Political Participation and Nationalism Essays The Democracy-Fascism Spectrum:

Essays should be structured as follows: (grading rubric on p. 3)

Political Participation and Nationalism Essays Introduction

1) Introduction: In your opinion is the United States a) a thriving democracy, b) in the transition from democracy to authoritarianism, or c) already fascist. Use at least 2 specific points from the lecture and readings to justify your opinion.

2) Choose one of the following based on your opinion in the introduction:

1. If you chose already fascist, explain the difference between fascist government,

Fascist ideology and fascist tactics. Then list 3 specific fascist tactics, explain what they are in general, and give an example in practice to demonstrate how they evidence the? Fascist United States.

Political Participation and Nationalism Essays

1. If you chose in transition, explain changes in 2 forms of institutional political participation and 2 forms of non-institutional political participation that have changed during the transition and/or describe inequalities and problems with participation (e.g. voter suppression).
2. If you chose thriving democracy, explain 2 forms of institutional political participation and 2 forms of noninstitutionalized political participation that evidence a thriving American democracy.

3) Which theoretical framework on political participation in general (Ch 6) and voting and elections in particular (Ch 7) informs your opinion about where the US falls on the spectrum from democracy to fascism? You may also draw on the Arendt and Gessen readings here.

Political Participation and Nationalism Essays

4) Describe the imagined community of America. Then, choose one of the following, based on which one best flows from the previous paragraphs and helps to justify your assertion from the introduction:

1. a) What is gendered or muscular nationalism and how does its presence or absence in the US support your opinion on where the US falls on the spectrum of democracy to fascism?
2. b) Explain and give an example of the myth-symbol complex in the development of white nationalism in the United States and explain how this either fosters the transition to fascism or shows that even with the rise in white supremacist violence, the US is still more democratic than fascist overall.
3. c) Using the lecture (and ideally contrast it to the recommended reading by Emma Goldman,) explain the differences between patriotism and nationalism and explore how they play out in the US and its location on a spectrum from thriving democracy to fascist state.

5) Conclusion: Sum up. How do concepts from political sociology help you to more systematically and rigorously argue your position?

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