Introductory description

PH382-15 Democracy and Authority

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. The Nature of Political Authority
   -Legitimacy v. Justification v. Authority
   -Leading Views of the Nature of Political Authority
2. The Authority of Democracy: Advocates and Critics
   -Intrinsic Theories
   -Instrumentalist Theories
3. The Obligations of Democratic Citizenship
   -Voting and Participation
   -Disobedience and Protest
   -Toleration and Compromise

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• (i) demonstrate understanding of the central questions and theories concerning the nature of political authority
• (ii) demonstrate understanding of the central theories defending and opposing the authority of democratic institutions
• (iii) demonstrate the ability to relate key questions and concepts in the philosophy of political authority to broader philosophical questions and concepts concerning morality, epistemology, and metaphysics.

Indicative reading list

Joseph Raz, selections from The Morality of Freedom

Stephen Darwall, “Authority and Reasons: Exclusionary and Second-Personal”

Plato, selections from The Republic

John Locke, selections from Second Treatise of Government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, selections from The Social Contract

David Estlund, selections from Democratic Authority

Thomas Christiano, selections from The Constitution of Equality

Hélène Landemore, selections from Democratic Reason

Fabienne Peter, selections from Democratic Legitimacy

Gerald Gaus, selections from The Order of Public Reason

Daniel Viehoff, “Democratic Equality and Political Authority”

Robert Paul Wolff, selections from In Defense of Anarchism

Alex Zakaras, “Complicity and Coercion: Towards an Ethics of Political Participation”

Hanna Pitkin, selections from The Concept of Representation

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

Kimberley Brownlee, selections from Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience

Juliet Hooker, “Black Lives Matter and the Paradox of U.S. Black Politics: From Democratic Sacrifice to Democratic Repair”

Subject specific skills

-By the end of the module students should have an understanding of the central questions, concepts, and debates concerning the general nature of political authority, the authority of democratic institutions, and the obligations of democratic citizenship.

Transferable skills

-By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the main literature in these debates.
-By the end of the module students should be able to critically analyse the arguments for and against the key positions defended in the literature.
-By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate their understanding of the central questions, concepts, and debates discussed in the module in speech and writing.
-By the end of the module students should be able to draw connections between the key ideas and arguments discussed in the module to other problems and debates in philosophy.