University of Essex

GV948-7-SP-CO:
Democracy and Freedom

The details

Year: 2024/25

Department: Government

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Spring

Level: Postgraduate: Level 7

Status: Current

Start date: Monday 13 January 2025

End date: Friday 21 March 2025

Credits: 15

Last updated: 23 April 2024

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

MA L20512 Political Theory,
MA L20524 Political Theory,
MA L205EB Political Theory

Module description

GV948 is a module in political theory. We read classic texts that first formulated our modern ideas of democracy and freedom, as well as more contemporary texts that challenge these ideas. We will discuss democracy from a range of historical, normative, and theoretical perspectives. Questions include: What is democracy? What is democracy’s value? What are the practices that are constitutive of democracy? We will also consider some challenges for democracy, considering contemporary threats to democracy and freedom.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

To introduce students to, and stimulate interest in, a range of ideas and concepts around democracy and freedom

To examine a number of central debates in historical and contemporary political thought

To engage in clear verbal and written normative argumentation

Module learning outcomes

To understand the normative dimensions of key concepts and debates in democratic theory

To introduce students to the work of major contemporary political theorists

To develop critical thought and writing skills

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

The teaching is structured in weekly two-hour seminars.

Members of the seminar are expected to attend on a weekly basis, and be prepared to discuss the essential texts in the seminars.

Bibliography

Dahl, R. (no date) ‘Introduction’, in Democracy and Its Critics. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=52831&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Anderson, E. (2009) ‘Democracy: Instrumental vs. Non-Instrumental Value’, in T. Christiano and J. Christman (eds) Contemporary Debates in Political Philosophy. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 213–227. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444310399.ch12.
Dahl, R.A. and Shapiro, I. (2015) On democracy. Second edition. New Haven: Yale University Press. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1554664&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Berlin, I. (2002) ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’, in E. by H. Hardy (ed.) Liberty. Oxford University PressOxford, pp. 166–217. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/019924989X.003.0004.
Teresa M. Bejan (2019) ‘Two Concepts of Freedom (of Speech)’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 163(2), pp. 95–107. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45380623?sid=primo.
Carole Pateman (2012) ‘APSA Presidential Address: Participatory Democracy Revisited’, Perspectives on Politics, 10(1), pp. 7–19. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23327060?sid=primo.
Benjamin, Barber (1984) ‘6. Strong Democracy: Politics as a Way of Living’, in Strong democracy: participatory politics for a new age. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Pitkin, H.F. (1972) Concept of Representation. University of California Press. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/jj.2711645.
Jane Mansbridge (1999) ‘Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent “Yes”’, The Journal of Politics, 61(3), pp. 628–657. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2647821?sid=primo.
Bächtiger, A. et al. (2018) ‘Deliberative Democracy’, in A. Bächtiger et al. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy. Oxford University Press, pp. xxii–32. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747369.013.50.
Lynn M. Sanders (1997) ‘Against Deliberation’, Political Theory, 25(3), pp. 347–376. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/191984?sid=primo.
Iris Marion Young (2001) ‘Activist Challenges to Deliberative Democracy’, Political Theory, 29(5), pp. 670–690. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3072534?sid=primo.
Urbinati, N. (2019b) ‘Political Theory of Populism’, Annual Review of Political Science, 22(1), pp. 111–127. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-070753.
Canovan, M. (1999) ‘Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy’, Political Studies, 47(1), pp. 2–16. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.00184.
Willis, R., Curato, N. and Smith, G. (2022) ‘Deliberative democracy and the climate crisis’, WIREs Climate Change, 13(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.759.
Niemeyer, S. (2013) ‘Democracy and Climate Change: What Can Deliberative Democracy Contribute?’, Australian Journal of Politics & History, 59(3), pp. 429–448. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12025.
Paltieli, G. (2023) ‘Re-imagining democracy: AI’s challenge to political theory’, in S. Lindgren (ed.) Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 333–342. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803928562.00036.
Joshua Cohen (2021) ‘1. Democracy and the Digital Public Sphere’, pp. 23–61. Available at: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7208/9780226748603-002/html.
Jungherr, A. (2023) ‘Artificial Intelligence and Democracy: A Conceptual Framework’, Social Media + Society, 9(3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231186353.
Rafanelli, L.M. and Rafanelli, L. (2022) ‘Justice, injustice, and artificial intelligence: Lessons from political theory and philosophy’, Big Data & Society, 9(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221080676.
Norris, P. and Norris, P. (2017) ‘Is Western Democracy Backsliding? Diagnosing the Risks’, SSRN Electronic Journal [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2933655.
Bermeo, N. (2016) ‘On Democratic Backsliding’, Journal of Democracy, 27(1), pp. 5–19. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0012.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Research Paper 1	14/02/2025	40%
Coursework	Research Paper 2	04/04/2025	60%

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Dr Laura Montanaro, email: lmonta@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Dr Laura Montanaro

Contact details: Please contact govpgquery@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: Yes

Available to Outside Option: No

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

Name: Dr Adrian Florea

Institution: University of Glasgow

Academic role: Senior Lecturer in International Relations

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: No lecture recording information available for this module.

Further information

Department website: Government

Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements, industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

Module Directory

GV948-7-SP-CO:Democracy and Freedom