Soci 124: The Good Society

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University of California-San Diego
Spring 2025-26
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Lane Kenworthy
Office hours: https://ucsd.zoom.us/my/lanekenworthy, Tu 12:30-2:30 and by appointment
Email: lkenworthy@ucsd.edu

Teaching Assistant: Eunchong Cho
Office hours: ???
Email: e3cho@ucsd.edu

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COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SCHEDULE

This course examines the history and performance of key policies and institutions in the United States and other rich democratic countries, with an emphasis on the following questions:

  • In thinking about what a “good society” would consist of, philosophers, social scientists, policy makers, and ordinary citizens point to liberty, democracy, prosperity, economic security, opportunity, community, safety, health, and happiness, among others. How can we decide which of these, if any, to prioritize?
  • What evidence should we use in judging whether one society is better than another?
  • How much progress have humans made? On which outcomes? What are the causes of progress?
  • What institutions and policies are most conducive to human flourishing?
  • To what extent are there tradeoffs? For instance, can policies and institutions reduce poverty only by restricting liberty?
  • Are there grounds for thinking that institutions or policies not yet tried would do better than the best ones currently in existence?

Here are the topics we’ll cover. The full schedule is in Canvas.

  • Week 1. Module 1: Life in the good society
  • Week 1. Module 2: Affluence
  • Week 2. Module 3: Liberalism
  • Week 2. Module 4: Social democratic capitalism
  • Week 3. Module 5: Social democratic America
  • Week 3. Module 6: Cities
  • Week 4. Module 7: Can we have a good society without strong labor unions?
  • Week 4. Module 8: Why macroeconomic policy matters: inflation, unemployment, and government debt
  • Week 5. Module 9: Should inequality reduction be a top priority?
  • Week 5. Module 10: Universal basic income
  • Week 6. Module 11: Will government steering boost economic growth?
  • Week 6. Module 12: Big business and competition
  • Week 7. Module 13: Does capitalist finance do more harm than good?
  • Week 7. Module 14: Public ownership
  • Week 8. Module 15: Single-payer healthcare
  • Week 8. Module 16: Does a capitalist economy permit truly democratic politics?
  • Week 9. Module 17: Do we want economic democracy?
  • Week 9. Module 18: Do we need more trust?
  • Week 10. Module 19: The outward-looking good society
  • Week 10. Module 20: Can community flourish in modern capitalism?

Requirements:

  • Twice a week, in weeks 2-10, you’ll take an in-class quiz.
  • Once a week, in weeks 3-5 and 7-9, you’ll write a comment on the course materials for that week and post it to a discussion board on Canvas. These are due at 11:59pm on Thursdays. You will also respond to the comments of two other students; these responses are due at 11:59pm on Sundays.
  • There are two open-note take-home essay exams, one in week 6 and the other in week 11.

Materials:

  • All required readings are from a digital textbook: Lane Kenworthy, The Good Society. It’s online and free. Direct links to the readings are in Canvas.
  • You’ll need an iClicker remote for the in-class quizzes (see below).

Here’s what you should get from this course:

  • Substantive knowledge. The course aims to improve your understanding of the topics we cover.
  • Approaching issues scientifically (this is often called “critical thinking”). This means examining evidence and reasoning from that evidence rather than relying solely on theory, ethical beliefs, or anecdotes. Social science often is similar to detective work, with the social scientist more like Sherlock Holmes than like a chemist in a lab. Seldom is the story simple, and rarely do we have the exact evidence we would need in order to be strongly confident about our conclusion. So we use various types of data, and we may deploy a mixture of analytical methods. We ask: “What would we expect to observe if a particular hypothesis were true? Is that what we in fact observe? If so or if not, what does that tell us about the answer to our question?” Then we piece together a conclusion from multiple imperfect and incomplete bits of evidence. For each reading, video, or podcast, focus on the question(s) being posed, the answer(s) given, the key pieces of evidence, and the way the author reasons in reaching a conclusion.
  • Working in groups. A good bit of life — in a job, in a family, and in other contexts — involves working with other people to accomplish a goal. The deliberative advisory assembly project in this course aims to improve your group-work comfort and skill.
  • Good argument. The course is designed to improve your ability to develop and convey effective argument. Keys include focusing on a specific question, formulating a clear proposal or position, making use of relevant evidence, addressing potential objections and counterarguments, and communicating clearly.
  • Written communication. Good writing usually comes from two things. The first is clear thinking. But writing isn’t just a way to express what you’re thinking; it’s a way to clarify your thinking. Don’t wait until you have it all figured out before beginning to write. Start writing; doing so will help you develop your thoughts. The second key is extensive editing. Write a draft. Then edit it. Then edit it again. And again. (For a helpful guide to good writing, see this.) If you struggle with writing, you’re like virtually everyone else. The course aims to help you improve, by practicing.
  • Concision. Information and opinion are plentiful these days, so brevity is a valuable skill. The writing assignments for the course are short, so you’ll need to focus on the information and argument that is most relevant or useful.
  • Comfort with quantitative data. A generation ago there was a scarcity of numerical data. Now we have an abundance: data are everywhere. That’s a good thing, because data are key to answering important questions about society. You will encounter lots of quantitative data in this course, often in graphical form. If you aren’t already comfortable interpreting such data and reasoning from them, by the end of the course you should be.

GRADING

Course grades will be determined as follows. See below for details.

  • 35%: in-class quizzes
  • 35%: discussion board comments and responses
  • 30%: exams

Each of these will be graded on a scale of 0 to 100. So your numerical course grade is calculated as: (in-class quizzes grade x .35) + (discussion boards grade x .35) + (exams grade x .30).

Your letter grade for the course will be determined as follows:

  • 96.67 to 100 = A+
  • 93.34 to 96.66 = A
  • 90 to 93.33 = A–
  • 86.67 to 89.99 = B+
  • 83.34 to 86.66 = B
  • 80 to 83.33 = B–
  • 76.67 to 79.99 = C+
  • 73.34 to 76.66 = C
  • 70 to 73.33 = C–
  • 60 to 69.99 = D
  • below 60 = F

There will be no extra-credit projects or assignments.

NO SCREENS IN CLASS

No laptops, tablets, or phones in the classroom. The best available evidence suggests that college students tend to learn more when not using electronics during class (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). If you want to take notes, use pen and paper. If you need an exception to this policy, please see me.

IN-CLASS QUIZZES

In weeks 2-10, you’ll take a quiz in class every Monday and Wednesday. These will consist of multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and/or short essay questions on the course materials for that day’s module.

You’ll need an iClicker remote (not your phone):

  • You can purchase an iClicker remote — new or used — at the campus bookstore or online.
  • Register your remote for this class. There’s a registration link in the Canvas course page, or you can go to student.iclicker.com. When registering, use your UCSD email address. If you need help with registration, instructions are here.
  • For technical support with iClickers, contact EdTech Support.
  • The base station frequency in our classroom is ???. To set your remote to this frequency at the start of class, turn on your remote, then press the power button for 3 seconds. When the frequency on the remote display starts to blink, press “???” then “???.”

Bring your iClicker remote and a pen or pencil to class each day.

Reasons for an excused missed quiz: (1) holidays or special events observed by organized religions (for students who show affiliation with that particular religion), (2) absences pre-approved by the UCSD Dean of Students (or Dean’s designee), (3) extended illness (this requires a doctor’s note). I’ll need written verification of the circumstances.

There will be 18 quizzes. Only your 14 highest grades will count.

DISCUSSION BOARDS

In weeks 3-5 and 7-9, you’ll write a comment on assigned readings/videos and post it to a discussion board on Canvas. These are due by 11:59pm on Thursdays. You will also write brief responses to the comments of two other students. The responses are due by 11:59pm on Sundays. You have to post your own comment before you’re allowed to see the comments posted by other students.

Comments should address something in the course materials for that week, should engage with evidence, and should be written well. Here are a few examples, just to give you a feel. You don’t need to follow these examples; this is just to give you some ideas in case you aren’t sure what is expected.

  • The conclusion in section 3 of the “…” reading this week was interesting, but I wasn’t convinced, because it didn’t consider….
  • The optional reading for this week says that Figure 3 supports gun control. But it seems to me that’s wrong because….
  • In the video, the narrator argues that women’s freedom increased because more were entering paid work. If that were true, I think we’d expect to see …, but there’s no mention of this.
  • The textbook reading shows that the pattern across countries supports the hypothesis that weak labor unions are a key cause of rising income inequality in the United States, but in another class I took we learned that….
  • I gave ChatGPT the following prompt: “….” It answered: “….” This contradicts paragraph 7 of the required course reading. I suspect the ChatGPT answer is more likely correct because….

You’re allowed to use a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT. You must say what your prompt was. And like any other source from which you borrow evidence, reasoning, conclusions, or arguments, you’re not allowed to use (part or all of) its answer as though it’s your own.

If you have the Canvas app, you can post your comment and responses using your phone. But don’t write as though you’re texting or tweeting. Write real sentences and use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

There isn’t a strict word limit, but I encourage you to keep your comments under 500 words.

Grading for each discussion board comment and responses:

  • 100: comment and two responses submitted, excellent quality, well written, comment includes evidence
  • 95: comment and two responses submitted, very good quality, well written, comment includes evidence
  • 85: comment and two responses submitted, good quality, well written, comment includes evidence
  • 70: comment and two responses submitted but low quality or poorly written or comment doesn’t include evidence
  • 60: comment submitted but only one response
  • 50: comment submitted but no responses
  • 0: no comment submitted

There will be 6 discussion boards. Only your 5 highest grades will count.

EXAMS

Each exam will have one question. The question will be posted on Canvas one week before your answer is due.

The exams are open-note open-computer.

You should draw on the course materials. You can also use outside sources if you wish, but that isn’t required.

You’re allowed to use a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT. You must say what your prompt was (you can put this in a footnote). And like any other source from which you borrow evidence, reasoning, conclusions, or arguments, you’re not allowed to use (part or all of) its answer as though it’s your own.

Grading will be based on the following:

  • Answer the question.
  • Refer to relevant evidence.
  • Address potential objections. What would a critic say are the weak points in your case? How do you respond?
  • Use footnotes (not a reference list or bibliography) to give credit to anyone or anything from whom you borrow evidence or argument. I’m not picky about the formatting of the footnotes, but include the author(s), title, and year rather than just an internet address.
  • Write clearly. Use proper grammar and punctuation (“I,” “me,” and contractions are fine).
  • Length: No more than 1,000 words (excluding footnotes, charts, and tables). List your word count on the first page, along with your name and the date. To ensure that Canvas doesn’t count the words in your footnotes, use the footnotes feature when creating footnotes (in MS Word: insert menu > footnote; in Google docs: insert menu > page elements > footnote). If you include charts and/or tables, put them at the end and don’t include them in the word count.
  • Formatting: single-space, 12-point font size, 1-inch top and bottom margins and 2-inch side margins.

If you need help with writing, consider seeking assistance from the UC San Diego Writing Hub.

The due dates are listed in Canvas. An exam turned in late but within 48 hours of the deadline will be penalized 25 points (out of 100). An exam turned in more than 48 hours late, or not turned in at all, will receive a grade of zero.

Upload your exam answer on Canvas. Emailed or hard copy exam answers won’t be accepted.

Submit your answer as a Microsoft Word document (not as a pdf or google doc).

Don’t plagiarize. If you aren’t sure what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it, see the UC San Diego Library’s guide to preventing plagiarism.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to UC San Diego on academic integrity policy.

That policy includes the following statement: “No student shall employ aids (including artificial intelligence) in undertaking course work or in completing any assessments that are not authorized by the instructor.” In this course the use of artificial intelligence is authorized for discussion board comments and for the two exams. See above for details.

SPECIAL NEEDS AND ACCOMMODATIONS

Students who need special accommodation or services should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). You must register and request that the OSD send me official notification of your accommodation needs as soon as possible. Please meet with me to discuss accommodations and how the course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Information here, other than the grade and attendance policy, may be subject to change with advance notice as deemed appropriate by the instructor.