There is a variety of contemporary democratic regimes, including liberal democracies and illiberal democracies, majoritarian democracies and consociational democracies. The course draws from theories of comparative politics to address pressing and longstanding issues related to the emergence and decline of democratic regimes as well as the challenges they face. Specifically, we will investigate the historical developments of democratic regimes and we will discuss what prompts democratization and who pushes for democracy. We will also explore how democracies consolidate over time, as well as the contemporary cases of democratic backsliding. We will also study how democratic institutions themselves allow or deter political equality. We will thereby examine how political representation works and the main contemporary challenges to political representation in democratic regimes. The course approaches these issues comparatively with a focus on Western European democratic regimes.
- Teacher: Dupuy Claire