Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

Liberal democracy is under pressure around the globe. Even long-established democracies show worrying signs of democratic decay, as authoritarian politicians gain popular support and democratic institutions are captured. This course introduces students to the current trends in democratic developments in the United States and Europe. A central focus lies on the institutional and cultural safeguards democracies have at their disposal to defend them against authoritarian challenges. 

The course first introduces concepts of democracy and democratic backsliding and covers general, macro-level explanations of democratic decline. The second part of the course introduces micro-level explanations to understand the behavioral mechanisms behind democratic backsliding. The course finishes with a mini-project, where students apply their knowledge to the case of Denmark, assessing the resilience of the Danish democratic system. 

Learning objectives

Knowledge

• Knows important conceptualizations of democracy 
• Is familiar with the current trends and recent challenges to Western democracies
• Understands the main safeguards democratic systems have at their disposal to counter authoritarianism. 

Skills

• Can describe, discuss and analyze the recent challenges to Western democracies from a theoretically informed perspective
• Can pinpoint and discuss the strength and weaknesses of political systems with respect to democratic resilience

Competences

• Can compare political systems and developments
• Can apply democratic theories to recent events
• Can critically assess measures of democracy and backsliding
• Can assess political institutions and formulate recommendations for potential improvements
• Can develop assessments within groups.  

Type of instruction

Lectures, workshops and exercises

Extent and expected workload

Appears in the semesterdescription in moodle

Exam

Exams

Additional information

Kontakt Study Board of Politics and Society