History of political ideas [EPOLB260]

Objectives

- To outline the main currents in the history of political ideas, placing them in their context. - To encourage students to read and explain texts that are sometimes difficult. - To encourage students to do library research to introduce a book, an author or a current of ideas. - To encourage students to express themselves orally and to qualify their statements on political issues.

Content

The first chapter deals with Antiquity (Israel, Greece, Rome), insists on the development, the practice and the contestation of democracy in Athens, on the Roman "mixed" regime, and ends with the first relations between Christianity and power. The Middle Ages began with the rivalry between the temporal and the spiritual and saw the emergence of secular thought in the service of the state. With the Renaissance and the 17th century, the state was confronted with the demands of Christian morality and the religious Reformation. For a time, it gave rise to the idea of absolute monarchy, which was extended in the 18th century by enlightened absolutism. The anti-absolutist and preliberal reaction of the nobility heralded the time of the revolutions (1776-1848). Socialism would want to go further. Industrialisation accompanied democratisation, while "scientific" traditionalism, nationalism and Marxism emerged. The 20th century was marked by totalitarianism, but democracy eventually prevailed.