DR SAGAR DEVA
How did it Come To This? The Roots of Inequality and Injustice in the UK And US in The Age of Trump
and Brexit.

Course Outline.
uUK Politics/Brexit
uThe US, Civil Rights, and Trump
uFeminism
uSocialism/Capitalism
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uAssessment: Response Paper (30%) Attendance (20%) Essay (50%)
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WHY SHOULD WE OBEY? Pre-Revolution: Religion and Divine Right of Kings
uReligion main source of Authority
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uKings power based on ‘Divine’ Right as ‘Vicar of God on Earth’
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uNo assumption of general human equality; Inequalities based on rank, sex, race, etc assumed to be
natural and the will of God.

ENLIGHTENMENT 1715-1786
uChallenge to Religion as Key Source of Authority.
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uReason rather than religion as main source of authority.
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uScholarship remains influential today in the way we think about the World.
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uNonetheless, most scholars remained deeply racist, sexist, etc.

Why Should we Obey? The Three ‘Revolutions’
•English Civil War and ‘Glorious Revolution(1642-1689)
•Fought Between King and Parliament over The Right to Rule.
•Ended with ‘Bill of Rights’ providing basic rights (such as right to a fair trial) into UK Law and
Gave power to Parliament).
•French Revolution (1789)
•Overthrow of ‘Ancien Regime’ of  Monarchy and Feudal system which gave power to nobility and
clergy.
•Rise of the ‘Third Estate’, comprising of the citizenry against the first two estates-Nobility and
Clergy.
•Establishment of the Declaration of the Rights of Man- Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
•American War of Independence (1775-1783)
•Response to ‘Intolerable Acts’ which took away right of Massachusetts to Self Government.
•Overthrow of Colonial rule by the UK in the US.
•Creation of US Constitution ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’.
•Federal System- Many areas in which the Federal Government has limited power and authority goes to
the states
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Liberty/Liberalism
ØPROTETCTING THE FREEDOM OF THE  INDIVIDUAL FROM THE STATE
ØJ.S. Mill “The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own
way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain
it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind
are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling
each to live as seems good to the rest.”
ØUS Constitution Fourteenth Amendment: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”
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uFree Speech
uFreedom of Assembly
uRight to a Fair Trial
uRight to Property
uEquality under Law

EQUALITY
u“All Men are Created Equal; They are endowed with certain UNALIENABLE rights, that amongst these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”-US Declaration of Independence. u“ All men are
equal by nature and before the Law”-Declaration of Rights of Man, France. uLegal Equality key in UK
and US. France, Legal AND economic equality key in Revolution.
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SOCIAL CONTRACT
uContract between individuals in society to form a government to administer the affairs of state.
Individuals agree to follow the laws in return for protection and public services from the state.
uWe obey the rules of society based on ‘mutual obligations’ between the State and the People.
‘Sovereign’ and ‘Subject’ are equal, and Right to rule predicated in both people and Government
following obligations. u“To live free in in a civilised society requires trade-offs to ensure the
mutual happiness of each person.”
uLots of different versions- Rousseau, Locke, Rawls.

New Political Principles
uDemocracy
uParliaments/Congress
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uConstitutions
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uSeparation of Powers
uExecutive
uJudiciary
uLegislative

DISCUSSION QUESTION
•WITH THE IDEAS OF LIBERTY AND EQUALITY IN MIND, IMAGINE THE CHARACTERISTICS, LAWS, AND RULES OF
YOUR ‘PERFECT SOCIETY’. ARE THERE ARE CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE TWO IDEAS OF LIBERTY AND EQUALITY?