POLS 237 How Democracies Die
This course answers how democracies die at the turn of the twenty-first century. With a primary focus on the case of the United States but also drawing on past and ongoing developments in Latin America and Western Europe, the course will allow you to explain what’s going on in the U.S. as of right now, why, how the country got to where it is, and the “competitive authoritarianism” seemingly upon us. The course will also address what, if anything, those that value due process, civil, political and social rights, may do to help reverse the democratic backsliding in the country and beyond. After successful completion of this course, you would have gained an analytical framework to think independently and based on reliable empirical evidence about how, the actual meaning of, and why, U.S. democracy is in danger.