Assignment for Tuesday, 3/4

For Tuesday, please read Shively's Chapter 9, "Constitutions and the Design of Government." Many of you need to summarize this to meet your summary requirement, so get cracking.

Assignment for Thursday, 2/28

There is no reading assignment for Thursday. We will continue our discussion of ideologies, so you are welcome to review Shively's Chapter 2. However, I will not be accepting any summaries on the chapter.

Assignment for Tuesday, 2/26

For Tuesday, read Shively's Chapter 2, "Modern Ideologies and Political Philosophy."

Please note that this is the LAST reading I will assign for February. In addition, there will be only one more reading before Spring Break. I required 1 summary submitted before March 1, and then a second before the mid-term. You will not have an opportunity to make up these summaries (i.e., the total you will be allowed to submit is 5 or 6). In sum:

• Those of you who have already submitted 2 summaries are OK for now. (Although I encourage you to keep submitting them and finish your assignment early.)
• Those of you who have submitted 1 summary must summarize one of the next two readings.
• Those of you who have submitted 0 summaries must summarize BOTH of the next two readings.

I hope that's clear; contact me if it is not.

Assignment for Thursday, 2/21

There is no reading for Thursday; we will see a film, "No Logo," based on a book by Naomi Klein.

Assignment for Tuesday, 2/19

On Tuesday, we will continue our discussion of democracy through the lens of contemporary events. Specifically, we will discuss the possible use of torture and indefinite imprisonment by the United States. You should read the handout I distributed in class. If you missed class, you can find the handout materials at the following links:

• Factsheet on habeas corpus
• Factsheet on the Military Commissions Act
• Factsheet on the US and torture
• The Bush Administration's defense of the Military Commissions Act

Also, please remember that Vince Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (the source of the first three factsheets listed above) will offer a talk in the Regina Peruggi room on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 1pm. You are strongly encouraged (although not required) to attend.

Assignment for Thursday, 2/14

On Thursday, we'll continue our discussion of concepts. Read Shively's Chapter 8, "Democracy and Autocracy." (If you haven't yet written a summary, this would be a good time to start.)

Assignment for Tuesday, 2/12

For next week, read Shively's Chapter 7, "Authority and Legitimacy: The State and the Citizen." We'll discuss it on Tuesday.

Assignment for Thursday, 2/7

There's no new reading assignment for Thursday; just review Shively's Chapter 1, especially the sections on the concept of power.