POL 297 - Special Topics in Political Philosophy

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3 in fall and winter, 4 in spring

Prerequisites: First-year or sophomore standing or instructor consent. A seminar in political science for students at the introductory or intermediate level. Topic, hour, and instructor are announced prior to registration. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Fall 2018, POL 297A-01: Secession, Revolution, and Self-Government (3). Prerequisite: POL 100. An examination of the principle of secession as a contested political right of a state to separate peacefully and legitimately from a federal union of states. The most (in)famous example in American history is when eleven slave-holding states independently announced their right to separate from the United States of America, which eventually led to their formation of the Confederate States of America. To help explore the concept of secession, students examine the related right of revolution and its relationship to self-government, with a particular focus on the principles of the American revolution, the constitutional development of the early American republic, and the onset of the Civil War. (SS2) Morel.