JUNIATA COLLEGE

                                                                       PS 320W

                                          TLP: Foundations of American Constitutionalism

Fall, 2000                                                                                                     Jack Barlow

2:30-3:50 TTh                                                                                              Good 319

Oller Center Conference Room                                                                     641-3651

Course Description

            This course will examine the political and philosophic background of the American Revolution and the framing of the U.S. Constitution in the developing doctrines of liberal constitutionalism.  Questions of the ends and powers of government and the rights of individuals will receive particular attention. 

Course Objectives

            The general objective of the course is to provide the foundation in modern political thought that is necessary to a sophisticated understanding of contemporary constitutional issues.  In addition, students will gain a knowledge of the political and philosophical orientation of the framers of the U.S. Constitution.  Students will also develop a more thorough understanding of the fundamental ideas that shape our constitutional thinking, including majority rule, minority rights, federalism, republicanism, and "higher" law. 

Required Texts

Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers, ed. Rossiter, intro Kesler (Mentor). 

Jefferson, Thomas, The Portable Thomas Jefferson, ed. Peterson (Penguin). 

Locke, John, Two Treatises of Government, ed. Laslett (Cambridge). 

Montesquieu, Baron Charles, The Spirit of the Laws, tr. and ed., Cohler, et al. (Cambridge). 

Hume, David, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Miller (Liberty Press). 

Blackstone, William, Commentaries on the Laws of England, vol. 1 (Chicago). 

Recommended Books 

Turabian, Kate L., A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Fifth Edition (Chicago). 

Course Requirements

            (1) Participation.  Students are expected to attend each class having read the assigned material and prepared to participate in the class discussion.  Because the last portion of the course will be devoted to independent research, preparation for the discussion sessions will be particularly important. 

            (2) Written Assignments.  There will be two major written assignments.  The first is a critical assessment, no more than five pages in length, of a single Federalist paper.  It will be due at the end of the sixth week of the course.  It may be rewritten, if the original shows signs of serious effort, and if it is turned in, together with the original paper, no more than seven days after the original is returned.  The higher of the two grades will be the one recorded. 

            The second assignment is the final paper, which is to be a significant piece of research, and is due at the end of the semester.  It should be no longer than 20 pages.  Students will be asked to have finalized a topic by the end of the eighth week, and to have completed a tentative outline and bibliography by the end of the ninth week.  Students are REQUIRED to rewrite this paper, and they will be given the last two weeks of the semester to do so.  The first draft is ungraded.  The grade for the final draft will be recorded. 

            All work submitted should be in proper form according to Turabian's Manual (see above) or The Chicago Manual of Style. 

            (3) Withdrawal from the Course.  Withdrawal from the course will be permitted at any time prior to the final deadline.

            (4) Academic Honesty.  All work submitted for this course must be the student's own and prepared specifically for this course.  The college's policy on academic honesty is to be followed without exception.  If you have questions about the policy, consult the Pathfinder, or ask me. 

Grading

Class participation        20%                

Federalist analysis         25%

Final paper                   55%

Office Hours

My scheduled office hours will be posted outside my door.  If you cannot make it during scheduled hours, call me at 641-3651 for an appointment, or e-mail me. 

Schedule

(Note:  Additional readings may be assigned from time to time.)

Week 1 (8/29):     Introduction; no class 8/31

Week 2 (9/5):       The Federalist Papers.  Papers 1, 2, 6, 9, 10. 

Week 3 (9/12):     The Federalist Papers.  Papers 14, 15, 23, 30, 35, 37-39. 

Week 4 (9/19):     The Federalist Papers.  Papers 47-51, 62-63, 70, 78, 84. 

Week 5 (9/26):     John Locke.  Skim the First Treatise; read the Second Treatise, chapters 1-5, 7-9. 

Week 6 (10/3):     John Locke.  Second Treatise, chs 10-14, 17-19.

                                    Federalist analyses due 10/5

Week 7 (10/10):   Montesquieu.  The Spirit of the Laws, vol. 1, chapters 1-8, 11-14, 19, 29. 

Week 8 (10/17):   Paper topic due 10/19

Week 9 (10/24):   Hume.  Essays, Part I, essays 3, 4, 5, 8, 9; Part II, essays 1, 12, 14, 16. 

                                    Paper outline and bibliography due 10/9

Week 10 (10/31):  Blackstone.  Commentaries, pp. 3-92, 104-105, 117-141. 

Week 11 (11/7):    Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, queries 11-23; Virginia Statute for Religious                                                                Liberty; other readings TBA

Week 12 (11/14):   Research for paper

Week 13 (11/21):   Drafts due 11/21

Week 14 (11/28):   Papers returned (11/28) 

Rewritten papers due 12/12