POLS 349: Power, Justice, and the State

Course Description

Power, Justice, and the State invites you to consider critical themes of public interest. Why do we have a state? What should the state do and why? What should it not do and why should it not? State power may obviously be used for ill, but when and how can it be used for good? Does citizenship create obligations about how to treat others as well as benefits citizens? We will consider several major schools of thought about this, theories of justice, including rights-based theories, utilitarianism, and libertarianism. We will discuss the strengths and shortcomings of these theories in practice.