Institutional Development and Democratization in International Perspective
About
The course provides an introduction to autocracy and democracy, as well as to international efforts to help states build or undermine democracies. The course has three main parts, emphasizing the second and third parts.
The first part deals with key concepts and empirical patterns of democracy. How do different political regimes emerge and change? What is a democracy? Is democracy better than autocracy?
The second part discusses theories and approaches to strengthening democratic institutions from the outside. Aid, sanctions, and norms are also discussed.
The final section focuses on controversies that arise when international interests or great power politics clash with the normative requirements of democracy promotion. Limitations to what degree the world can aid democracies are discussed.
The course is structured around lectures and seminars.
Prerequisites and selection
Entry requirements
To be eligible for the course the student should have obtained 30
credits from courses in political science or international relations and 15 credits from courses in social science. In addition, the students also must have attended 15 credits courses in social sciences, or equivalent. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B or equivalent.
Selection
Selection is based upon the number of credits from previous university studies, maximum 165 credits.
After graduation
After the studies, you will be able to describe, discuss, and critically reflect on different concepts of democracy and autocracy:
- Definitions, theories and their historical development)
- Democracy research (e.g. measurements)
- Democracy development (e.g. depending on whether a democracy emerges from within, or is initiated and/or driven from the outside)
- Existing or proposed policies on democracy.
You will be able to independently express these skills both orally and in writing, in the form of short summaries, as well as in more complex arguments.
