Democracy and Socialism (HyFlex: Zoom)

Democracy and Socialism (HyFlex: Zoom)

Fall (4-8 hours) | This course is completed

Online Lebanon, NH 03766 United States

Online Meeting

10/3/2022-10/24/2022

9:30 AM-11:30 AM EDT on Mon

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$45.00

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We will look at democracy and socialism from the perspective, not of “political science” or history, but political theory. How do the values that underlie democracy bear on various electoral forms and procedures?

Topics will include Arrow’s voting paradox, sortition (lottery democracy), degree affected democracy, and the devices, official and unofficial, that limit democracy.

When it comes to socialism, we will not take time for those who want to call Joe Stalin or Joe Biden socialists. The concept of socialism we will examine is that of an extension of democracy into economic life in various ways, at various levels, and with various relationships to markets.

Practicability is a fair issue in discussing the pros and cons of unconventional voting procedures or municipal or employee ownership of economic units. It will not get as much time, however, as will whether the procedure or ownership or control relation would be just and valuable if it did work.

  • Description cont.
    There is an increasing tendency for wealth to be redistributed upward, which affects the robustness and stability of capitalist democracy and arguably calls for injections of greater democracy into the economic structure. Wealth distribution itself, however, will not be a chief focus. More important is the fairness of who has a say and how.

    This course is HyFlex meaning you may participate in-person or on Zoom.
Crocker, Larry

Larry Crocker received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard and taught philosophy at the University of Washington. He then practiced law, prosecuted criminals, and taught law at NYU. From 2004 thru 2012 he taught at Dartmouth classes in philosophy of law, crime and punishment, ethics, political and social philosophy, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion. For a clip of a public lecture see TEDxDartmouth-Larry Crocker-Let's Turn Prisons into Colleges-4/17/10 - YouTube.