DWA 228 Democracy and Comparative Democratization

This course explores efforts to conceptualize democracy, and to generate and test theories of democratization and the endurance of democracy. After considering the concept of democracy, we start by considering some of the classics, published in the second half of the 20th century. These are key works that have shaped the field and have largely set the terms of the debate. Then, we turn to the literature published after 2000 and consider how this literature has revised and built on ideas from the classics. We conclude with an overall assessment of knowledge about democratization and the endurance of democracy. In all, we will discuss explanations that put an emphasis on the economy and culture, as well as on politics itself. Much of what we will read reflects the focus of this literature on Europe, Latin America, and post-Soviet Eurasia. However, some African and Asian cases will be discussed and several global analyses will be considered. Emphasis will be put on the core theoretical and methodological aspects of this literature.