American Political Thought

This course is a study of the development of American political ideas, through critical analysis of the writings of intellectuals and political leaders from the American Founding to the present. As our central theme, we will focus on the traditions of American Political Thought (APT) as simultaneously theorizing freedom and liberty on the one hand, and intense, often violent forms of domination on the other, especially domination on the basis of race. Consequently, we will devote time to both classic readings in APT (the Founders, Tocqueville, Lincoln, etc.) and to multiple strands of US political thinking that challenge the dominant narratives of APT. In analyzing the competing traditions of equality and inequality in theory, we will also explore the connections between this theory and practices of equality and inequality