PSCI 342 Intolerance and Political Tolerance (Not offered 1998-99; to be offered 1999-2000)

At the beginning of our century, most people and analysts expected steady progress and prosperity. Democracy would spread, new nations would develop, and the lives of the many would improve. We now know better. The twentieth century, for all its economic and technological improvements, has also witnessed terrible intolerance, from attacks on civilians in war to ethnic purging to the holocaust. Intolerance has led to wars between states, to violence within states (such as Bosnia), and has shaped interactions between individuals and groups even in otherwise settled communities and nations. Hence the three questions posed by this course: 1) what are the most important factors in producing and increasing intolerance; 2) what are the factors that produce and strengthen tolerance; and 3) what can be done to increase a society's tolerance, both in the United States and abroad? This course makes use of historical, political, and literary sources. Requirements: midterm, two medium length papers and a final exam. No prerequisites. Comparative Politics Subfield

MARCUS