The course democratization and autocratization deals with the processes of change within political regimes and between political regimes in the contemporary age. In recent times, there has been much talk of the crisis of democracy, the rise of authoritarian regimes, the end of the wave of democratization, and the beginning of a possible opposite wave of autocratization. This course aims to give students the analytical and theoretical tools to understand and explain the causes, modalities, and consequences of democratization and autocratization: why do some states democratize and others don't? What are the causes of the decline of democracy? How is democratic or authoritarian influence exercised over other countries? Who are the key players in regime changes? Are there pre-conditions favorable to democracy or autocracy? Key notions and theories will be presented and discussed, aiming to link real-world developments with rigorous academic analysis

This course will enable students to understand and critically assess the current process of transformation of political regimes around the world. Students will be familiar with concepts, theories, and approaches to the study of political regimes, democratization, and autocratization and be able to apply them to the analysis of current political issues, trends, and debates.

The course lasts 24 hours (5 ECTS), organized for 12 weeks. The different sessions are structured as follows:

 First part: In the first seven classes, the students will lay the foundations of their collective poster. Each class will have an initial discussion about the reading; then, students will work in groups on the collective work, and finally, each group will present one chapter of the book used in the course

 Second part: Guest speakers will be invited to three sessions on specific topics, and students will be invited to prepare the class with mandatory readings. A debate will follow each guest speaker's presentation.

 Third part: In the last two sessions, students will present their collective posters to the class.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

The course will mainly use the following book: 
Skaaning, Svend-Erik, and Møller, Jørgen"Democratization and Autocratization in Comparative Perspective", Routledge, 2024

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

luca.tomini@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Examen écrit
• Présentation orale
• Travail de groupe

Examen écrit

• Question ouverte à réponse courte

Présentation orale

Travail de groupe

Your final grade will be based on three components.

30% written exam, open questions

50%  collective poster

20%  10/15 minutes group presentation and discussion

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais