POLS 035. Democracy and Dictatorship (CP)

This course covers two major themes: the origins of regime types, understood dichotomously as democracies and dictatorships, and the determinants of regime survival, usually understood as democratic consolidation versus authoritarian durability. The four outcomes we explore are thus democratic transitions, democratic breakdowns (reversion to authoritarianism), democratic survival, and authoritarian survival. We will read and survey the main theories of political regime change that are developed based on cases from Western Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Islamic World. This course also examines the relationship between democracy and development, the power (and limitations) of the democracy promoting actors to spur democratization in other countries, the institutional foundations of strong dictatorships, and the notion that established democracies might be currently eroding.
Comparative
Social science.
1 credit.
Eligible for GLBL-Core
Spring 2025. Kimya.
Spring 2026. Kimya.
Catalog chapter: Political Science
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science

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