IS302

Department of International Studies                                                                                   LCS

Institute of Foreign Languages, RUPP

IS302 Western Political Thought/Political Philosophy

Collection of Questions and Theories

Chapter I: The State of Nature

Thomas Hobbes:

1. To Thomas Hobbes, was there ever a state of nature?
2. Why is the theory of the conservation of the motion important for Thomas Hobbes to paint a picture of human beings?
3. Why did Thomas Hobbes think that the felicity would lead to the war of all against all?
4. What does “equality” mean in the state of nature according to Thomas Hobbes?
5. What is/are the main weakness/es of his view on the state of nature?
6. Did Thomas Hobbes deny the above mentioned weakness/es? If yes or no, what is his justification?
7. To Thomas Hobbes, what is “law of nature”?
8. How is “game theory” applied to the rationality of the people in the state of nature? (Note: click here to download)

John Locke:

1. To John Locke, was there ever a state of nature?
2. What does “equality” mean in the state of nature according to John Locke?
3. To John Locke, what is “law of nature”? And what is the justification of the law of nature?
4. What is the “Executive Power of the Law of Nature”?
5. Did John Locke take the route that human beings were strongly altruistic? And why?
6. According to Thomas Hobbes, people in the state of nature competed with each other to possess the scarce resources. What is John Locke’s critique over Hobbes’s argument that people waged wars due to the scarcity of natural resources?
7. What is “The Two Treatises” mentioned in 3^rd paragraph on page 19? (Note: Click here to download)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

1. To Rousseau, was there ever the state of nature?
2. What is the central aspect of human motivation according to Rousseau?
3. To Rousseau, what does “savage” in the state of nature mean?
4. What are two special attributes of human beings? Are these two attributes positively supplementary according to Rousseau?
5. Do you agree with that the concept of “general will” was corrupted by the development of the human civilization according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau? (Note: Click here to download)
   

Critical Question: In your opinion, among three social contract philosophers (Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau), which one best explained the “state of nature”? Why?

Chapter II: Justifying State

I. Discussion Questions:

1. According to Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, what are the preliminary/prerequisite requirements for the establishment of “state” which has the legitimate power? 
2. What are two essential features possessed by “state”? Do you think that state can perfectly implement these mentioned features in reality? If yes or no, why? 
3. What is “political obligation”? Why do people follow the political obligation? 
4. Is it true that given the above mentioned definition of “political obligation”, people have to always obey all laws at all times? 
5. Related to question 1, what is “social contract”? 
6. What is the critique of “social contract” inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau? 
7. What is “tacit consent”? 
8. What is “hypothetical consent”? 
9. One of hypothetical contract argument states that “even if you were not under the authority of the state, and somehow found yourself in the state of nature, then if you were rational, you would rationally and freely join in a contract to bring about the state.” Why does this argument fail to justify the state? 
10. What are arguments of “Anarchism” over the justification of state? 
11. What is “utilitarianism”?
12. What are three main premises of utilitarianism? Among these three, which one is the fundamental principle of utility? Why? 
13. What is the “principle of fairness”? Explain this principle meaningfully. 
14. According to David Hume, the obedience of law can result in interests of each of us. So, why do we not act in the way without the need for the law to force us to do it?

II. Critical-Thinking Question:

What is “social contract theory” of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

Note: The critical-thinking question can be used as the question for individual written “Homework” during Pchum Ben festival the following week; however, it is suggested that you start doing it in advance. The maximum number of page is 10 (ten pages), and the submission date is on 18^th October 2012.

Homework Clarification: 
As discussed a bit in the class last time, the social contract and other theories (e.g. utilitarianism, consent theory, etc., to justify the state) in chapter II were generally discussed by Jonathan Wolff. However, he did not specifically mention what the social contract theory of each social contract philosopher (Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau) was.

Therefore, you are assigned to specifically study those social contract theories in more detail. I do not require you to study all theories of those three philosophers, so choose "only one" among three which you think you like and can finish on time.

I. Here are some guiding questions:

1. Why did people in the state of nature want to have a sovereign, a state or a civil society (or exchange their natural rights with legal ones) according to Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau?
2. How did people agree to create a state according to Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau?
3. Who should be chosen to be a sovereign in the so-called civil society according to Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau?
4. Is there any possible challenge before and after choosing the sovereign? You can analytically discuss this question at the same time in Q2 and Q3 according to Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau.
5. What are weaknesses and strengths of the theory you choose? You can also make analysis in "this question" (compulsory).
6. How can you apply that theory in current events (optional)?

Here are some recommended books: 

• McClelland, J. S. (2006). A history of Western political thought. London: Rutledge.
• Roskin, M. G., Cord, L. R., Medeiros, J. A., & Jone, W. S. (2006). Political science: An introduction. New Jersey: Pearson Education.
• Hallowell, H. J.,& Porter, M. J. (1997). Political philosophy: The search for humanity and order. Canada: Prentice Hall Canada Inc.
• Christman, J. (2002). Social and political philosophy: A contemporary introduction. New York: Routledge.
• You can also find some other useful online documents.

 

III. Note: 

• If you use someone's words or ideas, kindly use APA style (in-text citation and reference). Otherwise, you commit plagiarism or simply academic dishonesty. Here is an article about "positive solutions for plagiarism" I read last month: http://chronicle.com/article/A-Positive-Solution-for/134498/. You might find it useful.
• Since the maximum number of page is ten (ten pages), you can write five or six or seven or eight pages according to main arguments of the theories, your analysis, and of course your preference. Wish you good luck. 

Chapter III: Who Should Rule?

I. Chapter Questions:

1. What are values of democracy? 
2. What are main characteristics of democracy? Briefly explain each characteristic. 
3. What is democratic government according to Abraham Lincoln (16^th U.S. President)? 
4. What is the tension or controversial debate of democracy (clue: a system of majority [tyranny of majority] vs. consideration of individuals)? 
5. Why isn’t democracy a stable political system according to Plato? 
1. What does “demo” mentioned by Plato refer to? 
2. Who should be chosen to rule? 
3. What are main characteristics of the ruler/sovereign? 
4. What did Plato think to prevent the ruler from corruption? 
5. Given the fact that people skeptically or doubtfully gave the ruler/sovereign absolute power to make policies/law for them, Aristotle thought that the Plato’s political system, merely Aristocracy, was not a stable one and that only the combined political system (Aristocracy and Polity) was more stable. Why did Aristotle think so? 
6. Why was the representative democracy rarely practiced in the ancient time? 
6. Did Jean-Jacques Rousseau agree with the Plato’s political system? 
1. If yes, what are the similarities between Plato’s political system and that of Rousseau [Clue: Rousseau’s political system is polity according to Jonathan Wolff]? 
2. If no, what are the differences? 
7. What is difference between “general will” and “particular will” according to Rousseau? 
8. According to Rousseau, what are two essential elements to gain “social unity”? 
9. What are critiques on Rousseau’s political thought? 
10. What is the participatory democracy? 
11. Why did many countries worldwide change their own political system to authoritarianism since 1960s? However, before that trend, there was development theory (developmentalism or developmentalist approach) emerging but failing to realize its assumption (Economic growth eventually leads to stable and democratic government). So, what is that theory?  Briefly explain that theory.
12. In 1960s and early 1970s, there were theories created to prove the failure of liberal economy: Dependency theory, corporatism, and bureaucratic-authoritarianism (B-A). 
1. What is dependency theory? Give a concrete example. 
2. What is corporatism? Give a concrete example. 
3. What is bureaucratic-authoritarianism (B-A)? Give a concrete example. 
13. However, from 1970s onwards, many countries returned to democracy. There are two main factors of this return to democracy: internal and external factor. 
1. What are the internal factors? 
2. What are the external factors? 
14. Why it was hard to change the “nationalist military authoritarianism” to democracy in the Middle East and Northern African states until 2000s? 
15. What is jasmine revolution? Why is jasmine revolution successful in Middle East and Africa? [Clue: Anarchism and other possible theories] Give the concrete examples of the countries in Africa and the Middle East where the jasmine revolution is successful.

II. Critical-Thinking Question: BBC debate on the motion: “Is democracy for everyone?”

In principle, democracy is seen as the most successful political system around the world. However, many countries, such as Vietnam, North Korea, Singapore, Laos, etc., have practiced other political systems (e.g. authoritarianism, communism, and the like). Therefore, since democracy is commonly recognized and proved as a good political system which provides people with more benefits, why doesn’t every country worldwide follow the democracy?

Extra Reading: Nazism vs. Fascism

Fascism and Nazism were two predominant political schools of thought during the earlier part of the 20th century, specifically localized around Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. Fascism and Nazism, though similar in many regards, have many aspects to them that make them different from one another. These primarily include each political ideology when it comes to society, economics, and gender issues. Furthermore, an outlook on the status of the state and nation makes Fascism and Nazism slightly different from one another. In order to gain a further understanding of these two political ideologies, I will explain and compare the two using references from the course pack.

Following the tragedy of World War I, Germany came out of the mix tattered and bruised on a World stage. Germany was blamed for the war and was ordered to pay massive reparations to various countries, which terribly hurt their economy and embarrassed their people. This created a perfect stage for Adolf Hitler to enter into the political realm with his ideas of Nazism fueled by his book, Mein Kampf. The concept of Nazism was broadened by The National Socialist German Workers’ Party. This party, with whom Hitler associated and eventually came to lead, published a list of grievances in response to the Versailles Treaty. This list, which was published originally in 1920, became known as the Twenty-Five points. This was the beginning of the Nazism mentality and political ideology. Many of the points touched on anti-Semitism, demanded more land, and espoused superiority of the “German Race.”

From the beginning of Hitler’s control, he ruled over Germany like a watch dog. For instance, “Hitler issued an Emergency Decree suspending civil liberties and proceeded to arrest communists or alleged communists”. This speaks volumes about the type of societal control that the Nazi regime commanded. It would ruthlessly hunt you down and try to eradicate everything and everyone that did not agree with it. Beyond this, the Nazis were also exceptional at using political propaganda to fuel their cause against the enemy. One of the chief methods of propaganda use was the radio, and according to Josef Goebbels, head of Nazi propaganda, “The radio must subordinate itself to the goals which the Government of the national revolution has set itself”. This is a scary thought to consider. If all media is pumping out information that furthers the interest of the Government, then people are literally becoming brainwashed by corruption and lies.

The Nazis were also staunchly against the Jews, and used them as a scapegoat for many of their own failings post-World War I. In 1935, the Nazi party established Racial Legislation, in which they established rules regarding marriage and divorce, extramarital relations, employment, and display of Nazi symbols. Jews were treated especially harshly in this legislation; most of their equitable rights to regular German citizens were taken away.

Economically, the Nazis were able to hoist the German people out of the trenches of their Great Depression, but it came at a significant price. “The Nazi economic experiment proved that by sacrificing all political and civil liberty, destroying a free trade-union movement, preventing the private exercise of capital, and ignoring consumer satisfaction, full employment to prepare for war and aggression could be achieved”. All work was devoted towards the state and the development of the army as they were soon to embark in war.

For women, Nazism meant a place in the home taking care of children and supporting the actions of her husband. Hitler believed that women and men belonged indifferent worlds from one another. Women who tried to further their rights were considered “symptoms of cultural decline”. One of the reasons that childrearing was so important to the Nazi ideology was because they were attempting to create an entire pure race of Aryans. Therefore, populating the nation was critical. Fascism was the major political and national ideology that was accepted by the Italians under the control of Mussolini. Fascism came about as an effort to stabilize both the Italian social and economic life.

Fascism was a move towards isolationism in a sense, because during Mussolini’s efforts, he attempted to make Italy completely self-reliant, where they wouldn’t have to seek help from outsiders in order for their own country to thrive. One instance of this can be seen in the “battle of wheat” in which Mussolini attempted to prevent foreign grain from entering the country. As a result, Italian farming grew tremendously.

To further detail the economic endeavors of Fascism, we learn that fascists engaged in a policy known as corporatism, which is a middle-ground between socialism and a market system. Fascists established this plan because they assumed that, “class conflict would be avoided if both labor and management looked to the greater goal of productivity for the nation”. However, the corporatism system did not work aside ally as the Fascists planned. It ended up creating more bureaucracy and corruption in the system.

Above all else, Fascism was a nationalistic idea in which the nation was the most essential component. Mussolini tried to infuse an idea of continual service and pride in the nation. Fascism called for a devotion of oneself to the nation, in order to improve the collective prior to the individual. Mussolini echoes these sentiments in a speech he made in 1932, “The twentieth century will be the century of fascism, the century of Italian power, the century during which Italy will become for the first time the leader of mankind”. Clearly, Mussolini’s words indicate that he wanted to see the nation of Italy rise to power.

Fascism was ultimately a collective outlook on the success of a country. It is fueled by the individuals who populate the country, and depends a great deal on those people buying into the ideas that the government sets forth.

Both Fascism and Nazism were important political ideologies early in the 20th century. They gave rise to World War II, and worked to implement ideas and attitudes on entire nations of people. The world is a significantly different place due to Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

Information: 
First of all, I do appreciate your work since I have intensively read a few pieces of your homework. So, keep up your hard work!

According to what we discussed at the beginning of the class, we have at least three quizzes in this semester. Therefore, be well prepared for another one (quiz#2) tomorrow.

Essential notes:
1. The quiz#2 will cover only Chapter III (Who Should Rule?). It's all about what you have already learned in the class. In addition, I have not told you why Aristotle, student of Plato, refused to agree with his teacher that the aristocracy alone was a stable political system. According to Aristotle, the mixed political system (aristocracy+polity) was more stable. Why did Aristotle think so? (Think about that)

2. It is a group quiz or "group work". Strictly speaking, I need five groups (a group of five students for the morning class and a group of four students for the afternoon class).

3. It is the open-book quiz, so you can open the book and of course your notes.

4. The time allowed is only 60mns, and there are perhaps more than 15 questions among which there is one critical thinking question (Actually, that question is the motion for the debate on BBC last year). And then we can move to Chapter IV (The Place of Liberty).

5. It accounts for 3% of the total ongoing assessment.

6. Be punctual, otherwise I do not think you can finish it on time.

Written Assignment and Presentation (Role Play)
I. Written Assignment (10%):
According to the IS302 course outline, the written assignment is deemed so important. Students are expected to fully engage in assignment discussion and other forms of academic interactions with one another and with the instructor. Since the course is designed to be student-oriented, there will be various in-class and out-class activities in which students are highly required to participate so as to gain better insights of the assigned chapters, improve their communication capacity, and particularly enhance their critical thinking/analytical skill. Be informed that the failure in active involvement could seriously lead to lower academic performance.

II. Presentation (10%):
Presentation alone is replaced by “thesis defense” role play in which the presentation is still performed. As discussed in the class, there are two expert groups for each chapter. One will play the role as “thesis defender”, while another will act as the “thesis examiner” specializing in every aspect or main point of the assigned chapter. The purposes of this role play are to improve presentation skill of the thesis defender, inquiry skill of the thesis examiner, and particularly the preparedness for their upcoming thesis defense in their last academic year (year IV/Semester II). The failure in active participation results in lower academic performance.

III. Confirmation: Since the group members and their role plays were formed based on the lottery as the democratic means, any future complaint or shortcoming will NOT be accepted. The group number, group members, and their role plays are shown below:

III.I. Group Members (Morning): 

Group I: Hort Chanratana, Ngorn Vicheada, Ngorn Sopheaktra, Phorn Puthearith, Ung Leakswahap, Yun Sreytouch, and Chhoun Sreynou

Group II: Chea Poly, Leang Linda, Momvern Sreyneath, Teav Tinwat, Ty Limkosal, Preung Sokun Usakphea, and Thlork Monyroth

Group III: Dim Dara, Ke Venghok, Kim Meymey, Pav Chesda, Retha Navinth, and Sarun Monyreak, and Ra Piseth

Group IV: Aun Ammarakroath, Chheang Vantak, Lim Mardy, Sek Sophanith, Seng Chanpheakdey, Tang Houtchheng, and Te Theng Kong,

III.II. Chapter Responsibility and Role Play (Morning):
Group I (Defender) and II (Examiner): Chapter V: The Distribution of Property
Group III (Defender) and IV (Examiner): Chapter VI: Individualism, Justice, Feminism

III.I. Group Members (Afternoon):  

Group I: Chea Oly, Chue Kimchhuong, Sovan Monyrath, Te Lisear, and Uy Samphallarith

Group II: Mam Sok Ussa, Meas Chanbopha, Pak Puthikrithiraks, and Seng Porchhay

Group III: Da Sovan, Khon Rathanak, Ong Limeng, Ros Sokhieng, and Seng Sophavady

Group IV: Hik Bopha, Lay Boseihak, Phorn Thavit, Samath Sambathsreysour, and Taing Hav

III.II. Chapter Responsibility and Role Play (Afternoon):
Group I (Examiner) and II (Defender): Chapter V: The Distribution of Property
Group III (Examiner) and IV (Defender): Chapter VI: Individualism, Justice, Feminism

IV. Essential Notes:
1. The written assignment covers:
- summary of main points of the chapter;
- evaluation of each main point (strengths and weaknesses); and
- extra information relevant to those main points (preferable).
2. Deadline of the assignment submission is the day of the “thesis defense” role play.
3. Students’ performance will be scored collectively and individually, based on their active engagement in the whole assignment process and of course in the “thesis defense” role play.

Chapter IV: The Place of Liberty

"On Liberty is a philosophical work by British philosopher John Stuart Mill, originally intended as a short essay. The work, published in 1859, applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and the state. Mill attempts to establish standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. He emphasizes the importance of individuality which he conceived as a prerequisite to the higher pleasures—the summum bonum of Utilitarianism. Furthermore, Mill criticized the errors of past attempts to defend individuality where, for example, democratic ideals resulted in the "tyranny of the majority". Among the standards established in this work are Mill's three basic liberties of individuals, his three legitimate objections to government intervention, and his two maxims regarding the relationship of the individual to society "which together form the entire doctrine of [Mill's] Essay."

Click here to download On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

Bidding Game: Chapter IV: The Place of Liberty

Bidding Questions:

1. What does the title of the chapter, The Place of Liberty, mean? (2 points)  
2. What does liberty mean? (1 point)  
3. Due to the tension of the democracy (tyranny of majority vs. protection of minority), John Stuart Mill argued that the considerable power for individuals should be reserved. What are the implications of this argument? (5 points)  
4. There are three theoretical camps – anarchism, moderate libertarianism, and absolutism – arguing over how much power State should have. What are their arguments? (5 points) 
5. John Stuart Mill was in the second camp which is the moderate libertarianism (liberalism) and of course supported the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham. He argued that “the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others”.  
1. Why did Mill mention only his liberty principle applicable to the members of the civilized community? How about those who are in the uncivilized community? What other theoretical camp did Mill support to be used in the uncivilized community? (10 points)
2. What does “harm” really mean according to you? How many types of harmful actions are there according to John Stuart Mill? Explain each type (10 points)  
6. Mill used the term “interest” in his essay – On Liberty. He said, “…act as you like, as long as you do not harm the interest of another person.” Moreover, he said that the interest ought to be considered as “right”, specifically “right-based interest”.  
1. According to Mill, are all the interests considered as “rights”? Why? (2 points)  
2. What does “right” mean? (2 points)  
3. How many types of rights do human beings have? (5 points)  
4. How do people know how many rights they have according John Locke/Jeremy Bentham and according to John Stuart Mill? (5 point)  
5. Why do we need to understand the [human] rights? (5 points)  
6. What are characteristics of [human] rights? (10 points)  
7. According to Mill, utility is the ultimate ground of the human liberty, and utilitarianism should be justified to maximize human happiness (the intrinsic value of liberty is happiness) in a proper way. How many types of the utilitarianism are there? (10 points)  
8. Henry Sidgwich, the most thoughtful and sophisticated of the early utilitarian, suggested that, while utilitarianism is the correct moral theory, it might sometimes be better if this were kept secret. Why did he suggest so? What term did he use to support that the utilitarianism should be revealed to only the enlightened elite? (10 points)  
9. Why did John Stuart Mill argue that both popular and especially unpopular views should not be suppressed? FYI: He, in addition, argued that suppression of the unpopular view would gain nothing but loss. (10 points)  
10. However, Mill also supported the limitation to what one is permitted to say in public. It seems contradictory to his first argument in Q-9. Why did he support the limitation? Clue: Mill applied the utilitarianism. (5 points)  
11. Did Jean-Jacques Rousseau support the progress of views or opinion (knowledge)? Actually, his argument was attacked by John Stuart Mill as shown in Q-10. (5 points)  
12. What is limitation to Mill’s liberty principle? Give concrete examples (5 points)  
13. What is “liberalism”? Why is it related to Mill’s liberty principle? (15 points)  
14. What is the argument of Marxism against liberalism? (10 points)  
15. What is the argument of Communitarianism against the liberalism? (10 points)

Mid-term Exam, 03rd December 2012

1. Supplying Key Terms (x10): 20%
2. MCQs (x10): 20%
3. T/F Statements (x10): 10%
4. Comprehension Questions (x3): 30%
5. Critical-Thinking Question (x1): 20%
6. Mid-term exam covers four chapters (Chapter I to IV)
7. Time allowed is only 90 minutes 

 Midterm Exam on 03rd December 2012

Group Presentation:

Presentation Assessment Criteria:

Judgment Assessment Criteria: