Authoritarianism and Democracy (M IR-2021 Diplomacy 3 (French))

This course will deal with a comparative analysis of various political systems worldwide. As analytical references we will use the ideal models of democratic and authoritarian rule. It is therefore necessary to clearly define what are democracies and what are authoritarian regimes. In a first step, criteria for the categorization will be presented and discussed. Based on classic literature of political science, it will be further analyzed what kind of factors (such as actors, institutions, and long-term economic and social structures) contribute to a development with either democratic or authoritarian features. A third category, hybrid regimes, which contain both democratic and authoritarian elements, needs to be introduced to better understand the existing political structures in the real world.
After the discussion of the before-mentioned theoretical concepts, several contemporary case studies from all around the world will be taken to apply the criteria and models on existing political systems. These country analyses will deepen the understanding of the differences and similarities between various forms of currents government systems in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.