Prerequisite: GVPT280 or GVPT282. Restriction: Must be in Government & Politics or Government & Politics: International Relations program.

This course surveys the big debates about the nature of democracy and democratization. The course is organized around five broad themes: 1) core concepts and definitions of democracies and non-democratic regimes, 2) the nature and causes of democratization, 3) democratic principles, 4) democratic forms and institutional variation, and 5) contemporary issues in democratic politics, including democratic backsliding. Throughout the course, we will be exploring how these different elements of democracy exist around the world by using cases from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States.