Philosophy 195A: Democracy and the Popular Will
   
Spring Quarter 2003
      
   
     
  Instructor:
Simon May / simonmay@stanford.edu / 90-92EE
      
  Venue:
20-21B
      
  Time:
Thursdays 2:15 - 4:05
      
   
 
      
   
Course Outline
       
   
The course is designed as a seminar series (rather than a lecture series) for upper-level undergraduates with an interest in democratic theory. Enrolment is limited to 12 students, with preference given to Philosophy majors. Some familiarity with political theory (e.g. Phil 30, Phil 171) is recommended, as the course will not serve as an introduction to contemporary political philosophy. The central problem of the course is whether democracy is, in essence, a way to determine and express the will of the people. Throughout the course we will endeavour to develop a precise and rigorous understanding of various affirmative (populist) and negative responses to this question by conducting a close reading of some of the major contributions in the area. The course is broken down into three main parts:
  
Seminar Schedule
Introduction
Rousseau's Social Contract
Interpretations of Rousseau
Social Choice Theory
Responses to Riker
Rousseau and Condorcet
Deliberation and Legitimacy
Deliberative Democracy
Public Justification
 
Links  
PanFora Discussion
                       		  
  Rousseau
In this part we examine Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s social contract theory, in particular his notion of the general will. Rousseau’s work is usually understood as the first major statement of the populist thesis, and is the basis of many contemporary populist views.
  
 

Social Choice Theory
Some claim that social choice theory demonstrates the incoherence of populism, and perhaps of the democratic ideal in general. We will assess this claim by reading William Riker’s exposition of it, as well as some responses to him.
  
  Deliberative and Epistemic Democracy
There has been an explosion of interest in the related ideas of deliberative democracy and epistemic democracy. These notions arguably constitute a way to express the populist thesis which is immune to social choice theoretic criticisms.
  
   
Although the course is not a general overview of different approaches to democracy, the focus on populism brings to light some of the more important fault-lines in contemporary debates about the democratic ideal, especially regarding sovereignty, constitutionalism, majoritarianism, participation and public deliberation. In addition, populism provides a surprisingly useful platform from which to address more general philosophical issues concerning, for instance, the nature of liberty, morality, rationality and collectivity.
  
   
 
   
Course Requirements
  
  •
Good preparation for, attendance at and participation in all seminars. Unexcused failure to attend seminars may prevent a passing grade.
  
  •
One approximately 4000 word research paper due Monday 9 June at noon. The paper should be a philosophical defence of some thesis directly connected to the themes of the class. Drafts for this paper must be submitted no later than the last seminar.
  
  •
One individual consultation, at some point prior to the last seminar.
  
   
 
   
Course Grade
  
   
The final grade will be based equally on the paper and on the quality (as distinct from quantity) of discussion in class
  
   
 
   
Required Texts
 
  •
J. J. Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1987.
  
  •
W. H. Riker, Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1982; Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1988 (reissue)
 
  •
J. Bohman & W. Rehg, eds., Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997
 
   
These books are available at the campus bookstore. All other required readings are available on the web or in Tanner library. There is no course reader.
  
   
 
   
Recommended Texts
 
   
For each week, there is a list of recommended texts which may prove useful if you wish to write on that week’s topic. In addition to some of the required reading, readings from the following six books will be place on reserve in Tanner Library (Philosophy Department, Building 90). Other recommended texts can be found in Green Library.
  
  •
C. Beitz, Political Equality, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989
 
  •
I. Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1970
  
  •
T. Christiano, The Rule of the Many, Boulder: Westview Press, 1996
 
  •
B. Constant, Political Writings, B. Fontana, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988
  
  •
D. Copp, J. Hampton, & J. E. Roemer, eds., The Idea of Democracy, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  
  •
J. Rawls, Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press, paperback edition, 1996.
  
           
   
     
   

Seminar Schedule

      
           
  (1) Introduction
Introduction to the course. Bush v. Gore, and the rhetoric of the 2000 election. Berlin on liberty. The idea of a republican conception of liberty. The connection between autonomy, sovereignty and legitimacy.
   Thursday, 3 April  
   
Recommended Reading 
      
  •
I. Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty”
   [Tanner]  
  •
B. Constant, “The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns”
  [Tanner]  
  •
C. Beitz, "Preferences" (ch. 3)
   [Tanner]  
  • T. Christiano, "Self-Government" (ch. 1)   [Tanner]  
           
  (2) Rousseau's Social Contract Theory Rousseau’s political theory in general. The apparent tension between the Discourse on Inequality and the Social Contract. The role of the state of nature device and the problem of political legitimacy.   Thursday, 10 April  
    Reading      
  • J. J. Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality   [Rousseau]  
  • J. J. Rousseau, On the Social Contract, (book I; book II: 1-6, 11-12; book III: 1-8, 12-18; book IV: 1-3, 8-9)   [Rousseau]  
    Recommended Reading      
  • J. J. Rousseau, Discourse on Political Economy   [Rousseau]  
           
  (3) Interpretations of Rousseau Rousseau’s notion of the General Will. The distinction between sovereign and government. The sense in which citizens are forced to be free. The idea of a collective subject and a common good.    Thursday, 17 April  
    Reading       
   • J. Cohen, “Reflections on Rousseau: Autonomy and Democracy,” Philosophy & Public Affairs, 15 1986   [Web]  
   • G. Sreenivasan, “What is the General Will?” Philosophical Review, 109 2000   [Tanner]   
    Recommended Reading        
   • S. G. Affeldt, “The Force of Freedom: Rousseau on Forcing to be Free,” Political Theory, 27 1999     [Web]  
   • B. Barry, “The Public Interest,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Suppl. 38, 1965      
   • M. Gilbert, “Walking Together: A Paradigmatic Social Phenomenon,” Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 15 1990       
   • A. Ripstein, “The General Will,” History of Philosophy Quarterly, 9 1992       
   • J. Waldron, “Rights and Majorities: Rousseau Revisited,” Nomos XXXII, J. W. Chapman & A. Wertheimer, eds., New York: NYU Press, 1990      
           
   (4) The Challenge of Social Choice Theory Introduction to social choice theory. Arrow’s `General Possibility Theorem.’ Riker’s exposition of the social choice theoretic challenge to the populist ideal.   Thursday, 24 April   
    Reading       
    • W. H. Riker, Liberalism Against Populism (chs. 1, 3-5, 10)    [Riker]   
    Recommended Reading        
    • A. K. Sen, Collective Choice and Social Welfare, North-Holland, 1984 (chs. 1, 2, 3, 4)       
           
   (5) Responses to Riker Criticisms of Riker. The role of institutions and deliberation. The idea of an epistemic conception of democracy.    Thursday, 1 May  
    Reading       
     • J. Coleman and J. Ferejohn, “Democracy and Social Choice,” Ethics, 97 1986     [Web]   
     • J. Cohen, “An Epistemic Conception of Democracy,” Ethics, 97 1986    [Web]   
    Recommended Reading      
     • E. Anderson and S. Pildes, “Slinging Arrows at Democracy: Social Choice Theory, Value Pluralism and Democratic Politics” Columbia Law Review, 90 1990      
     • T. Christiano, “Social Choice and Democracy” from Copp   [Tanner]  
     • R. Hardin, “Public Choice versus Democracy” from Copp   [Tanner]  
     • C. Pateman, “Social Choice or Democracy? A Comment on Coleman and Ferejohn” Ethics, 97 1986   [Web]  
           
   (6) Rousseau, Condorcet and Epistemic Democracy The connection between epistemic democracy and Condorcet’s Jury Theorem. The General Will as an epistemic device. Constitutive and instrumental connections between democracy and truth.   Thursday, 8 May  
    Reading      
      • B. Grofman and S. L. Feld, “Rousseau’s General Will: A Condorectian Perspective,” American Political Science Review, 82 1988   [Web]  
      • D. Estlund, et al., “Democratic Theory and the Public Interest: Condorcet and Rousseau Revisited,” American Political Science Review, 83 1989   [Web]  
    Recommended Reading        
      • D. Estlund, “Beyond Fairness and Deliberation: The Epistemic Dimension of Democratic Authority”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
           
   (7) Deliberation, Sovereignty and Legitimacy The connection between public deliberation and sovereignty and political legitimacy in the theory of deliberative democracy. The distinction between deliberation and other modes of public interaction.   Thursday, 15 May  
    Reading      
   • B. Manin, “On Legitimacy and Political Deliberation,” Political Theory, 15 1987   [Web]  
   • J. Habermas, “Popular Sovereignty as Procedure”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
    Recommended Reading      
    • S. Benhabib, “Toward a Deliberative Model of Democratic Legitimacy,” from Democracy and Difference, S. Benhabib ed., Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996      
    • J. Elster, “The Market and the Forum”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
    • C. Sunstein, “Preferences and Politics,” Philosophy & Public Affairs, 20 1991   [Web]  
           
   (8) Joshua Cohen's Deliberative Democracy Joshua Cohen’s seminal work in deliberative democracy. A substantive theory of democratic legitimacy. The problem of pluralism. The relevance of populist deliberative democracy to socialism.   Thursday, 22 May  
    Reading      
     • J. Cohen, “Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
     • J. Cohen, “Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
    Recommended Reading      
      • J. Cohen, “The Economic Basis of Deliberative Democracy,” Social Philosophy and Policy, 6 1989      
      • J. Cohen, “Moral Pluralism and Political Consensus” from Copp   [Tanner]  
      • T. Christiano, “The Significance of Public Deliberation”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
           
   (9) Political Liberalism and Public Justification The connection between deliberative democracy and liberalism in Rawls’s theory. The link between the popular will and the concept of public justification. The idea of an overlapping consensus on a political conception of justice.   Thursday, 29 May  
    Reading      
       • G. F. Gaus, “Does Democracy Reveal the Voice of the People? Four Takes on Rousseau,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 75 1997   [Tanner]  
       • J. Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason”   [Bohman & Rehg]  
    Recommended Reading      
       • G. F. Gaus, “Reason, Justification and Consensus: Why Democracy Can’t Have It All”   [Bohman& Rehg]  
       • J. Rawls, “The Domain of the Political and Overlapping Consensus” from Copp   [Tanner]  
      • J. Rawls, Political Liberalism (chs. 1-2, 9)   [Tanner]  
           
   
     
    © S. J. P. May. Last updated 26 March 2003.