J495
History Proseminar: Perspectives on the
Right to Vote
Section C382
Wednesday 5:45 P.M.- 8:25 P.M.
Business/SPEA, Rm. BS 3010
Instructor: M. H. Little
Office: Cavanaugh Hall 503C
Telephone: (317)274-0098
Email: mlittle@iupui.edu
Introduction
Welcome to J495: History Proseminar. This course is designed as an upper level seminar for all departmental majors. Although some advanced knowledge of history is desirable, it is not a prerequisite for enrollment. The course is topical and comparative within a chronological framework. This semester's seminar will focus on voting and the meaning of the franchise from a variety of historical periods and national perspectives, ranging from ancient times to the twentieth century as well as classical Greece and Rome to the United States and Africa.
General Course Requirements
Course work will consist of attending and participating in weekly discussion of specific secondary sources and primary materials. Regular and prompt attendance at all class meetings is absolutely essential for successful completion of the course. Students' course grades will be determined on the basis of their performance in the following areas: (a) attendance--15%; (b) participation in discussions--15%; (c) a research proposal and preliminary bibliography--20%; an oral critique of a classmate's research paper--10%; and (e) a completed research paper--40%
Specific Course Requirements
In addition to informed and enlightened participation in weekly discussions, all J495 students are expected to select a research topic on the history of the franchise and/or changing conceptions of republicanism and democracy. Students are expected to make this choice in consultation with the instructor and write a 3-5 page research paper proposal on the selected topic. This proposal also includes a preliminary bibliography. The proposal will be followed by a 10-15 page research paper on that same topic, which is to be submitted to the instructor at the end of the semester for a final grade. Finally, each student is expected to give a 20 minute oral presentation to the class at the end of the semester which summarizes the results of their research as well as offer a 15 minute critique of a fellow students' research paper.
Academic Dishonesty
It should be noted that any form of academic dishonesty committed in the course is unacceptable. This includes obvious types of dishonesty such as plagiarism as well as submitting the same paper for credit in two different courses. Any student who commits the afore-mentioned acts of academic dishonesty will be awarded an F for the course as well as having his/her dishonesty recorded as a permanent part of his/her student record. For a more detailed explanation of the different types of academic dishonesty, please consult the IUPUI Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook.
Course readings
The following books and articles are required reading for the course. Books may be purchased online at either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com. Other readings marked with an asterisk (*) are available either in the History Reading room (CA 534) or can be accessed in the University Library via JSTOR.
Robert A. Dahl. On Democracy
Alexander Keyssar. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of
Democracy in the United States
Neil R. Stout. Getting the Most Out of Your U. S. History Course: The
History Student's Vade Mecum
Weekly assignments are, as follows:
Week of
Aug. 20 - Organizational meeting
Discussion of course requirements and objectives
Discussion of student goals
Aug. 27 - The 2000 Presidential Election--Popular Opinion,
Polemic and Scholarly Analysis
Read: Vincent Buliosi, The Betrayal of America,
pp. 41-62*; Martin Merzer, et al. The MiamiHerald Report:
Democracy Held Hostage, pp. 1-18, 199-219*; Keyssar, The
Right toVote, pp. 325-335
Click here 
for international reaction and analyis of the 2000 Presidential election
Click here
for political cartooonists' reactions to the 2000 Presidential election
Sept. 3 - The Origins and Development of Democracy
Read: Dahl, On Democracy, pp. 7-32; Hans Kelsen,
"Foundations of Democracy," Ethics. Vol. 66 No. 1
(Oct. 1955), pp. 1-101**
Individual conferences with students
Sept. 10 - Democracy in Theory and Practice
Read: Dahl, On Democracy, pp. 35-141; Frances Fox Piven and
Richard A. Cloward, Why Americans Still
Don't Vote: And Why PoliticiansWant It
That Way, pp. 23-44*
Individual conferences with students
Sept. 17 - Electoral Systems/Pre-conditions for Democracy
Read: Dahl, On Democracy, pp. 145-188
Individual conferences with students
Sept. 24 - Democracy and the Franchise--Perspectives of Ancient
Thinkers
Read: Plato, The Republic, pp. 311-358
Click here 
for
more discussion by ancient Greeks and Romans about democracy
Oct. 1 - Democracy and the
Franchise--Comparative Perspectives
Read: Max M. Laserson, "Democracy as a Regulative Idea and as an
Established Regime: The Democractic
Tradition in Russia and Germany, " Journal of theHistoryof
Ideas, Vol. 8 (June, 1947), pp. 342-362**; Arend
Liphart, "Religion vs. Linguistic vs. Class Voting: The 'Crucial
Experiment' of Comparing Belgium, Canada,
South Africa, and Switzerland," American Political ScienceReview,
Vol. 73 (June, 1979), pp. 442-458**;
Michael Bratton and Nicholas Van de Walle, "Neopatromoial Regimes and
Political Transitions in Africa,"
World Politics, Vol. 46 (July, 1994), pp. 453-489**; Mahmood
Mamdami, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary
Africa and the Legacy of LateColonialism,
pp. 62-108*
Oct. 8 - Democracy and the Franchise in the
United States--Early Beginnings and Ascendancy
Read: Keyssar, The Right to Vote, pp. 3-52;
Edwin A. Miles, "The Young American Nation and the Classical
World," Journal of the History of Ideas,
Vol. 35 (April-June, 1974), pp. 259-274**; David W. Carrithers, "Not
So Virtuous Republics: Montesquieu, Venice, and the Theory of
Aristocratic Republicanism," Journal of the
History of Ideas, Vol. 52 (April-June, 1991), pp.
245-268**
Oct. 15 - Democracy and the Franchise in the United
States--Counter-revolution and Retrenchment
Read: Keyssar, The Right to Vote, pp. 53-76; Ellen
Carol DuBois, "Outgrowing the Compact of the Fathers:
Equal Rights, Woman Suffrage and the U. S. Constitution, 1820-1878," Journalof
American History, Vol. 74
(Dec., 1987), pp. 836-862**; John L. Stanley, "Majority Tyranny in
Tocquville's America: The Failure of Negro
Suffrage in 1846," Political Science Quarterly, Vol.
84(Sept., 1969), pp. 412-435**; Frances Fox Piven and
Richard A. Cloward, Why Americans Still Don'tVote:
And Why Politicians WantIt That Way,
pp. 45-71*
Oct. 22 - Democracy and the Franchise in the
United States--New Hope, New Impediments
Read: Keyssar, The Right to Vote, pp.
77-221; V. O. Key, Jr. Southern Politics in Stateand
Nation,
pp. 3-12*; J. Morgan Kousser, "Post-Reconstruction Suffrage Restrictions
in Tennessee: A New Look at the
V. O. Key Thesis," Poltical Science Quarterly, Vol.
88 (Dec., 1973), pp. 655-683**; Eileen L. McDonagh and
H. Douglas Price, "Women Suffrage in the Progressive Era: Patterns
of Opposition and Support in Referenda
Voting, 1910-1918," American Political Science Review,
Vol. 79 (June, 1985), pp. 415-435**; Frances Fox
Piven and Richard A. Cloward, Why Americans Still Don't Vote:
And Why PoliticiansWant It That Way,
pp. 72-93*
Oct. 29 - Democracy and the Franchise in
the United States--Toward Universal Suffrage and Beyond
Read: Keyssar, The Right to Vote, pp.
225-324; Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, Why Americans
Still Don't Vote: And WhyPoliticians
Want It That Way, pp. 94-107*; J. Morgan Kousser, Colorblind
Injustice: Minority Voting Rights andthe
Undoing of the Second Reconstruction, pp.
366-467*
Nov. 5 - Open date--Individual conferences with students
Nov. 12 - Open date--Individual conferences with students
Nov. 19 - Thanksgiving Recess--No Class
Nov. 26 - Presentation of student research papers/oral critiques
Dec. 3 - Presentation of student research papers/oral critiques
Dec. 10 - Presentation of student research papers/oral critiques
Dec. 17 - Presentation of student research papers/oral
critiques