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Click
here to see more photos from our fall 2007 London
Program!
The Government Department’s Foreign Study Program takes place each year
during the fall term. In affiliation with the London School of Economics, it
focuses on international relations and comparative politics. The prerequisites
for this program are Government 4 and 5 (or equivalents), and three course
credits are offered. Students take two seminars with faculty of the
London School of Economics’ Department of International Relations (Government
90 and 91), and a third seminar taught by the Dartmouth faculty member
accompanying the group (Government 92).
Professor Ned Lebow will direct the London Program in fall 2008. His
seminar will be on British Politics and Democracy (92 ~ see description
below). The LSE professors who will be participating in this program
are: Michael Cox, who will teach Government 90 (most likely “The United
States Unrivaled? American Foreign Policy From the End of the Collapse of the
USSR to the Second Iraq War”); and Christopher Coker, who will teach Government
91 (most likely “International Relations Theory”).
British Politics and Democracy (Prof. Ned Lebow ~ 92)
During most of
the long period during which England and then Britain became democratic, the
idea of democracy was entirely different from what it is today and regarded as
a bad form of government. The adoption of “democracy” was slow, piecemeal and
for a long time without recognition of universal rights or adult franchise. In
today’s Britain -- and in much of the world -- democracy is seen as the only
acceptable system of government. It is an anomaly for many that an unelected
House of Lords can play any role at all in the lawmaking and wider legal
process.
The British and American experiences are the
foundation for much of our theory about democracy. However, unlike so
many countries where democracy was imported or imposed, it developed
indigenously and over a long period of time in Britain and its former
colonies. What brought about this outcome and how contingent was
it? At its core, democracy depends on civil liberties and free elections,
and a state sufficiently strong and neutral to protect both. We will explore
how these ideas and practices developed and key turning points in British
history that brought them to the fore. The goal is not only to understand the
development of democracy in Britain, but the extent to which democratic
practices are exportable. We will meet twice a week at the LSE. We will
also make occasional field trips to sites and museums associated with the
growth of British democracy, including, of course, the Houses of
Parliament.
Applications
The application deadline for the fall 2008
London Program was February 1,
2008. If you have questions about the London Program,
feel free to contact Professors Ned Lebow, Linda Fowler, William Wohlforth, or
Nelson Kasfir. More detailed information may be obtained from the
Off-Campus Programs Office, 44 North College Street,and at the following
website: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ocp/
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