Course List

This course offers a survey of the leading literature in comparative politics on the topic of democratization with a focus on non-Western societies. The central questions we will address are: Why have political protests in Egypt succeeded in triggering a democratic transition, but not in Syria? Are newly created democracies more likely to be prone to civil war and more likely to initiate inter-state war than consolidated democracies? Should the United States use its military power to promote democracies or should democracies be allowed to emerge endogenously?