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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Evolution of Government: The Rise of the Modern Nation-State
GOVT 389 SP

This course will analyze the principal processes which have led to the rise of the modern nation-state. The theoretical focus will be oriented around the main factors which account for the rise and legitimation of the state, while the historical focus will be on the political evolution across differing systems of governance from pre-historic governance structures up to the modern nation-state. We begin with an analysis of the foundations of the theory of the state. Here we will compare and evaluate differing theories of the rise, consolidation, and legitimation of political communities. This will be followed by a theoretical and historical assessment of the rise and fall of differing systems of governance across time. This evolution will be considered within an interdisciplinary framework which is oriented around the political adaptation to social and economic modernization.

MAJOR READINGS

Gianfranco Poggi, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STATE
Sam Huntington, POLITICAL ORDER IN CHANGING SOCIETIES
Barrington Moore, SOCIAL ORIGINS OF DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY
Vladimir Lenin, WHAT IS TO BE DONE
Alexis de Tocqueville, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
F. L. Ganshof, FEUDALISM
Niccolo Machiavelli, THE PRINCE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Several research projects
One long research paper
Class presentations on assigned topics

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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