GOVT 4021 - American Conservative Thought

(crosslisted) AMST 4021
(KCM-AS, SSC-AS)

Fall, Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

This course satisfies the government senior seminar requirement.

R. Bensel.

American conservative thought rests on assumptions that are strikingly different from those made by mainstream American liberals. However, conservative thinkers are themselves committed to principles that are both quite varied and sometimes contradictory. This course examines the assumptions upon which rest the libertarian, market/economic, and cultural/traditional strains of American conservatism and asks whether the tensions between them weaken or strengthen conservative thought as an alternative to mainstream liberalism. (AM)