This course is the second in a two-course series in American
political thought. While its predecessor, Y383, covers the period from the
colonial era to the era of post-Civil War Reconstruction, Y384 covers the
period from the Populist and Progressive Era (in the 1880s) to present.  You
need not take both courses, and Y383 is not a prerequisite for enrollment in
this course.
	To many of us, the debates in American political thought during the
latter parts of the 20th Century are relatively vivid and alive in our
minds.  This is because of the availability of film footage or even lived
memories of many of the events that have helped shape that political
thought.  We will be viewing some videotaped material dealing with important
20th Century events in some of our class meetings, but since no television
cameras were around to capture the events and sentiments of the earlier
decades with which this course begins, we must use a different tactic to
make those political ideas come to life.   Thus, we will begin the course by
reading the most popular novel of the late 1800s, Edward Bellamy's political
utopia,  Looking Backward.
	After beginning this way, we will proceed through more traditional
sources of political ideas -  treatises, letters, manifestos party
platforms, and the like  - in order to trace the development of various
reform movements (beginning with the Populist and Progressive movements);
the debates over America's involvement in the World Wars; long-running
arguments over national economic policy during times of economic depression
and recession; and, finally, the so-called "culture wars" of today,  which
center around issues of cultural diversity and social stability.
	In the process, we will see that while American political ideas have
found expression in  many different styles and in many different contexts
(e.g, ideological, economic, and cultural), a single question underlies it
all: What does it mean to be an American?  Ultimately, then, students will
be encouraged to wrestle with this question in their own way, drawing on
sources from the course work to enrich their own unique perspectives.