POL 321I - Democracy and Democratization, 3 credit hours

Notes: Recommended background: POL 221I

This course considers the following key questions in the study of democratization: How and why have some 60% of the countries in the world become democracies while others like China and Saudi Arabia remain authoritarian? Why do some previously democratized countries, such as Turkey and Venezuela, backslide into dictatorships? What explains the recent rise of populist forces in some long-established democracies, such as the US and the UK? We will explore the theories of democratization and autocratization that answer these questions and more.