Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Office - Barbelin Hall, Room 105A
Office Hours: On Sabbatical AY 2009-10
Phone: 610.660.1919 or 610.660.1917
Fax: 610.660.1284
Email: sliebell@sju.edu
Education
M.A. and Ph.D., The University of Chicago
B.A., Queens College of the City University of New York
Professional Experience
Susan P. Liebell joined the faculty of Saint Joseph’s University in Fall 2003. Dr. Liebell’s major fields of study are the history of political thought, environmental politics, and constitutionalism. She is particularly interested in the intellectual origins of liberal democracy, American political thought, and green political theory. Dr. Liebell’s research and courses aim to demonstrate the connections between political theory and current political issues. She maintains that studying debates about rights, justice, or representation in the 18th century can help us better understand current debates concerning civil liberties, the death penalty or affirmative action. In addition to courses in political theory, Dr. Liebell has taught politics and the novel, political economy, U.S. Congress, law and social change, constitutional law, and academic and professional writing.
Courses Taught
Introductory Courses
POL 1011 Introduction to American Government & Politics syllabus
(Freshman Seminar open only to Political Science majors)
An introduction to the theory and process of democratic government in the United States. Emphasis is placed on an examination of the relationships among American values, politics, governmental institutions, and public policy.
POL 1071 Introduction to Political Thought syllabus
POL 1071 Introduction to Political Thought syllabus
(Freshman Seminar open only to Political Science majors)
Political theorists ask questions about justice, equality, law, property, community, and duty. This course examines the foundations of political thought in Greece (Plato, Aristotle), the influence of Christian thinking in the middle ages (Augustine, Aquinas), the Renaissance challenge to Christian thought (Machiavelli), the development of popular sovereignty and rights (Hobbes), the influence of liberal norms of equality, tolerance, and freedom (Locke), the development of liberal institutions (Hume, Smith, Madison), the critique of liberalism (Rousseau, Taylor), and the 20th and 21st century innovations of post-modernism (Foucault) and feminism.
American Government and Politics Courses
POL 2161 Constitutional Law: Civil Rights & Liberties (writing intensive course) syllabus
This course acquaints you with the evolving opinions and doctrines of the United States Supreme Court that focus on the civil liberties of individuals and groups. The course and discussions will emphasize lines of cases with particular relevance to today's political
controversies: the civil liberties of the post-September 11th detainees, the use of secret courts, same-sex marriage, and abortion. Thus, you will be encouraged to apply your historical understanding of court doctrine to current controversies in the law in your papers,
briefs, and class comments.
This course considers constitutional law in several different -- but interconnected -- capacities. Primarily, we will explore the doctrines of the Court: the substance of the judicial arguments and the justifications for revision, rejection and replacement of long-standing precedent. We will accomplish this through a careful reading of Supreme Court opinions from the beginning of the Court to the present. Through the briefing of Supreme Court cases, we will explore how the Court reasons and argues for a particular interpretation of the Constitution. Additionally, we will attempt to consider the political role of the Court exploring how the Court's priorities have evolved over time and how it has responded to developments in the other branches of the government.
POL 2181 Law and Social Change (writing intensive course )syllabus
Can courts effectively generate social change? What are the advantages and limits of using the law to effect social change? This class uses cases and case studies to examine the relationship between law and society. In the last fifty years, groups attempting to affect social change have turned to the courts as an effective source of authority when they find themselves disadvantaged by the larger political system. To what extent has this approach been successful? While constitutional law emphasizes the logic of the opinion, this course will look beyond the decisions of the Supreme Court focusing instead on the implementation process and the actions of lower courts in interpreting the Supreme Court’s decisions. We will look at problems of implementation, the actual benefits received by affected parties, and the relationship between the federal government, the states, and public opinion. Case studies will include: school integration, abortion, pay equity for women, death penalty, and single-sex unions and marriage.
POL 2241 Environmental Politics in America (writing intensive course) syllabus
This course analyzes environmental politics in the United States through a careful examination of institutions. We begin by debating the "proper" relationship between humans and the natural world considering the meaning of terms like environmentalism, conservationism, preservationism, deep ecology, eco-racism, and eco-feminism. We examine the rise of environmentalism in America, moving from the progressive conservationism of Teddy Roosevelt through the environmentalism of Earth Day and the 1970s to the present era. The course uses recent works in political science to establish the actors in environmental decision-making and implementation as we consider federalism and state environmental policy, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, markets and free trade, the Presidency, Congress, the Bureaucracy, and the Courts.
Political Thought Courses
POL 2021 Modern Political Thought writing intensive course syllabus
This course traces the development of liberal democratic government from the establishment of dependence on the people for legitimate power (Machiavelli) and political equality (Hobbes) to the development of representation and limited government (Locke, Montesquieu, Hume). We will explore the expansion of liberal rights (Wollestonecraft, Mill, Rawls) and critiques of liberal rights (Rousseau, Burke, Marx, Pateman, MacIntyre).
POL 2031 American Political Thought syllabus
This course introduces students to classic texts in American Political Thought (the revolution, constitutional convention, Lincoln-Douglas debates) by linking them to other important intellectual and political movements (suffrage, abolition, and civil rights). We explore the idea of two "foundings": the forging of the Revolution and the framing of the Constitution in the eighteenth century and the community oriented religious movements of the 17th century. How can we compare the principles in discourses or assertions of citizenship in these various movements? How do they contribute to our political vocabulary today?
Seminars are capstone courses in Political Science and therefore are advanced in terms of expectations for student performance. This includes high level performance in student assignments, class participation and research papers.
POL 2711 Seminar on Theories of Justice in the 21st Century syllabus
This political theory seminar examines some of the major theories of justice available to political theorists in the 21st century. We begin with an in depth reading of the work that has defined justice in the 20th and 21st centuries: John Rawls? A Theory of Justice. We will also read selections from Rawls? Political Liberalism and his work on international justice, The Law of Peoples. In order to consider alternative theories of justice and criticisms of Rawls, we will read classic critical commentaries in the form of articles and book chapters from Michael Walzer, Michael Sandel, Alistair MacIntyre, Ronald Dworkin, Susan Okin, Robert Nozick, Brian Barry, Amartya Sen, and James Fishkin.
Course goals:
1) provide the student with an in depth reading of major political theorists of justice;
2) provide students the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated understanding of political justice through the weekly writing of critical, interpretive, and comparative essays;
3) encourage the student, over the course of the semester, to compare and contrast theories; and 4) students obtain a vocabulary of political ideology (liberalism, communitarianism, conservatism, feminism, legalism, utilitarianism, and post-modernism) as well as an understanding of different types of justice (e.g. distributive v. restorative).
Prerequisites: Junior or Senior status and permission of instructor.
Publications
"The Science of Enlightenment: Evolution and the Role of Information in Liberal Society," Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA, September 2006.
"The Lockean Switch: The Toleration of Differences in the Liberal Tradition," Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Oakland, CA, March 2005.
"Switching Places: John Locke and the Toleration of Difference in the American Political Tradition," Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, September 2004.
“Liberalism and the Political: The Foundations of a Greener Liberalism,” Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 2001.
“Can Liberals be Green? The Environmental Critique of Liberal Democracy,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., September 2000.
“Political Theory and Environmental Public Policy: Revisiting Liberal Theories of Property,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta. September 1999.
“The Value & Mechanisms of Stability: a New Liberalism for Greener Times,” Annual Meeting of the New England Political Science Association, Worster, Mass., May 1998.
“The Inequality of Environmental Goods: Liberalism and the Challenge of Future Generations,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, September 1996.
“Mechanisms of Stability: Liberal Institutions and the Environment,” Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 1995.
“Rawlsian Liberal Democratic Theory: Individuals v. Humanity? The Case of the Environment,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., September 1993.
