POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Democratization and the Politics of Regime Change

4 credits (Spring)

What is a democracy? Which factors contribute to democratic transitions and the survival of democracy over time? What happens when democratization fails? What is the role of international factors in democratic development? We will explore these questions through an analysis of democratization in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on developments from the past twenty years.

NOTE: START OF COURSE DURING WINTER BREAK.
Students enrolled in the course will return to campus a week early, and begin the class on Monday, January 14 instead of January 21. During that initial week, the class will meet intensively and be equivalent to a full-time endeavor.

Structure:
The course will meet for one week at the end of the winter break for intensive lecture, discussion, and reading sessions on the questions “What is Democracy” and “How is democracy measured?” At the end of this week they will produce a short analytical essay that synthesizes the material covered.

For the first seven or eight weeks of the semester the course will meet twice weekly for 80 minutes for lecture and discussion on theories and examples of democratization and regime change. These sessions will also involve several practical components, including two sessions in computer labs in which we would work on developing the skills for analyzing cross-national indicators of democracy and public opinion about democratic characteristics. During this segment students will produce a second analytical essay that evaluates theories about the causes of regime change and an empirical
report based on our data-analysis exercises.

In the final six or seven weeks of the course students will work independently and in study groups of 3-4 students that are determined by the global region they select for intensive study. Each student will produce a mini-research paper on the regime change dynamics of the country of his or her choice, which will be part of the geographic region selected for focus. Collectively, the study groups of students will: a) read and discuss a modest set of readings selected by the instructor that focus on their specific region of study and b) produce a poster in which they draw on both the readings provided and the findings of their mini-research papers to reach a set of conclusions about the factors that have facilitated successful or failed democratic transition in their respective regions. During
this period the students will provide regular updates on their work on p-web and the instructor will be available for individual and group consultations as necessary. In the final week of classes we will reconvene for two poster sessions in which the groups can share their conclusions and we can discuss the collective findings of the class.

Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Lussier