22/9/22, 8:57 Theories of Democracy and Justice

Theories of Democracy and Justice (21712)

Degree: Political and Administration Sciences

Year: 3rd & 4th

Term: 3rd
Number of
credits ECTS: 4 credits ECTS

Hours of student work: 100 hours 

Language of teaching: English 

Professors: Josep Costa & Andrei Bespalov

  

  

1. Presentation of the course

Justice and Democracy are ideals that have thrived together in the recent history of political thought.
However, the present reality of liberal democracies is full of tensions, dilemmas, contradictions and
conflicts that show, on the one hand, the difficulty of fully implementing those ideals simultaneously and,
on the other, the broad disagreement on the actual meaning of justice and democracy in the first place.

This course aims to address some of the main normative debates in the field of Political Theory, looking
for responses to the challenges faced by contemporary societies. Among these, specific attention will be
devoted to issues of cultural diversity and social inequality, frequently combining abstract discussion with
case studies. 

2. Skills

This course is part of the optional courses itinerary "democracy in diverse societies" that together,
develops the following competencies/skills:

BASIC SKILLS:

CB2. That students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have
competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems
within their field of study.

CB3. That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of
study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical.

CB4. That students can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and
non-specialist audiences.

CB5. That students have developed those skills needed to undertake further studies with a high degree of
autonomy.

GENERAL SKILLS:

CG1. Capacity for analysis and synthesis.

CG3. Knowledge of a second language.

CG6. Interpersonal skills.

CG8. Appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism.

CG15. Project design and management.

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TRANSVERSAL SKILLS:

CT1. Identify and analyze critically gender inequality and its intersection with other axes of inequality.

SPECIFIC SKILLS:

EC1. Identify the main theories and approaches of Political Science and Administration.

CE2. Analyze the structure and functioning of political systems.

EC4. Examine the fundamentals of comparative politics.

CE6. Identify citizen behavior and democratic values.

CE8. Interpret contemporary political theories and arguments.

CE9. Interpret the historical dimension of political and social processes.

CE17. Apply the methods and techniques of political and social research.

CE19. Examine the techniques of political communication.

3. Contents and course readings:

Unit. 1 - Political Theory, Justice and Democracy.

This unit introduces the basic concepts of the course and raises questions about the main object of
theories of justice and democracy. It also tries to provide different perspectives on whether these
concepts are inherently compatible, opposed or complementary.

- Valentini, L. (2010), "Justice and democracy", SJ012 Working Paper, Oxford.

- Forst, R. (2011), "Transnational Justice and Democracy", Normative Orders Working Paper 04/2011.

  

Unit. 2 - The People, the Society and the Demos.

Theories of justice and democracy have taken for granted the existence of a people or society (a 'demos').
In this unit we will see that these concepts are also fundamentally contested, and that conflicts of
membership and/or boundaries can be found in almost any modern state.

- Walzer, M. (1983), Spheres of Justice. New York: Basic Books. (Chapter 2: "Membership").

- Abizadeh, A. (2012), "On the Demos and Its Kin: Nationalism, Democracy, and the Boundary Problem",
in American Political Science Review 106 (4), pp 867-82.

Unit. 3 - Self-determination and Secession.

One way in which the 'demos' is contested is by the attempts to break up existing nation states, and the
creation of new ones. What do theories of Justice and Democracy have to say about this?

- Buchanan, A. (1991), Secession. The morality of Political Divorce from Port Sumter to Lithuania and
Quebec. Boulder: Westview Press.

- Costa, J. (2003), "On Theories of Secession: Minorities, Majorities, and the Multinational State", in
Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 6 (2), pp. 63-90.
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Unit 4. Democracy, individual rights, and judicial review.

Can there be a conflict between democracy and the constitutional protection of human rights? To what
extent can judicial review be a limit on the exercise of majority rule?

- Dworkin, R. (1977), Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

- Waldron, J. (2006), "The Core of the Case Against Judicial Review", in The Yale Law Journal 115 (6), pp.
1346-1406.

Unit 5.- Individual rights and Social Justice.

What are the requirements of justice in well ordered societies? The protection of individual rights and the
fair distribution of those rights, as well as resources and opportunities are the main concern of liberals.
But there are many competing accounts of liberalism.  

- Kymlicka, W. (2002) "Liberal Equality" in Contemporary Political Philosophy. An Introduction, Oxford

University Press.

- Van Parijs, Ph. (2006), "Basic Income: A simple and Powerful Idea for the Twenty First Century", in
Redesigning Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder Grants as Cornerstones of a More Egalitarian
Capitalism (E. O. Wright ed.), London & New York: Verso, 3-42.

  

Unit 6. Redistribution and Recognition: Justice in the Mirror of Ideology.

In today's world claims for a more just redistribution of resources and goods often seem to be
overshadowed by recognition claims for a more diverse society where various cultural perspectives get
equal respect on a par with the one shared by the majority. Should each of these two dimensions of
justice retain its independent meaning or, maybe, distribution conflicts are really only a specific kind of
struggles for recognition?

- Fraser, N. (1996). Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics: Redistribution, Recognition, and
Participation. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, pp. 3-38.

- Honneth, A. (2003). "Redistribution as Recognition: A Response to Nancy Fraser." In Redistribution or

Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange, with Nancy Fraser, translated by Joel Galb, James Ingram,
and Christiane Wilke. London: Verso, pp. 110-114, 160­-190.

Unit 7. Justice in a Diverse Society: Ripping off the Veil of Ignorance.

Liberal societies give their members a wide range of individual civil liberties (freedom of consciousness,
speech, association, etc.), they do not privilege any particular life-styles and concepts of the good. Is
mere non-discrimination enough for people of different cultures to feel free and equal, or maybe, some
groups within the society need special rights and exemptions? Can justice stay blind to cultural differences
between the citizens?

- Taylor, Ch. (2012). "Interculturalism or Multiculturalism?" Philosophy and Social Criticism, Vol. 38,
Issue 4-5, pp. 413-423.

- Kymlicka, W. (2015). "The Essentialist Critique of Multiculturalism: Theories, Policies, Ethos", in

Multiculturalism Rethought: Interpretations, Dilemmas and New Directions, eds. Varun Uberoi and Tariq
Modood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 209-249.

Unit 8. Liberal Neutrality and the Temptation of Power.

State power must not be used to promote anyone's particular interests, even those of the majority. How
is it possible? Is it really fair towards the majority?

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- Patten, A. (2012). "Liberal Neutrality: A Reinterpretation and Defense", Journal of Political Philosophy,
Vol. 20, Issue 3, pp. 249-272.

- Miller, D. (2016). "Majorities and Minarets: Religious Freedom and Public Space", British Journal of
Political Science, Vol. 46, Issue 2, pp. 437-456.

Unit 9. Toleration: Democracy's Impossible Virtue?

Democracy is best protected from turning into the tyranny of the majority by the citizens' own virtues.
Among those the first one that is usually evoked today is tolerance. But toleration itself is such a
controversial attitude that it raises the most profound suspicion of whether it is a virtue at all, and, if
"yes", then how is it possible?

- Brown W. (2006). Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, Chapter 2. "Tolerance as a Discourse of Power", pp. 25-47.

- Forst R. (2014). "Toleration and Democracy", Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 45, Issue 1, pp. 65-75.

Unit 10. Public Justification: Legitimizing the Use of Political Power.

How can free and equal citizens legitimately subject each other to coercive laws? Public reason liberals
argue that it is possible on condition that our generally applicable laws and demands on one another are
properly justified. What makes a proper justification?

- Vallier, K. (2011). "Against Public Reason Liberalism's Accessibility Requirement", Journal of Moral
Philosophy, Vol. 8, pp. 366-389;

- Quong, J. (2014). "What Is the Point of Public Reason?" Philosophical Studies, Vol. 170, Issue 3, pp.
545-553.

Other suggested readings:

- Berlin, I. (1962), "Does Political Theory Still Exist?", in Philosophy, Politics, and Society, 2nd Series, ed.
P. Laslett and W. G. Runciman. Oxford: Blackwell, 1- 33.

- Dobson, A. (2003) Citizenship and the environment, Oxford University Press.

- Kymlicka, W. (2002), "Communitarianism", in Contemporary Political Philosophy. An Introduction,

Oxford University Press.

- Miller, D. (2007) National Responsibility and Global Justice, Oxford University Press.

- Nussbaum, M. (1996), "Patriotism and cosmopolitanism", in M. Nussbaum et al. (Eds.), For love of
country: Debating the limits of patriotism. Boston: Beacon Press (pp. 2-20).

- Pettit, Ph. (1997), "Freedom with honor: A Republican ideal" in Social Research; Spring; 64, 1; pp: 52-
76.

- Singer, P. (2002), One world: The ethics of globalization, Yale University Press.

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- Brown, C. (2004) "From international justice to global justice? A Handbook of Political Theory, Oxford.

4. Assessment

Continuous Assessment (classroom, or online participation):

a) Presentations and class/forum participation (15%)

b) Written submissions (15%)

  

Final Assessment:

c) Final Exam (50%)

d) Essay (20%)

e) Optional: book review (+10%)

Retake Exam:

- May retake the exam of early July, students who have attended most of the seminars and the final exam
but obtain a final grade for the course under 5.

- To pass the exam students will need to show sufficient knowledge and understanding of the contents of
the theoretical sessions and the relevant readings.

5. Bibliography

Canovan, M., Nationhood and Political Theory, Oxford, 1996.

Dworkin, R., Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977.

Gargarella, R., Las teorías de la justicia después de Rawls, Barcelona: Ariel, 1996.

Goodin, R.; Pettit, P. (ed.), A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy. An Anthology, Oxford:

Blackwell, 1997.

Held, D., Modelos de Democracia, Alianza Editorial, 2007.

Kymlicka, W., Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Citizenship. Oxford University
Press, 2001.

Maiz, R. (comp), Teorías políticas contemporáneas, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2001.

Miller, D., Political Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford; Nova York: Oxford University Press,
2003.

Moore, M. (ed.), National Self-determination and Secession, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Moore, M., A Political Theory of Territory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Requejo, F., Las Democracias: democracia antigua, democracia liberal y estado de bienestar, Barcelona:
Ariel, 2008.

Requejo, F.; Gonzalo, E., Desigualtats en democràcia. Les teories de la justícia socioeconòmica al segle
XXI, Barcelona: Eumo Editorial, 2009.

Vallespín, F (ed), Historia de la Teoría Política (8 vol), Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1992-1996.

Young, I. M., Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

6. Methodology

The assessment of the course is based on three types of activities. First, classroom activities includes:
attendance, presenting readings and discussion with colleagues. Secondly, it includes activities to do
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outside the classroom: readings, writings on a topic, and/or summaries of readings (including an optional
activity that involves a review of a recommended book). Finally, there is the exam, which will mainly
assess the understanding of the readings and the students' ability to develop personal arguments. 

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