POLS 5635 - Erosion of Democracy

Institution:

University of Utah

Subject:

Political Science

Description:

Since the 2000s, countries across the world, have seen the rise of potential autocrats. Executives with hegemonic aspirations like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey or Viktor Orban in Hungary, have used their popularity to hinder free and fair elections, political rights, and civil liberties effectively eroding democracy. What circumstances bring these politicians to power? What factors allow them to undermine democratic regimes? What, if anything, can be done to stop them? In this course we will answer these questions. We will some of the causes of democratic backsliding, covering topics like weak institutions, polarization, populism, corruption, false or fake news, and opposition strategies using examples of different countries like Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Bolivia, Brazil, and the United States. This course is part of the Democratic Erosion Consortium. It is taught in universities across the country. The assignments include writing and publishing blog posts, collaborating with US and international agencies in creating reports on democratic backsliding, or participating and reporting on political events. Not only will it allow you to interact with your classmates, but also with students from other universities inside and outside the US.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.utah.edu

Phone Number:

(801) 581-7200

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Semester

General Education

• No items found

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.