London School of
Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Modules
114 Democratic politics and
the State
This unit has replaced D80 Introduction
to politics.
May not be taken with D80 Introduction to politics.
What is politics and the
political process?
Alternative definitions of ‘politics’ (for
example, the
competitive struggle for control of the state applicants, the
expression of group identities, and the relations between states)
and the mechanisms by which they operate.
The state under liberal
democracy
Introduction to:
- ‘the state’ as a modern political form of exercising
authority; and
- liberal democracy as a combination of majority rule
and the protection of civil liberties.
The recent emergence of liberal democracy as the dominant
form of government in modern countries.
Classical views: Pluralism,
Conservatism, Elitism and Marxism
Introduction to the ‘classical’ (nineteenth
and early twentieth
century) theories of the state, government and politics.
Difference approaches are illustrated using the core political
ideas of John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Friedricj
Hayek, Roberto Michels and Vilfredo Pareto.
The contemporary liberal
democratic state and modern
pluralism.
Shifts in the pluralist theory of the state
from the 1960s to the
twenty-first century. Differences in the development of pluralist
thought in Europe and the USA. The application of this model to
other countries will be examined. Particular emphasis on the
ideas of Robert Dahl and Michael Walzer.
Limits to democracy I: the new
Right and neo-conservatism
New right theories see some key factors as
inhibiting the
effective operation of liberal democracy – state regulation
coarsening market processes and state growth undermining free
enterprise. Modern neo-Conservate thought points to a lack of
moral codes and social norms as eroding the stability of
democracy. The works of William Niskanen, Robert Putname
and Samuel Huntington will be examined.
Limits to democracy II:
feminism, environmentalism and
globalization
Exploration of the limits of liberal
democracy in three
alternative theories of the state. Feminist theorists’ focus on the
differential political development, power and influence of males
versus females, Green theorists’ arguments that the liberal
democratic state has failed to halt the degradation of the world
environment. Globalization theorists’ contention that power has
shifted away from democratically-controlled nation-states to a
range of global networks. Particular emphasis on the ideas of
Carole Pateman, John Dryzek and David Held.
Limits to democracy III: modern
elite theory and neo-Marxism.
Comparison of the modern elite view that
liberal democracy is
faced, behind which the State is controlled by a monied and
educated elite, with the neo-Marxist position that capitalist
economic development promotes a partial and fundamentally
flawed form of democracy. The political ideas of Noam
Chomsky and Klaus Offe are examined. |
