American Politics /
American Exceptionalism
IEP University of Bordeaux
Sven Steinmo
Steinmo@colorado.edu
October 2001
WEB Address: http://stripe.colorado.edu/~steinmo/bordeaux.htm
This will be a Critical Thinking undergraduate
seminar focusing on what is often called "American Exceptionalism." Substantively,
we will examine how and why America is
different from other
advanced industrial democracies. (First, of course, we will ask ourselves,
"Is America really different?") I hope to make this course a highly interactive
critical
thinking experience for students.
This class focuses on the United States
of America, but is explicitly a comparative. I do not believe that you
can answer the question, "Is America Different?" to say nothing of the
harder question, "Why?" without explicitly comparing this country with
other similar countries. I expect and hope to learn as much from the French
and international students in this course as they will learn from me.
I will not assume a great deal of knowledge
on the student's part on either the history of political structure/institutions
of the United States. Depending on the backgrounds of the students in the
course, we may well spend the first part of each session simply examining
the institutions/politics and history. If necessary, I will lecture on
these subjects. I strongly hope, however, that we can engage in meaningful
discussions rather than simply lecture.
Required readings:
Since this is a very short course (12 hours
over 3 weeks) and because English is not the native language of the students,
the reading load will not be too heavy. I attempt to use as much reading
found on the internet and/or materials that I can distribute electronically
as possible.
There is only one required text for the
students to purchase.
Graham Wilson: Only In America?
Chatham House Publishing, New Jersey: 1998.
In addition we will have several readings
that can be found on the Internet. You can access these directly via the
web sites listed here, or through the course web site.
Suggested optional reading:
Seymour Martin Lipset: American Exceptionalism: A Double Edged Sword
David Potter: A People of Plenty
Also see some additional suggested readings
listed in course outline.
Course Outline:
October 9: Is America Different? Class session will be a
structured debate on American exceptionalism.
Readings: Lipset, Chapter 1, "American
Exceptionalism: A Double Edged Sword." See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/americanexceptionalism.htm
October 11: American Exceptionalism Reconsidered:
Graham Wilson, Chapter 1 and 3
October 16: Culture or Institutions?
Readings: Wilson, Chapter 2 pp 17-40.
Steinmo: American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: Culture or Institution?
http://stripe.colorado.edu/~steinmo/DODDJIL.htm
Optional Reading: Steinmo "It's the Institutons,
Stupid!" http://stripe.colorado.edu/~steinmo/stupid.htm
October 23: America's Role in the World? The Implications of Exceptionalism:
Wilson, Chapter 5, pp. 86-103.