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Organization, Regulations, and Courses 2024-25


MES 12.06 Dictatorship and Dissent: the Middle East in a Global Context

Dictatorship is the defining characteristic of some governments, especially in the Arab world. Dictatorship is usually described as a strongman imposing his will on the nation through sheer force. French political philosopher Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563) in his seminal essay Discours de la servitude volontaire (Discourse on Voluntary Servitude) presented the existence of a dictatorship as a relationship between two parties. Before every dictator is a population that is willing to accept rule by the dictator. The dictator cannot impose his will on a people that shun a dictatorship. Extrapolating from this concept, we can consider dictatorship to be a syndrome. The dictionary defines a syndrome as “a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality or condition.” In this course, students will examine the condition, signs, symptoms, and cures for the malady of dictatorship.

Cross Listed Courses

GOVT 40.24

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or LIT; WCult:NW

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.