Institutional Development and Democratization in International Perspective

The course is an in-depth course in Political Science and given as an elective course in the Bachelor’s Program in Political Science and as a single subject course. The course is also given as a single subject course for exchange students.

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.

The course provides an introduction to autocracy, democracy and international efforts to help states build or erode democracy. The course covers three main areas.

The first is concepts and empirical patterns in democracy. How do different political regimes arise and change? What is a democracy? Is it better than autocracy?

A second area are the theories and practice of helping democracy from the outside. Aid, sanctions, norms are discussed.

The final part presents controversies arising when the agenda or great power politics clashes with the normative requirements of democracy promotion.

The limits of how much the world can help democracy inside countries are discussed.

The emphasis of the course is on the second and third part.

On successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• Describe concepts in democratization research including definitions of democracy and autocracy, esp. in historical perspective
• Relate issues of measurement of democracy and autocract to research including how the findings we have may hinge on inappropriate measures
• Distinguish the ways in which democracy grows from the inside and the ways in which it can be ‘grown’ from the outside, with a focus on whether the distinction is meaningful or useful
• Summarize the history of international democracy promotion
• Relate the anarchic structure of international relations and superpower rivalries to the feasibility of promoting democratic ideals within countries
• Describe specific controversies such as the partisan turn in democracy promotion

Competence and skills

• Discuss the pros and cons of research designs used in the literature on democracy,
  autocracy, and
• Explain what empirical findings from current research on democratization and democracy
  promotion do and do not show
• Give brief summaries of complex academic texts
• Independently produce text in accordance with good academic practice incl. proper
  use of references and proper citation. 

Judgement and approach

• Evaluate normative arguments for and against democracy and autocracy as systems
• Critically examine different research designs and research methods used in the literature
• Critically examine the policies of national governments and international institutions on democracy promotion
• Think of ways of reforming the current system and formulate policy proposals, as well as take a defended position on existing policies

The course is taught through lectures and seminars.

Language of instruction: English

Lectures, seminars and literature are in English.

Students will produce papers, write an exam and engage in presentations in the course of the class. All graded assignments are individual assignments:

1. Individual policy brief (paper assignment) in the style of a scholarly essay and presentation on topics related to puzzles in how autocracies arise and what makes them thrive. Oral presentation, 1 credit and Paper, 3 credits
2. Individual policy brief (paper assignment) in the style of a scholarly essay and presentation on topics related to how democracies arise and how they fail. Oral presentation, 1 credit and Paper, 3 credits.
3. Individual policy brief (paper assignment) in the style of a scholarly essay and presentation on topics related to how democracies can help other democracies or how autocracies can help other autocracies. Oral presentation, 1 credit and Paper, 3 credits.
4. Written, sit-down, essay-style final exam, 3 credits. The exam will be conducted in a formal examination hall.

If a student who has twice received a failing grade for the same examination component wishes to change examiner ahead of the next examination session, such a request should be made to the department in writing and should be approved by the department unless there are special reasons to the contrary (Chapter 6 Section 22 of the Higher Education Ordinance).

If a student has received a recommendation from the University of Gothenburg for study support for students with disabilities, the examiner may, where it is compatible with the learning outcomes of the course and provided that no unreasonable resources are required, decide to allow the student to sit an adjusted exam or alternative form of assessment.

Students shall be offered at least five opportunities to take examinations in order to pass a course or part of a course (HF Chapter 6 §21).

In the event that a course has ceased or undergone major changes, students are to be guaranteed at least three examination sessions (including the ordinary examination session) over a period of at least one year, but no more than two years after the course has ceased/been changed.

The grading scale comprises: Pass with Distinction (VG), Pass (G) and Fail (U).

All assignments will be graded on a scale from 1-4, where 1 correspond to Fail, 2-3 to Pass, and 4 to Pass with distinction. This grading system will be communicated to you but ultimately each grade will be converted to an official grade in Canvas, where it needs to be U, G, or VG.

To Pass the course, you must pass all assignments. Students are expected to read the course literature, to prepare rigorously for seminars, and participate actively during seminars.

For a pass grade (G), the student’s work must demonstrate an ability to link theoretical analyses to empirical outcomes, an independent analytical ability and ability to produce structured academic writing.

For a pass with distiction (VG), the student’s work must show a very good ability to link theoretical analyses to empirical outcomes, good analytical ability and good academic writing.

To pass (G) the entire course, at least G is required in both written and oral parts and attendance at all compulsory parts.

To obtain a grade of VG for the entire course, VG is required for at least 7,5 credits of the course.

The student will be given the opportunity to do a course evaluation. The results of and possible changes to the course will be shared with students who participated in the evaluation and students who are starting the course.