- From www.edx.org
Comparative Democratic Development Part II: Structuring Democracy
- Self-paced
- Free Access
- Fee-based Certificate
- 6 Sequences
- Introductive Level
Course details
Syllabus
Week 1
Lecture 1: Constitutional Design
Trade-offs between competing democratic values in constitutional design. The consensual vs. majoritarian models of government. The pros and cons of presidential vs. parliamentary forms of democracy.
Lecture 2: Parties and Party Systems
Why political parties are important to democracy. The criteria of institutionalization and how they apply to political parties. How parties and party systems vary across democracies. Types of political parties and their implications for democracy.
Week 2
Lecture 3: Electoral Systems
Types of majoritarian electoral systems. First Past the Post vs. the Alternative Vote (Ranked Choice Voting) vs. the Two Round Runoff System vs the Single Non-Transferrable Vote. The advantages and disadvantages of majoritarian electoral systems.
Lecture 4: Choosing Between Different Systems
The advantages and disadvantages of proportional representation (PR). Types of PR. Closed vs. open list PR. Mixed electoral systems. Determinants of proporationality: district magnitude and the electoral threshold.
Week 3
Lecture 5: Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict
What is ethnicity and what is distinctive about ethnic identity? The challenges that ethnic pluralism pose for democracy. When are ethnic divisions most likely to endanger democratic stability?
Lecture 6: Managing Ethnic Conflict
The imperative for wise policies and institutional designs to manage ethnic conflict. Guiding principles for reducing ethnic conflict. Two alternative models of ethnic conflict management: Power sharing (consociational democracy) vs. vote-pooling and inducing moderation. The role of federalism in managing ethnic conflict.
Week 4
Lecture 7: Corruption
What is corruption? The challenge that corruption and state capture pose to democratic stability. Good vs. bad forms of governance. Predatory systems as extremely bad forms of governance that threaten democracy and development. The need for vertical, external and horizontal accountability to control corruption. What are institutions of horizontal accountability and what is necessary for their success? How to get institutional reform.
Lecture 8: International Influences
International demonstration and diffusion effects on regime types. Regional institutions and their formal roles. International mechanisms to support or promote democracy: Foreign aid, sanctions, and diplomacy. The new phenomenon of authoritarian regime promotion, mainly by Russia and China. How democracies should respond.
Week 5
Lecture 9: Democracy Promotion
Should the U.S. and other established democracies use their power and resources to promote or support democracy elsewhere in the world? The debate between realism and idealism in U.S. foreign policy. Forms and instruments of assistance to promote democracy. Historical examples of democracy assistance. Issues and dilemmas in providing democratic assistance. What diplomats can do to promote democracy. How to promote democracy more effectively.
Prerequisite
This course is designed to follow Comparative Democratic Development Part I: Conditions of Democracy. There are no formal prerequisites for this course, although an interest in democracy, democratic structures and institutions, as well as democratic development is key.
Instructors
Larry Diamond
Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University
Platform
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