About the Book
- Page ID
- 294751
This page is a draft and is under active development.
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)This textbook is the product of the Political Science Department at De Anza College. It is designed to provide the basis for a quarter-long introductory course in Political Thought and Theory for an undergraduate, community college student audience.
There are at least five ways to organize an introductory course on a subject as massive as this.
The first and dominant tradition is to survey "the great thinkers" in the Western cannon, ancient and modern -- Plato, Aristotle, Machievelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Marx, etc. This is fun and without a doubt "tried and true." Moreover, there are a number of such open-source texts already available, including:
Vicki Hsueh and Shirin Deylami, eds. Introduction to Political Theory PLSC 261: Introduction to Political Theory (Vicki Hsueh and Shirin Deylami)
Noah Levin, ed. Political Philosophy Reader: An Open Educational Resource https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eEA5_WvRET4muesWraK4qNlW_SWXtshQ/view
Wiki Knights. Political Philosophy https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/ancientpoliticalphilosophy/
A second way to organize such an introductory course is to focus on key ideas, debates, and principles. What is the good society? What is truth? What is justice? etc. Some of the classics in this tradition include:
While this is a popular mode for introductory political theory classes, there are no open-source textbooks in this genre.
A third way to organize such an introductory course is to focus on topical and international issues. On this score there are a number of open-source textbooks for consideration including:
Nationalism, Self-determination and Secession: https://opentextbc.ca/nationalism/.
Conflict, War, and Revolution: https://press.lse.ac.uk/books/m/10.31389/lsepress.cwr
Civic Republicanism: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ku01.r2_120&view=1up&seq=1
Global Citizenship: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ku01.2&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021
A fourth approach to this subject is from an explicitly anti-racist viewpoint, one that calls out the Euro-centrism inherent in the discipline and calls for an openly liberationist approach: https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/93528/overview.
While I personally find this compelling, I also believe there is another approach worthy of some consideration, and that is to examine the bodies of political thought that have emerged in the modern period that we call ideologies.
https://data-c-idsystem.org/descriptors/final/show/336
While there are a number of political theory textbooks that focus on ideological belief systems, there is only one open-source textbook along these lines and it is the one that forms the basis for this open-source textbook: https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/political-ideologies/
What we as a department add in terms of value to this text are: a glossary of key terms, references, discussion questions, and multiple choice exam questions (available for instructors only). We hope you find this texbook of value.