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Instructors: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ruth Zimmerling
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
Sem Citizen Resp.
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 24
Priority scheme: Senatsrichtlinie
Requirements / organisational issues:
Area: Political Theory, esp. theory of democracy
+ Foreign Erasmus students are welcome!
+ No specific prior knowledge is required; however, a basic knowledge of general issues of political/social philosophy is highly desirable.
Contents:
Although citizens (collectively) are supposed to be the sovereign in democratic systems, and their rights (individually) are emphasized in most democratic constitutions, the possible duties, obligations and responsibilities of the democratic sovereign are rarely analyzed and discussed in political theory.
At the same time, many democratic citizens believe, intuitively, that citizens have duties, and that democracy depends on their fulfillment; and different theories of democracy imply very different citizen responsibilities.
In this seminar, we will read and discuss classical and contemporary contributions to the debate about citizen responsibilities in order to get a grasp on the issues and arguments involved in a number of current controversies, from voting (is there a duty to vote, or even to vote in a particular way?) to citizen responsibility for their representatives' actions (are democratic citizens "complicit" in their government's wrongdoing?).
This will also deepen our general understanding of the demands and challenges of democracy, according to a number of different conceptions.
Recommended reading list:
You will find the course schedule, a list of the course readings, further references, and at least some of the relevant texts in Reader before the beginning of the course.
Additional information:
The course language is English! Hence, all course readings will be in English.
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