“A South Bend Evening”

† Imagine this:  You are bored, so you invite Samuel Huntington and John Stuart Mill to dinner.  At first, your guests engage in some disappointingly superficial chit chat about Michigan football.  But then, you are pleasantly surprised when they get into a fiery debate about the best way to promote liberal democracy in this nation-state we call “America”.  Their respective arguments are embodied in the quotations below.

Huntington: "There is no Americano dream. There is only the American dream created by an Anglo-Protestant society. Mexican-Americans will share in that dream and in that society only if they dream in English."

Mill: "The beliefs which we have most warrant for, have no safeguard to rest on, but a standing invitation to the whole world to prove them unfounded" (28)

After Sam and John have stormed out of the room and you have finished sweeping up the broken glass, write a cohesive essay of no more than four (4) typed, double-spaced pages (normal font) in which you take a stand on the following inter-related questions:

1. Whose argument do you find the most persuasive and why?

2. What do Huntington’s and Mill’s differences tell us about the challenge of building a state that is both liberal and a nation-state?

 

On the nature of this assignment:
This assignment is designed to teach you while you think and write about the subject matter.  Allow me to comment in detail about what this means:

First, we are challenging you to make and defend an argument. A persuasive argument always involves two things: 1) a clear statement of where you stand and why; and 2) an explanation for why you are taking this stand instead of rival one. As every good attorney, salesperson, athletic coach, or Presidential candidate knows, successful strategic thinking is always based upon anticipating the counterarguments that will be raised against your position.

Second, we are challenging you to get to the heart of a significant issue and not to drift from one point to another. Thus, it will not be sufficient for you simply to describe what you have read.  Rather, we are asking you to demonstrate that you truly understand the meaning of the debate between Huntington and Mill.

We will evaluate your essay according to three criteria: the clarity and consistency of your argument; your use of readings, lectures, and discussion sections to back up your points concretely; and, importantly, your ability to think for yourself.

When referring to your readings, feel free to use an easy citation form (e.g., author and page). It’s fine to use quotations, but make sure you indicate why you are using them. Quotations do not speak for themselves. If you come to a point where you are not sure what you are saying, we will not be sure what you are saying either. Explain yourself! Finally, don’t forget the Protestant hymn: “’Tis a joy to be simple…”  This means:  State your argument; justify it in a logical fashion; and then when you have done that, stop.

I have no objection if you discuss this assignment with your classmates. However, your essay must be absolutely, completely, and unmistakably your own work.

Advice:
Read this assignment closely and carefully the moment you receive it.  It may seem complicated at first.  But if you allow its elements to percolate in your head for a while, you will find that they all flow together into one big issue about the liberal nation-state.
 
Do not put this assignment off until the last moment.  If you do so, you will not be a happy camper.

Deadline: You must hand in your essay to your TA no later than Friday, September 26. Because there are no discussion sections on this date, your TAs will let you know directly where and by what time you must turn in your papers. Late papers will be docked 1/3 of a grade for each day they are late.

Good luck!

AJM