Comparative Democratization Spring 2014 POLS 196

Comparative Democratization
Spring 2014
POLS 196
Time: MWF, 11:45-12:35
Place: LAF 100
Instructor: Peter VonDoepp
Phone: 656-4451
Office: 535 Old Mill
Office hours: MWF 1:00-2:00, Tues 2-4
E-mail: [email protected]
OVERVIEW
Since the mid-1970s the world has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of countries
experimenting with democratic rule. This course is concerned with the factors and dynamics shaping
these democratic experiments. What are the socio-cultural and economic variables influencing the
success and durability of new democratic regimes? How do institutional dynamics inform the prospects
for democracy? How do democratic transitions occur? And how can we understand recent events in
Middle East in light of what we know about democracy? These kinds of questions will guide us as we
proceed through the semester.
COURSE MATERIAL
There are three books required for this class:

Christian Haerpfer et al, Democratization. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Jan Teorell, Determinants of Democratization. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Guillermo O’Donnell and Phillippe Schmitter. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative
Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986
Keep in mind as well, many items on the syllabus will be available on the class Blackboard page.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This is a readings-intensive course. You are expected to keep up with assigned readings and come to
class prepared to discuss them. Attendance is required and active participation is expected. Together
these will count for five percent of the course grade.
There will be one midterm and one final exam for the course, each worth 25 percent of the course grade.
The midterm will be entirely take-home and is due on February 28. The final will be held in our normal
meeting room on the date and time listed at the end of the course outline.
There will also be a number of announced, unannounced and Blackboard quizzes throughout the course of
the semester. These will count for ten percent of the course grade. Quizzes may not be made up, but the
lowest quiz grade will be dropped.
For the remaining 35 percent of the course grade, students will have the opportunity to choose one of two
paths. The first allows students to engage contemporary scholarship on issues relating to
democratization; the second allows students to undertake research on the issues and challenges facing a
particular country. The specifics of these two options are as follows:
Option 1: Engaging Current Scholarship
Option 2: Country Research

Critical Book Review. Those who take this
option will write one review of a recent
book discussing issues related to
democratization. One of five books may be
chosen for review. Due dates for the
review vary depending on which book is
chosen. More details about the content of
the review will be provided during the first
few weeks of class. This will be worth 15
percent of course grade.

Country Reports. Those who take this
option will write three different reports on
a country currently undergoing a transition
from authoritarian rule. The first of these
will consist of a basic background paper on
the country; the second and third will entail
analyses of the governance problems in the
country. The first paper is worth 5 percent
of the course grade, while the latter two are
worth 10 percent each. This portion will
count for 25 percent of the course grade.

Students will write four brief synopses of
articles and chapters that we will be
covering in class. Material that is indicated
in bold on the syllabus is eligible for
review. A total of ten articles and chapters
are eligible, so students will need to be
selective about which material they choose
to review. Each of these reviews is worth 5
percent, making this portion of the
coursework worth an overall total of 20
percent. Note: Two of these reviews
MUST be completed by March 12.

Students will write two brief synopses of
articles and chapters that we will be
covering in class. Material that is indicated
in bold on the syllabus is eligible for
review. A total of ten articles and chapters
are eligible, so students will need to be
selective about which material they choose
to review. Each of these reviews is worth 5
percent, making this portion of the
coursework worth an overall total of 10
percent. Note: One of these reviews
MUST be completed by March 12.
CLASSROOM POLICIES AND PROTOCOL
1. Students are expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes.
2. Students are expected to arrive on time and stay in class until the class period ends. If a student knows
in advance that s/he will need to leave early, s/he should notify the instructor before the class period
begins.
3. Students are expected to treat faculty and fellow students with respect. For example, students must not
disrupt class by leaving and re-entering during class, must not distract class by making noise, and must be
attentive to comments being made by the instructors and by peers.
4. Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester
students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes their
documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit students who miss work for
the purpose of religious observance to make up this work.
5. Late papers will be docked five points for every day they are overdue. In all cases of late papers you
should: a) come see me about the problem (when possible beforehand) and b) provide documentation
regarding the nature of the problem.
6. I do not accept papers via email unless I have made prior arrangements to do so.
7. I will be communicating to the class via email, using your UVM email addresses. Please be sure to
monitor you UVM email account accordingly.
COURSE OUTLINE
I. Conceptualizing Democracy
Jan 13
Introduction
Jan 15
Conceptualizing Democracy
Jan 17
Measuring Democracy
Jan 22
The Third Wave
-Rose, “Democratic and Undemocratic States” (OxDem);
-Diamond, “Defining and Developing Democracy,” from
Developing Democracy (BB).
-Bernhagen, “Measuring Democracy and Democratization”
(OxDem);
-Freedom House, Freedom in the World (Read Methodology
and Checklist Questions and Guidelines; review Charts and
Tables) (BB).
-Markoff, “The Global Wave of Democratization” (OxDem)
II. The Sources of Democratic Development: Economic and Structuralist Accounts
Jan 24
Economic Development
-Lipset, “Economic Development and Democracy” (BB).
Jan 27
Development and Pressure
-Huber, Rueschemeyer and Stephens, “The Impact of
from Below
Economic Development on Democracy”(BB).
Jan 29
Economic Performance
-Kapstein and Converse, “Why Democracies Fail” (BB);
-Przeworski et al, “What Makes Democracies Endure”(BB).
Jan 31
The Resource Question
-Michael Ross, “Does Oil Hinder Democracy?” (BB).
Feb 3
Inequality and Distribution
-Carles Boix, “The Roots of Democracy” (BB).
Book Review Due: Thad Dunning, Crude Democracy
III. The Sources of Democratic Development: Culturalist Accounts
Feb 5
Culture and Democracy
-Welzel and Inglehart, “Political Culture, Mass Beliefs, and
Value Change (OxDem).
Feb 7
Culture and Democracy
-Robert Putnam, “The Prosperous Community”(BB);
-Rollin Tusalem, “The Role of Protestantism in Democratic
Consolidation in Transitional States”(BB).
Feb 10
The Islam Question
-Amir Taheri, “Islam and Democracy: The Impossible
Union”(BB);
-Stephen Fish, “Islam and Authoritarianism”(BB).
Feb 12
The Islam Question
Pew Global Attitudes Project, “Arab Spring Final Report” (BB).
-Book Review Due: Amaney Jamal, Of Empires and Citizens:
Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy at All?
-FIRST COUNTRY PAPER DUE
IV. Socio-Cultural Groups: The Bad and the Good
Feb 14
The Cultural Pluralism
-Donald Horowitz, “Democracy in Divided Societies” (BB).
Question
Feb 19
The Cultural Pluralism
-Daniel Chirot, “Does Democracy Work in Deeply Divided
Question
Societies” (BB).
Feb 21
Civil Society
-Natalia Letki, “Social Capital and Civil Society”(OxDem);
-Rollin Tusalem, “A Boon or a Bane: The Role of Civil
Society in Third and Fourth Wave Democracies”(BB).
Feb 24
Civil Society
Feb 26
Civil Society
-Christine Bodewes, “Civil Society and the Consolidation
of Democracy in Kenya: An Analysis of a Catholic
Parish's Efforts in Kibera Slum” (BB).
-TBA
Feb 28
Midterm Due
NO CLASS
V. Elites and Institutions
Mar 10
Executive Institutions
Mar 12
Executive Institutions
Mar 14
Legislative Institutions
Mar 17
Electoral Systems
Mar 19
Electoral Systems and
Ethnicity
Mar 21
Elites and Consolidation
Mar 24
Elites and Democratic
Collapse
Elites, Institutions and
Resources
Mar 26
-Juan Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism” (BB).
-Kirschke, “Semipresidentialism and the Perils of PowerSharing in Neopatrimonial States” (BB).
-Stephen Fish, “Fighting Reversion: Strong Legislatures as the
Key to Bolstering Democracy” (BB).
-Matthijs Boogards, “Electoral Systems and Institutional;
Design in New Democracies” (OxDem).
-Arend Lijphart, “Constitutional Design for Divided Societies”
(BB).
Book Review Due: Pippa Norris, Driving Democracy
-Daniel Levine, “Venezuela since 1958: The Consolidation of
Democratic Politics”(BB).
-Clark, “Democracy Dismantled in the Congo Republic” (BB).
-SECOND COUNTRY PAPER DUE
-VonDoepp, “Institutions, Resources and Elite Strategies:
Making Sense of Malawi’s Democratic Trajectory”(BB).
VI: Assessing Contemporary Research: Teorell’s Determinants of Democratization
Mar 28
Revisiting Classic Theories
-Teorell, pages 1-50 (do not read 30-38).
Mar 31
Economic Factors Revisited
-Teorell, pages 53-76, 100-116.
Apr 2
Popular Mobilization and
Past Regimes
-Teorell, pages 117-140 (BB).
VII. Transitions and the Arab Spring
Apr 4
Transitions
O’Donnell and Schmitter, pages 1-36.
Apr 7
Transitions
O’Donnell and Schmitter, pages 37-65.
Apr 9
Transitions
Apr 11
Authoritarianism in the
Middle East
Bratton and Van de Walle, “Neopatrimonial Regimes and
Political Transitions in Africa” (BB).
-Cavatorta, “The Middle East and North Africa” (OxDem);
-Video: Revolution in Cairo.
Apr 14
Apr 16
Transitions in the Middle
East
Transitions in the Middle
East
Book Review Due: Jason Brownlee, Authoritarianism in an
Age of Democratization
-Jack Goldstone, “Understanding the Revolutions of 2011”
(BB).
-Brownlee, Masoud and Reynolds, “Why the Modest
Harvest?” (BB);
-Stepan and Linz: “Democratization Theory and the Arab
Spring”(BB).
VIII: Hybrid Regimes and the Color Revolutions
Apr 18
Hybrid Regimes
-Henry Hale, “Hybrid Regimes: When Democracy and
Autocracy Mix” (BB).
Apr 21
Hybrid Regimes
-Levitsky and Way, “Authoritarianism’s Last Line of
Defense” (BB).
Apr 23
Hybrid Regimes
-Howard and Roessler, “Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes
in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes” (BB).
Apr 25
Transitions from Hybrids:
-Video: “Orange Revolution” (BB).
The Orange Revolution
-FINAL COUNTRY PAPER DUE
Apr 28
Transitions from Hybrids:
-Joshua Tucker, “Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action
The Orange Revolution
Problems and Post-Communist Colored Revolutions” (BB).
Apr 30
Transitions from Hybrids:
The Orange Revolution
FINAL: Monday, May 5, 10:30-1:15
Book Review Due: Levitsky and Way, Competitive
Authoritarianism
-Paul D’Anieri, “Explaining the Success and Failure of
Post–Communist Revolutions” (BB);
-Video: “Nearly 8 Years After the 'Orange Revolution,'
Ukraine Runs Into Reversals” (BB).