What does it mean to be democratic? We speak of living in a democratic society, we refer to the “Republican” and “Democratic” parties, and yet do we understand what those terms signify, and what being “democratic” really conveys? We will look for answers first far in the past, with the ancient Greeks and their experiment with demokratia, and the Roman government of the res publica. Students will conduct close readings of treatises such as Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution, the Greek histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the Roman histories of Livy and Polybius, tragedies and comedies like Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Aristophanes’ Wasps, and ancient Greek and Roman lawcodes; and will examine the archaeological remains of ancient, civic Athens and republican Rome. The class will also examine a very modern and public exercise of democracy – the local November elections for City Council in Saratoga Springs – as a living laboratory for the contemporary American conception of democracy. Students will analyze Saratoga Springs’ city charter, examine local monuments that celebrate democratic practices, critique Jon Stewart’s irreverent America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, interrogate local campaigns and candidates, and participate in the elections. For a final project, students will craft proposals for contemporary, functioning democratic systems based upon their study of ancient and modern democracies.

This course will introduce students to disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on ancient and modern democracies, with the following goals. In addition, this is a course about knowing, particularly about ways to identify problems, formulate productive questions, and go about answering those questions. Students in this course will demonstrate the ability to: