FACULTAT DE CIÈNCIES POLÍTIQUES I DE SOCIOLOGIA

POLITICAL THOUGHT

2022-2023

GROUP 1 (ENGLISH)

Teaching Staff

 John Etherington
[email protected]
Office B3 – 077
Tel. 93 581 2410
@jretherington1

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students are expected to have developed a reasonably in-
depth understanding of the history of Western political thought and of the key
thinkers in this tradition. In order to demonstrate this understanding, students should
be able to discuss the key contributions to this tradition in the context of basic political
questions both old and new. In this respect, particular emphasis will be placed on the
capacity to analyse and to present arguments in both written and oral form.

Classes
Given the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, the format of the classes
will adapt to the changes circumstances. However, whether on-line or face-to-face,
classes can be divided into two basic kinds: lectures and seminars. The objective of
lectures is to present the main themes contained in the programme, with particular
emphasis on the key thinkers listed therein. In order to explore these themes in

1
greater depth, there are a series of obligatory readings. These readings will be dealt
with in seminars, but, in any event, students are expected to be familiar with, and be
able to show their understanding of all the obligatory texts mentioned, since the
examinations will be based on these readings. Lecture notes will not be sufficient to
pass the exams.

During the year there will be ten seminars lasting one hour, the
objective of which is to discuss the assigned readings that students must
prepare before each one. Attendance at and active participation in the
seminars are obligatory. Students who miss more than two seminars per
semester, or who consistently fail to participate, will not be allowed to
complete the course.

In addition to the lectures and seminars, an essay-writing workshop

will be held in the first semester – and possibly in the second, too -, while the
last session of each term will be given over to the presentation of essays.

During the course six assessments, lasting two hours, will be held to test the
understanding of students of the designated texts: having prepared the texts
previously, students will have to provide a written answer to a question on the texts,
which will be handed in after the first hour. The second hour will be used to discuss
answers. Students must attend both parts of the assessment. Students will not have
access to the texts for this kind of assessment.
There will be three assessments in the first semester and three in the second, and the
dates will be specified in a separate document.

Evaluation
The final evaluation is divided into two parts:

Examinations (50% of the final mark), of which there are two: at the end of the first
semester and the end of the second. In addition, there is a further exam at the end of
the academic year for those who have failed one or both of the semester exams. As

2
clearly stated in the Guia Docent, students must pass both exams in order to
successfully complete the course.

Continuous Assessment (50% of the final mark), divided equally between the six
assessments (25%) and two essays (25%). It is important to note that this coursework
cannot be recovered – it must be done in the specified time frame, and there is no
opportunity to recover it at a later date. Students must attend at least eight seminars,
complete at least three assessments and hand in and present both essays.

For further information on the system of evaluation, please refer to the Guia Docent of
the course

Important Note: Plagiarism

If any student is found to have plagiarised any aspect of their written work, they
shall be expelled immediately from the course.

Students are strongly advised to read the Guia sobre com citar i com evitar el plagi,
published by the Faculty

Course Content

The following is a general outline of the themes that we will study throughout the
course. Detailed outlines will be made available for each theme at the appropriate
time.

Part 1: Ancient Greece and Rome

1. The Origins of Western Political Thought: The Greek Poleis and the Golden Age
of Athenian Democracy. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
2. Rome: From Ideas to Practice. Polybius and Cicero.
3. Late Imperial and Medieval Political Thought

3
Part 2: The Emergence of the Modern State
4. Machiavelli and Republicanism
5. The Concept of Sovereignty: Hobbes
6. Popular Sovereignty: Locke and Rousseau.

Part 3: Modern Political Ideologies of the West

7. Liberalism
8. Conservatism
9. Socialism: Marxism and Social Democracy
10. Anarchism
11. Feminism
12. Nationalism
13. Totalitarianism: Fascism and National-Socialism

Readings

Primary Texts
Below is a list of works by key political thinkers from ancient times up to the twentieth
century that we will study throughout the year. Rather than read the texts in their
entirety, in the great majority of cases we shall only read fragments of them. The exact
references will be included on the more in-depth outlines of the relevant parts of the
programme.

Part 1: Ancient Greece and Rome

 Plato The Republic
 Aristotle The Politics

Part 2: The Emergence of the Modern State

 Machiavelli, N. The Discourses
 Hobbes, T. The Leviathan
 Locke, J. Two Treatises on Government
 Rousseau, J-J. The Social Contract

4
Part 3: Modern Political Ideologies of the West
Liberalism
 Mill, James Government
 Mill, John Stuart On Liberty
Conservatism
 Burke, E. Reflections on the Revolution in France
 De Maistre, J. Considerations on France
Socialism
 Marx, German Ideology
 Marx, K. Preface to a Contribution to Political Economy.
 Luxemburg, R. Social Reform or Revolution?
 Bernstein, E. Evolutionary Socialism: A Criticism and Affirmation.
Anarchism
 Bakunin, M. Marxism, Freedom and the State
 Godwin, W. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Morals and
Happiness.
Feminism
 Wollstonecraft, M. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Strictures on
Political and Moral Subjects
 de Beauvoir, S. The Second Sex
Nationalism
 Mill, John Stuart On Representative Government
 Stalin, Josif Marxism and the National Question
Totalitarianism
 Arendt, H. The Origins of Totalitarianism

Secondary Texts
In order to understand better the context in which the authors cited above lived and
worked, students are expected to read the relevant chapters from works such as the
following:

5
 Adams, I (various editions) Political Ideology Today. Manchester: MUP.
 Black, A. (2009) A World History of Ancient Political Thought. Oxford
Scholarship Online.
 Balot, R.K. (2009) (ed.) A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought
John Wiley & Sons. Available through the library at: ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?docID=1120475.

 Botella, J, Cañeque, C., Gonzalo, E. (2004) El Pensamiento Político en sus Textos.

Madrid: Tecnos
 Cartledge, P. (2009) Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice. Cambridge:
CUP.
 Coleman, J. (2000) A History of Political Thought: From Ancient Greece to Early
Christianity. Oxford: Blackwell.
 Eccleshall, R. et al. (1993) Ideologías Políticas. Madrid: Tecnos.
 Hampsher-Monk, I. (1992) A History of Modern Political Thought. Oxford:
Blackwell. Also available in Spanish: (1996) Historia del Pensamineto Político
Moderno. Barcelona: Ariel.
 Heywood, A. Political Ideologies: An Introduction, various editions. Basingstoke:
Palgrave-MacMillan.
 Macridis, R. and Hulliung, M. “Contemporary Political Ideologies, Movements
and Regimes”, various editions. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers.
Also available in Spanish: (1996) Ideologías Políticas Contemporáneas. Madrid.
Alianza.
 MacPherson, C.B. (1977) The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy. Oxford: OUP.
Also available in Spanish: (2003) La Democracia Liberal y Su Época. Madrid:
Alianza.
 Mellón, J.A. (ed.). 1998. Ideologías y Movimientos Políticos Contemporáneos.
Madrid. Tecnos.
 Meiksins Wood, E. (2008) Citizens to Lords: A Social History of Western Political
Thought from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. London: Verso. Also available in
Spanish: (2011) De Ciudadanos a Señores Feudales: Historia social del
pensamiento político desde la Antigüedad a la Edad Media. Madrid: Paidós.

6
  Miller, D. (1987) The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Oxford:
Blackwell. Also available in Spanish: (1989) Enciclopedía del Pensamiento
Político. Madrid. Alianza.
 Rowe, C. and Schofield, M. (eds) (2000) The Cambridge History of Greek and
Roman Political Thought. Cambridge: CUP.
 Sabine, G.H. Historia de la Teoría Política. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
 Smith, S. (2012) Political Philosophy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
 Touchard, J. Historia de las Ideas Políticas. Madrid: Tecnos.
 Vallespín, F. (ed.). 1990. Historia de la Teoría Política. Madrid. Alianza.

Communication
There are various lines of communication that we can use:

 Office hours:
I will be available in my office at the following times:
o Tuesdays: 14-16h.
o Fridays: 10-11h and 14-16h.
We can also arrange meetings via Teams.

 Aula Moodle: all the information and documents relevant to the course will be
uploaded here. To contact me please use the external email channel
([email protected]) rather than the message service of the Aula
Moodle. For my part, in order to communicate with students, I either use the
‘Noticies’ of the Campus Virtual or emails. For the latter, I shall use the
institutional address of students.