Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description

Democracy Inaction

Instructor(s): Michael Arnush, Classics

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” historically conveys? With the upcoming election, these questions become more vital than ever. The past three years have been among the most divisive and corrosive for the meaning of democracy in the United States. With these pressing modern concerns in mind, we will search for answers first far in the past. As we study the ancient Greeks and their experiment with demokratia (“power in the hands of the people”), and the Romans  and their res publica (“public affairs”), students will become familiar with the political structures of these two cultures and develop a firm foundation for the subject of the second half of the semester – the political system of America. By comparing where democracy began with our current system, we will critique and analyze the US democratic experiment.

Course Offered:

• Spring 2021