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(August 27) Lecture / Discussion Page - The Study of Politics and Human Nature
ReadingsThe Myth of Human Progress - Hedges Human-Made Evolution - Hunziker
(September 10) Lecture / Discussion Page - Understanding and Critically Analyzing Political Theory
ReadingsDitching the Deep State: The Rise of a New Conspiracy Theory in American Politics - DiMaggio The Political Compass
ReadingsPhilosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle - Khan Academy Notion of Elite Guardian Class Dates Back to Founding of US - Chomsky
ReadingsFake News? Or Fake Faith? - Alberts Empire Files: Chris Hedges & Abby Martin - Trump, Fascism & the Christian Right
(October 1) Lecture / Discussion Page - Liberalism
ReadingsLiberalism's Failures in a Time of Increasing Violence, Racism, Inequality and State Terrorism - Poulin The Liberal Apologies for Obama's Ugly Reign - Street The Inadequacies of Liberalism - Martin and Pimentel
(October 8) Lecture / Discussion Page - Conservatism
ReadingsThe Essence of Conservatism - Kirk Rationalism in Politics - Oakeshott Have Conservatives Lost Their Compassion? - Olmstead
(October 15) Lecture / Discussion Page - Marxism
ReadingsWhy Socialism? - Einstein Understanding Marxism and Socialism with Richard Wolff Kshama Sawant on Malala Yousefzai - Democracy Now The Not-So-Small Voice of American Socialism - Hirthler
(October 22) Lecture / Discussion Page - Darwinian Theories and Western Political Thought
ReadingsZeitgeist: Moving Forward (Documentary) The Political Compass
(October 29) Lecture / Discussion Page - Public Opinion, the Mass Media, and B.F. Skinner
ReadingsDemocracy and a Free Press - Croteau and Hoynes It's the Media, Stupid - McChesney / Nichols
(November 5) Lecture / Discussion Page - Interest Groups and Freud
ReadingsAfter the Deluge: Electoral Reform in the Wake of the Election of 2000 - Guinier Finding the Lost Voters - Sifry
(Cancelled - Veterans Day Holiday) Lecture / Discussion Page - Political Parties and Sartre
ReadingsThe Road to Freedom (Documentary) Reclaiming the Commons - Klein
ReadingsTrump's Road to the White House - (PBS Documentary) Closing the Democracy Gap - Nader
(November 26) Lecture / Discussion Page - Legislative and Judicial Systems and Upanishadic Hinduism
ReadingsWhat Democracy? The Case for Abolishing the United States Senate - Rosenfeld Class Inequality and Democracy - Krugman
ReadingsNeo-Patriarchy and the Anti-Homosexual Agenda - Snyder Is Free Speech the Enemy of Democracy? - Sunstein
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Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Active Citizen Participation - Theory)Consent Without Consent: Reflections on the Theory and Practice of Democracy - Chomsky Debating Democracy - Miroff Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the Effort? - Irwin Public Deliberation in an Age of Direct Citizen Participation - Roberts Couch Potato Democracy? - Valelly Liberal Individualism and the Crisis of Citizenship - Bellah & Madsen Democracy's Romantic Myths - Mueller
Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Active Citizen Participation - Practice)Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community - Putnam Cultural Currency - Halpern Why Americans Still Don't Vote - Piven & Cloward Playing Dumb? Dan Rather's Curiously Clueless Take on Why American's Don't - Street The Citizen As Respondent: Sample Surveys and American Democracy - Verba America's Civic Condition: A Glance at the Evidence - Galston Guest Post: Should Everyone Vote? - Tyler Durden The Active Citizen - Loeb
Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Large Middle Class - Traditional Perspectives)Democracy and Capitalism - Friedman The Road to Serfdom - Hayek The Morality of Capitalism: What Your Professors Won't Tell You - Palmer Debating Democracy - Miroff Myths of Rich and Poor - Cox Saving the Dream - Heritage Foundation The Minimum Wage Harms the Most Vulnerable - Richman Terms of Contention - Garfinkle The Inequality That Matters - Cowen Left Out - Fukuyama American Dreams, American Resentments � Mead Capitalism and Inequality: What the Right and Left Get Wrong - Muller Defending the One Percent - Mankiew Job Losses and Trade: A Reality Check - CATO Institute
Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Large Middle Class - Critical Perspectives)Demise of the US Middle Class Now Official - Smith America Beyond Capitalism - Alperovitz Democracy at Risk - Gates The Wealth Inequality Reader - Fireside Growth and the Middle Class - Madland The American Dream Has Become A Burden For Most - Younge The Spiral of Inequality - Krugman Are We Still A Middle Class Nation? - Lind The Broken Contract: Inequality and American Decline - Packer The Myth of the Middle Class: Have Most Americans Always Been Poor? - Nasser Obama Destroys the Middle Class - Whitney Understanding America's Class System - Bageant No Functioning U.S. Democracy - Street Dollarocracy: How Big Money Undermines Our Democracy - Nichols and McChesney We've Got A Billionaire Bailout Society - Leopold America's Lost Egalitarian Tradition - Wilentz Facing Up to the American Dream - Hochschild Striking It Richer - Saez The Power of the Rich - Tabb The Great Inequality - Yates Does Inequality Matter? - Jencks Aspects of Class in the United States - Foster Some Economics of Class - Perelman Six Points on Class - Zweig Let's Get This Class War Started - Hedges Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations - Pew Charitable Trust
Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Widespread Education - Traditional Perspectives)No Child Left Behind - U.S. Department of Education The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts: The Final Report - U.S. Department of Education The Agony of American Education - Snell They're Not Stupid, They're Lazy - Starr
Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Widespread Education - Critical Perspectives)Civic Illiteracy and Education - Marciano Teaching Students How to Dissent Is Part of Democracy - Stitzlein The Curse of Totalitarianism and the Challenge of an Insurrectional Pedagogy - Giroux Youth in Authoritarian Times: Challenging Neoliberalism's Politics of Disposability - Giroux Myth America: Democracy vs. Capitalism - Boyer Against School: Why Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why - Gatto Change Can't Come Without Protest - Kozol The Problem With "Failing" Schools - Wilson Tip of the Iceburg: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud, and Abuse - Center for Popular Democracy Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States - CREDO Pearson, ETS, Houghton Mifflin, and McGraw-Hill Lobby Big and Profit Bigger from School Tests - PR Watch Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition - The RAND Corporation Obama and Duncan's Education Policy: Like Bush's Only Worse - Weil The Fight to Save Public Education - Cooke Waiting for Superman: Heroes and Myths - Olorunda Left Behind? American Youth and the Global Fight for Democracy - Giroux The Pedagogy of Oppression - McLaren & Farahmandpur No Child Unrecruited - Goodman White House-Backed Charter Schools Lag Behind Public Schools - Democracy Now!
UNCOUNTED: The True Story of the California Primary - Wake Up California!
The Crisis of Democracy - The Trilateral Commission (1973)
The Powell Memo (also known as the Powell Manifesto) - Reclaim Democracy!
A Century of War - RT Documentary
Corruption is Legal in America - Represent.Us
The Lie We Live [Smart Kid - A Nice Wake-Up Call] - Spencer Cathcart
Understanding Marxism and Socialism with Richard Wolff
War Is A Racket - Major General Smedley Butler
Four Horsemen - Documentary (Great Stuff! Check This Out!)
Empire Files: Peter Joseph & Abby Martin on Abolishing Capitalism
Tipping Point: The End of Oil - Documentary
Wondering About the Origins of ISIS? (You'd Better Buckle Your Seatbelts for This One)
Capitalism Never Solves Its Crises; It Moves Them Around Geographically - RSAnimate
Two American Families - Frontline Documentary
Global Wealth Inequality: What You Never Knew You Never Knew - therules.org
Wealth Inequality in America - therules.org
Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us - Institute for Policy Studies
Park Ave: Wealth, Poverty, and the American Dream - Documentary
Shadows of Liberty - Documentary (Mass Media)
Plutocracy in America - Brenner
The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats - Stauber
Consent Without Consent: Reflections on the Theory and Practice of Democracy - Chomsky
Obamacare: A Deception - Roberts
The Purchase of Our Republic - Falkson
The Crisis of Civilization - Documentary
Let Your Life Be A Friction That Stops The Machine - Class War Films
Political Fraud - Class War Films
Financial Crime - Class War Films
Military Cancer - Class War Films
Imperial Decay - Class War Films
Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis - Documentary
What Democracy? The Case for Abolishing the United States Senate - Rosenfeld
Making Every Vote Count: The Case for Proportional Representation - Amy
Ignoble Liars: Leo Strauss, George Bush, and the Philosophy of Mass Deception - Shorris
Barack Hoover Obama: The Best and the Brightest Blow It Again - Baker
The Great American Bubble Machine - Taibbi
Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? - Taibbi
Empire Under Obama: Counterinsurgency, Death Squads, and the Population as the Target - Marshall
Smash the Control Machine - Otep Rocks!
Rise Rebel Resist - Otep Rocks!
The World is Coming to an End - Prince Ea
The Final Word from My Two Favorite Comedians of All Time on "The Big Question"