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Organization, Regulations, and Courses 2024-25


GOVT 40.29 Democratic Erosion

In his provocative 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama wrote that Western liberal democracy had displaced other political systems and would quickly become the only universally accepted way of organizing politics. Fast forward 30 years, and his prediction seems naïve. Observers around the world warn of imminent threats to democracy in both Western and non-Western countries, and non-democratic powers like China and Russia offer alternative forms of governance that appeal to many global leaders. Democracy seems to be eroding.

This course asks whether, in fact, liberal democracy is being displaced by other forms of governance. Is democracy in the world eroding? If so, what does democratic erosion in the contemporary period look like, why is it happening, and how does it differ from processes of democratic breakdown in earlier historical periods? If processes of democratic erosion are underway, how can they be resisted and democracy strengthened? To address these questions, this course explores democratic breakdown and erosion in comparative and historical perspective. We examine countries from around the world, using readings from academic and media sources to examine both empirical and normative questions about the quality and persistence of democracy.

This course is part of a cross-university collaboration. Faculty from across 40 universities teach from the same syllabus, with students contributing to a collaborative database on democratic erosion and writing for the Democratic Erosion blog. This course helps bridge the gap between the classroom and the public sphere and allows you to be part of a larger discussion about the quality of contemporary democracy.

Instructor

Johnson

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC

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.