DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

AND

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

POSC 105

DILEMMAS OF CAPITALISM



  1. THIS MORNING:
    1. Course procedures
    2. Political economy: the relationship between capitalism and government
    3. Reading:
      1. See below
      2. Start There Are No Children Here


  2. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
    1. First, read the syllabus carefully. It answers most of your questions.
      1. Copy available at www.udel.edu/htr/American98
        1. Note the capital "A" in the last term.
    2. This is mainly an "ideas" and "interpretation" course
    3. Two tests, clipping file, quizzes
    4. Independent reading
    5. New York Times
      1. A subscription should be available in the Newark Newsstand on Main Street.
      2. The clipping file: 4 to 8 articles per week on national politics
    6. You need to use e-mail and an internet "browser" regularly.
      1. Essential information only available via internet.
    7. Reading:
      1. The text, Patterson, We the People, 2nd edition supplies background information.
        1. You will be told which parts should be perused and which can be skimmed.


  3. THE REQUIREMENTS OF CAPITALISM:
    1. Major proposition: capitalism is not an automatic or self-sustaining system.
      1. It depends for its existence and well being on a host of "socially provided" external factors.
    2. The "circuit of capitalism"
    3. External factors:
      1. Social peace and harmony
      2. Legitimacy
      3. Law
      4. Monetary system
      5. Social and economic "capital"

  4. DILEMMAS OF CAPITALISM:
    1. How are these requirements satisfied?
      1. The fiscal crisis of the state.
    2. Particular capitals versus capitalism
      1. Example: foreign trade divides major segments of corporate Amercia.
    3. The problem of "Fordism": minimizing labor costs, maximizing demands.
      1. How does one maintain supply while keeping labor costs down?
    4. Major proposition: many (not all but many) current controversies can be interpreted as manifestations of these dilemmas.
      1. That is, many issues involve efforts to solve problems inherent in capitalist political economy.


  5. GOVERNMENT AND CAPITALISM:
    1. These considerations suggest that there is a structural relationship between capitalist economies and governments.
      1. The notion that business prospers best when state governs least is very misleading, if not totally wrong.
        1. Capitalism in the late 20th century implies an activist government.
        2. "Socialism for corporations; private enterprise for the people!"
        3. Or, "corporate welfare."
      2. Although social scientists fiercely debate the exact nature of the relationship, there is little doubt that economic and political systems have a symbiotic relationship.
        1. In fact, the relationship between corporate capitalism and the state is so strong it's hard to know where one system begins and the other ends.
    2. Manifestations:
      1. The social conditions for capitalism: law and order, etc.
      2. Economic (marcroeconomic) policy
        1. Fiscal and monetary policy: price, wage, aggregate demand stability
        2. Trade policy
        3. Energy policy
      3. Government regulation is often necessary for stable capitalism
      4. Infrastructure:
        1. Research and development
        2. Transportation, communications, etc.
      5. Provision of human capital: education, training, health care
      6. Legitimacy:
        1. Public acceptance and support of existing economic, social, and political order.
          1. For examples of lack of legitimacy look at turmoil overseas.
        2. Incidental consequences of social-welfare programs include the defusion of discontent.
    3. The bottom line:
      1. The only real questions are how much and how effective government and who controls it.
      2. Indeed attacks on "big government" can be interpreted as attempts by one group or another to secure its interests rather than a real concern with political power and freedom.


  6. TAKING STOCK OF GOVERNMENT - DEMOCRACY AND CAPABILITY:
    1. Democracy: We need a definition that can serve as a "yardstick" against which we can "measure" the performance of our system.
    2. A Minimal definition: democracy as rights
      1. Individual freedoms
        1. Negative: mostly "freedoms from" rather than "entitlements."
      2. Economic (e.g., right to a job)
        1. Positive versus negative freedoms
        2. Arguments that economic security is a right creates many of the controversies that animate American politics.
        3. Entitlements
      3. Psychological (e.g., freedom from propaganda, access to information)
        1. Enlightened understanding
          1. Minimal conditions: full self-awareness; knowledge of government and party positions on issues, programs, etc.; critical instinct
        2. Again this is a controversial part of the definition and does not appear in many people's conceptions of democracy.


  7. NEXT TIME:
    1. Democracy and capacity
    2. What is a right?
    3. Reading:
      1. Patterson, We the People, Chapter 1.
        1. What are the "core principles of American government"?
          1. We'll discuss this material in detail later on.
        2. What is "majoritarianism"? "pluralism"?
      2. As noted last time, "An Argument for Government" on the internet reserve room: www.udel.edu/htr/American98/ then Reserve Room then "An Argument for Government".
      3. Recommended: the article in the "reserve" room dealing with political power.



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Copyright © 1997 H. T. Reynolds