Seminar in Comparative Democratization
Course Description
Summary
Against a background of what is often described as a worldwide democratic recession or regression, this advanced seminar surveys current theoretical debates, empirical analyses, and policy conversations on the emergence, survival, challenges, breakdowns, and prospects of global democratization. Themes to be explored include: conceptualizing and measuring varieties of democracy and authoritarianism; democracy and human rights; historic and ongoing waves and modes of transitions between democracy and autocracy; causes and consequences of democratic dysfunction, including the actual or potential rise of competitive authoritarianism, in established democracies such as India and the United States; the unique complexities or particularities of post-conflict or post-civil war democratization; the case for democracy, the possibilities of democratization, and the future of international democracy assistance in an era of authoritarian reaction and resurgence; and case studies of successful, failed, fragile, ambivalent and precluded democratizations across countries and regions of the Global South and Global North.
Learning Outcomes
- Familiarization with different approaches to researching and measuring democracy.
- Assess major scholarly and policy debates about the origins, sustainability, challenges and prospects of democratization.
- Appreciate commonalities and differences in democratizations across countries and regions of the global South and North.
- Critically evaluate key principles and practices of international democracy promotion.
Prerequisites
Previous coursework in SCT or CAPA.
Please contact the faculty member : rsuberu@bennington.edu
Cross List
- Advancement of Public Action