Political Science
8334 Democracy and
Democratization in Comparative Perspective |
Nathan
J. Brown |
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Monday
4:10-6:00 |
Office: 1957 E Street, Suite 512 |
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Introduction
Beginning in the 1960s, most specialists in comparative
politics turned their attention away from democracy for two reasons. First, most began to reject the idea
that political structures throughout the world were converging on liberal
democracy. Second, formal electoral
structures seemed increasingly irrelevant to politics throughout the world.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, seemingly entrenched
authoritarian regimes in southern Europe and South America collapsed or
withdrew, making way for the reemergence of democracy. Scholarly interest in democracy began to
rise. When the communist regimes of
the Soviet bloc began to collapse in the late 1980s, a torrent of scholarly
writings on democracy quickly followed.
Yet the new interest in democracy raised as many problems
as it answered. Were we really witnessing a global wave of democratization or merely the
simultaneous collapse of a diverse set of authoritarian regimes? Was democracy best understood in a
narrow procedural sense or were broader definitions of democracy more
appropriate? How was democracy
related to economic liberalization or to political liberalism more
broadly? In their rush to embrace
democratization, were political scientists simply recreating
modernization theory without realizing it?
The past decade has not witnessed any diminution of
scholarly interest in democracy, but it has allowed for more reflective and nuanced
scholarship to emerge.
In this course, however, we will begin not with the most
recent scholarship but with some older writings that have colored much of our
subsequent thinking about democracy.
These writings often contain not only the seeds of current assumptions
but also long-forgotten insights and cautions that can help us approach more
recent writings with a more critical eye.
After considering some of these older writers, we will proceed to some
of the newer scholarship, drawing not only on empirical research but just as much to more theoretical and abstract works
related to democracy and democratization.
Requirements
The primary requirement is to read the assigned articles
and books carefully and critically and come to class to discuss them.
The other requirements are designed to support this
primary requirement:
á
For
weeks 2, 3, 9, 12, 14, and 15, all students should submit a short
list (perhaps two or three) of discussion questions. I am particularly interested in
questions that compare and contrast the readings or the approaches taken by various
authors to the issues raised in the course. These questions should be posted on
Blackboard at least 24 hours before the class begins.
á
Students
should also write one short critique.
For weeks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 13, I expect a group of short
(approximately 500 word) essays presenting a critique of the major book
assigned based on at least three book reviews that appeared in academic
journals. Each student should
volunteer to post a critique on one book; the essay should be posted on
Blackboard at least 48 hours before the session discussing the book meets. Students should e-mail me their top
three choices for books to critique; I will assign them on a first-come,
first-served basis.
á
At
the end of the course, each student should a short research proposal
(approximately 10 pages) in which s/he crafts a research question provoked by
the course and designs an empirical study to answer the question. These will be due one week after the
final class session.
Grades will be calculated on the basis of written work The three
requirements described above will be weighted equally. Failure to attend class regularly or to
complete the assigned readings will be penalized.
As a result of completing this course, students should be able to:
á
Understand
how political scientists define democracy;
á
Understand
some of the major scholarly debates among political scientists about democracy;
á
Assess
academic writings by political scientists on democracy. and
á
Understand
how political scientists conduct research on democracy;
Readings:
The following books are all
required reading and I strongly urge students to purchase all of them:
á Aristotle,
Politics
á John Locke, Second Treatise of Government
á OÕDonnell and Schmitter,
Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain
Democracies
á Robert Putnam Making Democracy
Work
á
Nathan
Brown (editor), Dynamics of
Democratization
á
Thomas
Carothers, Development Aid Confronts
Politics
á
Carl Boix,
Democracy and Redistribution
á
Kenneth
Greene, Why Dominant Parties Lose
á
Valerie
Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Defeating Authoritarian
Rulers
á
Juergen Habermas, The
Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
á
Ruth Collier,
Toward Democracy
Course outline
1.
January
13—introductory class
2.
January
27: Classical conceptions of democracy
3.
February 3: Modern Conceptions
á
Tocqueville,
Democracy in America: (selections
posted on Blackboard),
á
Adam
Przworski, ÒMinimalist conception of democracy: a
defenseÓ Blackboard
á
David
Collier and Steven Levitsky, ÒDemocracy with
AdjectivesÓ World Politics,
Blackboard
á
Schmitter and Karl, ÒWhat Democracy IsÉand is Not,Ó Journal of Democracy, Blackboard
4.
February
10: European Experiences
5.
February
24: Democracy and Development
6.
March
3: Transitions to Democracy: from Authoritarianism--Early Formulations
7.
March
17: Transitions to Democracy: Later Approaches
8.
March
24: Transitions: The Color Revolutions
9.
March
31 Hybrid
Regimes
10.
April
7: Civil Society
11.
April
14: class cancelled; make up class scheduled
12.
April
21: The Public Sphere
13.
April
28: Democracy Promotion
á Thomas
Carothers, Development Aid Confronts Politics
á Brown, Dyanamics of Democratization, Part III
14.
April
29 (make up day): Religion
15. April
30: Constitutionalism and Countermajoritarianism