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Some 40 students and faculty gathered in a Carpenter Library classroom on Thursday, March 3, to listen to University of Michigan political theorist Arlene Saxonhouse.

The talk, sponsored by the Center for Social Sciences at Bryn Mawr, the Class of 1902 Lecture Fund, and the Tri-Co Political Theory Workshop, was entitled Who’s Responsible When States Act?

Centered around Greek philosopher Thucydides' recounting of the Mytilenian Debate, Saxonhouse’s talk  posed several critical questions about what it  means when we say that a city or a state acts; when a state decides to go to war; to sign treaties; to incur debts? Who is responsible for the actions that a state – especially a democratic state – takes?

Saxonhouse argued that how we answer these questions has consequences for our understanding of democracy as well as of the justice of retribution or punishment. As she remarked, “if we move to a world in which the people are not held accountable…are we condoning the view that they are simply puppets [of their leaders]?”

“Something that I found really interesting and that I hadn’t really thought about before was how the speaker really complicated our idea of democracy and accountability in democracy,” said Cynthia Gomez-Rodriguez ’16 following the talk. “I think it’s really nice to have these discussions because it’s a very concise introduction into topics that sometimes aren’t covered in classes that are offered at Haverford and Bryn Mawr.”

Emily-Rose Ogland ’18 added, “I love that, as undergraduate students, we’re able to sit among professors, engage in the same discussions and feel like we’re just as intelligent and capable.”