The seminar explores some of the main lines of inquiry within empirical democratic theory in order to develop familiarity with a number of the issues raised and analyzed in the literature. Webster's primary definition of the word seminar is: "a group of advanced students studying under a professor with each doing original research and all exchanging results through reports and discussions." Since, this is the first time this seminar is being offered, its structure is somewhat amorphous; your guidance and input will be sought to reshape and improve this year's version. My pedagogical philosophy rejects courses that are narrowly construed around a faculty member's current research interests. As a result, the scope of the seminar is broad and students are not expected to share any particular theoretical, empirical or ideological perspective.

I. Course Procedures and Requirements

Each week we will discuss a distinct topic and set of readings.

Each student is expected to do the general readings of the course to permit informed participation in all class sessions, as well as concentrated reading and research on a specific question. The latter requirement will be fulfilled by preparing (1) a bibliography, (2) a propositional inventory, (3) a class report, and (4) a written paper. Each student will also prepare a brief class report on one of the books in "The Basic Idea of Democracy" section.

By the fourth week of classes, each student should distribute to all members of the seminar a basic bibliography of works on the topic on which s/he will be working. By the seventh week of classes, each student should distribute a propositional inventory to the other members of the seminar. Such a document presents on each page: a proposition or hypothesis drawn from the literature, the quote or the data from the work upon which it is based, and a full bibliographic listing of the work. (A few examples are presented at the end of the syllabus.) The inventory will assist you in thinking about the competitive perspectives advanced in the literature to deal with the topic you are analyzing.

The purpose of the class report is to inform the other members of the seminar of the general direction which research has taken on the problem you are investigating, the basic assumptions upon which researchers in the area have worked, and the major areas of contention and debate. Your formal remarks should last no more than about 20 minutes to enable ample discussion. Feel free to pass out not only your bibliography and propositional inventory, but also an outline of the issues you will discuss.

In the best of worlds, each seminar paper will be published in a professional journal. Papers should follow one of two models. The first possibility is the style of a World Politics' review article. To get a feel for this model, it is suggested that you glance through World Politics and locate any review articles which appeal to you and read them as a guide for the type of paper you would write. The second possibility requires the characterization and analysis of a theoretical problem upon which divergent perspectives exist. Your paper would describe this context and test the alternatives by drawing on quantitative data. For both types of papers, you must append a propositional inventory.

II. Core Readings

The following works should be available for purchase in the bookstore:

Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (Sage Publications).

Benjamin R. Barber, Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age (University of California Press).

Seyla Benhabib, Democracy and Difference (Princeton University Press)

Robert Alan Dahl, On Democracy (Yale University Press)

Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries (Yale University Press)

Jane J. Mansbridge, Beyond Adversary Democracy (University of Chicago Press)

Seymour Martin.Lipset, Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics (Doubleday Press) "Out of Print"

Orlando Patterson, Freedom in the Modern World (Basic Books)

Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work, (Princeton Press)

Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (Harper Collins)

Alexis De Tocqueville and Richard D. Heffner, Democracy in America ( Signet)

Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politic ( Belknap Press)

Mark E. Warren, Democracy and Association (Princeton University Press)

Mark E. Warren, Democracy and Trust (Cambridge University Press)

III. Reading and Discussion Schedule

The readings listed in each section are limited to a couple of "classic" books to provide an elementary introduction to the literature.

Seminar Overview (April 3, 2003)

1. The Basic Idea of Democracy (April 10 and 17, 2003)

A. The Philosophical Background

Aristotle, The Politics

John Locke, The Second Treatise of Government

Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract

B. Emprical Democracy: Early Political Sociology

Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution, 1867.

James Bryce, The American Commonwealth

James Bryce, Modern Democracies

*Joseph Schumpeter, Capitialism, Socialism and Democracy

*Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

C. Empirical Democracy: Later and Contemporary Views

*Robert A. Dahl, On Democracy

Robert A. Dahl, Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City

David Held, Models of Democracy

*Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty Six Countries

*Seymour Martin Lipset, Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics, 1960.

*Jane J. Mansbridge, Beyond Adversary Democracy

Ralph K. White and Ronald Lippitt, Autocracy and Democracy: An Experimental Inquiry, 1960

2. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (April 24, May 1, and 8, 2003)

A. Liberty

Leonard Krieger, The German Idea of Freedom: History of a Political Tradition

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

*Orlando Patterson, Freedom in the Making of Western Culture

B. Equality

*Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, Harvard University Press, 1995.

i. Elites

Gabriel A. Almond, Plutocracy and Politics in New York City, 1998 (originally written in 1938).

C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, Oxford University Press, 1956.

Gaetano Mosca, The Ruling Class, McGraw Hill, 1939.

ii. Race Inequalities

Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, Harper and Row, 1944.

Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro, Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Persepective on Racial Inequality, Routledge, 1997.

Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom, America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible, Simon and Schuster, 1997.

iii. Wealth and Compensation

Graef S. Crystal, In Search of Excess: The Overcompensation of American Executives, W. W. Norton, 1991.

Andrew Hacker, Money: Who has How Much and Why, Simon and Schuster, 1997.

C. Fraternity

Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, 1995.

Joseph Nye, Philip Zelikow, and David King, eds., Why Americans Mistrust Government, 1997.

*Mark E. Warren, ed., Democracy and Trust, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

3. Factors Facilitating Democracy (May 15, 22, and 29, 2003)

A. Associational Life

Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, 2000.

David B.Truman, The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion, 1951.

*Mark E. Warren, Democracy and Association, 2001.

B. Culture

*Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations, 1963.

Harry Eckstein, Division and Cohesion in Democracy, A Study of Norway, 1966.

*Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, 1993

C. Economics

Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy, 1957

Charles Edward Lindblom, Politics and markets : the world's political economic systems, 1977.

Adam Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1991.

D. Size

Robert A. Dahl and Edward R. Tufte, Size and Democracy, Stanford University Press, 1973.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Constitutional project for Corsica.

4. The Quality of Democratic Life (June 5, 2003)

*Seyla Benhabib, ed., Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, 1996.

Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, Democracy and Disagreement: Why moral conflict cannot be avoided in Politics, and What Should be Done about it, 1996.

A. Participation

*Benjamin R. Barber, Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age, 1984.

Samuel H. Barnes, Max Kaase, et al., Political Action: Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies, 1979

Carole Pateman, Participation and Democratic Theory, 1970

Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina, eds., Civic Engagement in American Democracy, 1999.