Political Foundations of the Early American Republic

Catalog description

The course introduces students to the major political and philosophical movements that influenced the founders of the early American republic. PL SC 433 Political Foundations of the Early American Republic (3)The course introduces students to the major political and philosophical movements that influenced the founders of the early American republic. The first section of the course, set in the ancient world, will examine the earliest experiments in democratic government in both Greece and the Roman Republic. In addition to studying the structure and traditions of ancient governments, students will consider competing theories for why these early democratic experiments ultimately failed. The second section of the course traces the gradual evolution of representative democracy in Britain from the signing of Magna Carta to the quiet subjugation of the monarchy in the 19th Century. Recognizing that the theoretical structures of political power remain somewhat fixed in this period, students will consider how legal precedent can gradually transform seemingly static political institutions. The third section of the course examines American efforts to establish stable representative institutions in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Looking back at both ancient and modern constitutional traditions, students will examine how prior democratic experiments heavily influenced the deliberations of the founders both at the Constitutional Convention and in the establishment of the new federal republic.