The Current Crisis of American Democracy

Our democracy is in crisis, as manifest in unprecedented levels of inequality, abysmal levels of trust in government, political polarization, and the traction of anti-democratic movements to overturn or restrict the vote. How did we get here? (And how do we get out?) We will begin by consulting the work of economists Piketty, Milanovic, and Stiglitz, looking at the fallout from globalization and the rise of inequality worldwide and in the United States. Then we will turn to work by sociologists and political scientists Levitsky and Ziblatt, Hochschild, Cramer, Wuthnow, McVeigh and Estep, and Putnam. We will read both historical and ethnographic accounts – investigating the lives of the “left behind,” estranged, and resentful; tracing the decay of democratic norms and growth of white nationalism; and considering the possibility of a more civic community. You will be asked to read a book a week over the course of our ten weeks together. These are public-facing books by big thinkers. They’re long but accessible. You will be responsible for reading enough of the book (I’ll recommend chapters) to engage in a spirited discussion with your classmates. The aim of the course is to create a space for deliberating about politics civilly.

• Fulfills the Core - Social Science requirement
• Fulfills the Elective - Ethics and Leadership requirement
• Fulfills the Elective - General requirement

• This course is a part of the Ethics and Leadership concentration