HIST 615: Problems in American History
HIST 615-001: American Democracy
(Fall 2025)
07:20 PM to 10:00 PM M
Peterson Hall 2411
Section Information for Fall 2025
America’s democratic character has long been considered its defining feature – democracy provides the central image for political pageantry and for civic education, as well as the normative framework for policy and governance. Yet many today speak of a democratic crisis. So what does it mean to say that America is democratic? To what extent, and in what ways, has America been democratic over the course of its history? How has the nature of American democracy changed over time? To answer these questions, we will read widely in the history of American democracy from the founding to the present. Covering topics ranging from elections to the public sphere to social movements to the rise of the warfare and welfare states, we will study both the structures of government and the various ways that different groups of Americans have experienced democratic life (i.e., we will look at democracy from the top-down and from the bottom-up). Throughout, we will pay particular attention to recurring controversies in democratic life, seeking lessons for problems that remain with us today: the legitimacy of government regulation; the management of political disagreement and polarization; the quality of public opinion. The course will provide both an overview of U.S. political history and an introduction to the interdisciplinary methods historians use to make sense of this complex and controversial subject.
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Course Information from the University Catalog
Credits: 1-6
Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.
Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.
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