HIST 377
Democracy in America: From the Founding to Facebook Spring 2015 (also offered Fall 2014)
Division II
Cross-listed LEAD 205
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

We all know that we live in a democracy. But what it has meant to be citizens in a democratic republic has changed dramatically over the course of American history—as have the bounds of who has been allowed to exercise the full rights of citizens. In this course, we will look at how new ideas, social movements, and technological changes have reshaped American democracy. We will examine how founders such as Benjamin Franklin and James Madison envisioned the relation between the people and the government; how workers, African Americans, and women fought to participate in American politics; and the ways in which new technologies such as Facebook and Twitter are reshaping democratic participation in the 21st century. We will ask: Who, exactly, has been permitted to participate in American politics, and on what terms? How has the relation between the governors and the governed changed over time, and what factors and events have shaped those relations? How have those in power been “connected” to the people, and vice versa? How has America’s democratic experiment compared with (and interacted with) democracy elsewhere in the world? Finally, we will use our understanding of democratic politics and citizenship to deepen our understanding of leadership/followership, as both historical phenomena and durable features of the American political system. How have relations between leaders and followers changed as the practices of citizenship have changed? Have some periods of American democratic politics been more amenable to particular kinds of leadership than others? If so, why? Has American political leadership been distinctive in international comparison, and if so, what does this reveal about the distinctive characteristics of American democratic politics and citizenship?
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 25
Expected: 25
Class#: 4013
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: weekly writing assignments, term paper, midterm and final in-class exams
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: Leadership Studies concentrators
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
HIST 377 Division II LEAD 205 Division II
Attributes: HIST Group F Electives - U.S. + Canada
LEAD American Domestic Leadership
LEAD Facets or Domains of Leadership

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