Democracy and Democratization

Course goals

This course enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:
- Knowledge of the roots, development and effects of institutions of democracy at an advanced level
- The ability to analyze these roots, developments and effects by applying appropriate theories, concepts and methods
 

Content

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War at the end of the twentieth century, democracy stood ascendant. It promised and often conferred individual dignity and collective prosperity to its adherents. However, at the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century, we are no longer so confident in democracy’s promise or stability, even in those countries where its roots are deepest.

In this course, we explore the longue-durée history of democracy, starting in Ancient Greece, where the vocabulary and institutions of democratic governance were invented, but also looking at parts of the non-Western world where democracy developed independent of the Greek model. Using the methodology of the history of political ideas, we look at how concepts central to democratic governance were generated and changed in various contexts throughout history, with a particular focus on the development of modern democracy during and after the Atlantic Revolutions of the late eighteenth century. And using tools from the social sciences concerning democratization, we look at how democracy became stable after the Second World War and why many believe it to be undergoing a crisis in our contemporary moment.

Additional information

NB 1 Studenten van de MA Geschiedenis: Educatie en Communicatie kunnen zich via de Graduate School of Teaching als bijvakker voor deze cursus inschrijven. Alle andere studenten die deze cursus als bijvak willen volgen, moeten contact opnemen met de MA coördinator.

NB 2 The language of instruction for this course is English. Tests can be conducted in Dutch in consultation with the course coordinator. 

Labor market orientation:
During the seminars, attention is paid to current issues in the social and political debate about the state of democracy, based on visual and written source material. Students are expected to be able to apply academic insights to current issues that are discussed in the seminar. This course prepares students for the labor market for political and social historians where institutions of democracy and the discussion about them are of structural importance.