GBST 342
Democratic Erosion
Last Offered Fall 2020
Division II
Cross-listed PSCI 343
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Class Details

A central tenet of political science is that once a country reaches a certain level of political and economic development, democracy will endure indefinitely. The contemporary moment calls on us to revisit this assumption. This course explores the causes and consequences of democratic erosion through the lens of comparative politics. We ask three central questions to inform our investigation: 1) What is democracy and its alternatives? 2) How do we identify democratic breakdown? and 3) What are strategies to counteract backsliding when it occurs? Importantly, this course is not intended as a partisan critique of any particular American politician or political party. Rather, it is designed to provide an opportunity to engage, critically and carefully, with claims about the state of democracy in the US and elsewhere; to evaluate whether those claims are valid; and, if they are, to consider strategies for mitigating the risk of democratic erosion here and abroad. Readings draw from academic scholarship, media commentary, and current events as they unfold. We will address both empirical and normative dimensions of the issues, as well as learn about examples of democratic erosion around the world from early 20th century until today. As a collaborative class taught at dozens of other colleges, the course enables you to engage in debates about democratic erosion with students throughout the US and around the world.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 12
Expected: 12
Class#: 2600
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Active Class Participation, 3 Short Response Papers, Country Case Study (15-20 pages, written incrementally throughout semester) and Presentation.
Prerequisites: Prior coursework in political science or permission of instructor.
Enrollment Preferences: Political Science Majors, Global Studies Concentrators
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
GBST 342 Division II PSCI 343 Division II
Attributes: PSCI Comparative Politics Courses

Class Grid

Updated 10:43 am

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