Political Science 214, section 1 : Absolutism

Absolutism is frequently associated with strong European monarchies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  But the claim that sovereign power or authority is or should be absolute is not confined to monarchies or to the early modern period, and its meaning is disputed by critics and defenders alike.  We will focus on early modern European theorists, and will pay particular attention to the theory of absolute democracy.  But the shape of the course will also depend on the interests of those who enroll.  Topics will include most of the following: the absolute or radical view of Greek democracy, and Aristotle on tyranny and extreme democracy; medieval theories of divine and kingly omnipotence; selections from Bodin, Filmer, Grotius, Hobbes, Spinoza, and Rousseau; Marx, Engels, Plekhanov, and Lenin on dictatorship of the democracy, of the proletariat, and of the party; and recent democratic thinkers including Claude Lefort and Jacques Rancière.  We will touch on most or all of the following themes: political theology; dominion, majesty, and sovereignty; constituent power and popular sovereignty; majoritarianism and militant democracy; despotism, tyranny, and totalitarianism.