Seminar in Comparative Politics: Democratic Backsliding and the Demise of Democracy

While before the 1990s democracies typically died through military coups, since 2000 four out of every five instances of democratic decline is due to democratically elected leaders undermining the very institutions established to ensure their accountability (i.e., "democratic backsliding"). Today, approximately one-third of the global population lives in a country that was once well-functioning democracies but is now experiencing a decline in the fairness of elections, the independence of courts, and the respect of minority rights. This course familiarizes students with the cutting edge of the current democratic backsliding literature.