepts, and issues discussed since the midterm. This is to be used in preparing for the short answer section of the final, where there will be 12 questions, of which you are to answer 10 (4 points each).

Civil DisobedienceIWW vs. AFL

Men as machinesProgressive platform

North as complicitTaylorism

Concurrent majorityManagerial revolution

Calhoun in contrast to Madisonexample of Glasgow (for Wilson)

Dred ScottPublic policy and sensationalism

Slavery and amalgamationlibertarianism

Union older than Constitutionfreeloader problem

Looking Backwardminimal state vs. welfare state

Wage labor/rentmultitude vs. wisdom of the crowds

TrustsDewey vs. Lippman

Anarchism and self-consciousnessGreat community

Essay Questions. Two of the following three will be on the final. You will have to write on one of the two (60 points):

  1. Discuss Henry David Thoreau’s arguments for Civil Disobedience. How have these principles become employed in the effort to change public policy and/or law? What are some of the reasons why most people, according to Thoreau, are disinclined to act upon their conscience? And finally, not everyone would agree with Thoreau’s approach – Socrates for example. Discuss these counter-arguments to Thoreau and state who you believe has the strongest arguments and why.
  1. The progressive movement called for many political reforms, some of which were called for by the populist movement. Many of these reforms were eventually implemented. What were some of these key reforms, and what argument and justification was given for them. Explain, and in doing so you can draw from any of the texts from this period that we studied in class. What arguments were made against such reforms.
  1. An important theme in John Dewey’s The Public and its Problems is tracing the relationship between advances in technology and their consequences for political life. Dewey claims that most of the political changes since the 18th century (basically for the entire period covered in this course) can be matched with major technological advances. What technological changes were underway in the 1920s that led Dewey to recognize a new and pressing challenge for democracy? What were these challenges and how did Dewey propose responding to them? What are some of the contemporary consequences of these problems, and how, if at all, do you think that recent technological advances changes things?