
Democracy in a Global World
Code: 104476Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| International Relations | OB | 3 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Joan Ricart Angulo
- Email :
- joan.ricart@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
None
Objectives
The course aims to provide students with the tools that allow them to analyze democratic systems and their different aspects, assess their quality, and observe their evolution over time and the factors that may condition them in recent years and in the future.
Learning outcomes
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Analyse how the EU and other actors manage the problems posed by the promotion of democracy and the rule-of-law state in the world.
- Analyse the impact of the globalisation process in the public policies of the main states of the European Union, and their interrelationship with democracy and the rule-of-law state in the world.
- In accordance with the theoretical and analytical information acquired, analyse the big challenges for democracy in a global world and the different solutions proposed to manage them.
- Make a comparative analysis of the state of democracy and the rule-of-law state in different countries and political regimes.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
- Apply quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in research processes.
- Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
- Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
- Weigh up the risks and opportunities of one's own ideas for improvement and proposals made by others.
- Propose new ways to measure success or failure when implementing ground-breaking proposals or ideas.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within the area of your own knowledge.
- Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
- Propose viable projects and actions that promote social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Propose ways to evaluate projects and actions for improving sustainability.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
- Propose projects and actions in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
- Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
Contents
In recent decades, democracy as a political system has gone from its moment of maximum expansion (as a result of the rise of the Soviet bloc from 1989) to a time of crisis and questioning.
We will analyze the fundamental elements of democratic systems, both at the institutional level and in terms of the underlying values and the relationship between institutions and citizenship, and we will assess their evolution over time.
We will work with different Democratic Quality indexes in order to comapre differnet political regimes (democratic or non-democratic) and we will build our own.
We will also analyze the risk factors for the maintenance of democracies, both the globalization of the turn of the century and the emergence of nationalist and authoritarian movements in the wake of the 2008 global crisis.
The subject will deal with the following topics:
1. The foundations of democracy
2. The expansion of democratic systems in the late twentieth century
3. The evolution of democratic systems: the indices of democracy
4. Political culture and democratic health
5. Political competence and democracy
6. System response and democracy
7. Gender and democracy
8.The challenges of democracy
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Project | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 |
| Mandatory readings | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 3, 6, 23, 26, 28 |
| Study of learning materials introduced in class | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 3, 6, 22, 25, 26 |
| Presentation and discussion of readings | 20 | 0.8 | 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29 |
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24, 26 |
| Exam | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Theorical lessons | 32 | 1.28 | 1, 3, 8, 17, 21, 22, 29 |
The sessions of the subject are divided into three types: a) theoretical lessons to introduce the contents of the subject, b) lessons in which the students will present the evolution of their final projects and their final conclusions, and c) In-class debates on the presentations.Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Exam | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 22, 23, 25, 26 |
| Final Project on Democracy Indexes | 40% | 3.4 | 0.136 | 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 28, 29 |
| Participation in debates | 10% | 0.6 | 0.024 | 2, 3, 4, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 |
1. Written exam (50%). This will assess knowledge acquired by students both at the master classes and at the presentations and discussion of academic readings.
2. Final Project (40%). This mark will include the student's progress, the originality of the proposal, and its results.
3. Participation in class dicussions (10%). This percentage of the final mark could be absorbed by the exam if there is not a sufficient number of presencial lectures.
To pass the subject it is necessary to pass both the Final project as well as the final exam.
The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) will be qualified with 0 in this assignment or exam. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches and text correction. Students must clearly identify which parts have been generated using this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced both the process and the final outcome of the activity. Failure to be transparent about the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered an academic integrity violation and it will result in a partial or full deduction of marks for the activity, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.
In accordance with article 117.2 of the UAB Academic Regulations, the assessment of repeat students may consist of a single synthesis test. Repeating students who wish to take advantage of this possibility will need to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.
Students will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject. They should present a minimum of activities that equals two-thirds of the total grading.
Single Evaluation:
The student that following the established procedures choses to take thesingle evaluation must carry out the following tasks:
1.- Final paper on any of the subjects proposed by the teaching team (30%). It must be delivered the day of the final exam.
2.- Written Essay on any of the readings proposed by the teaching team (20%). It must be delivered the day of the final exam.
3.- Final Exam (50%).
Bibliography
ARENDT, H. (1963) On Revolution. Penguin Books (available online in pdf here)
INNERARITY, D. (2019) Una teoría de la democracia compleja. Galaxia Guttenberg
KALDOR, M. (2003) \"The idea of global civil society\" in The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Vol. 79, No 3, pp. 583-593 (digital version at UAB library)
LEVITSKY, S. i ZIBLATT, D. How democracies die. Crown (Spanish version at UAB library)
LIJPHART, A. (1999) Patterns of democracy. Yale (digital version at UAB library)
MORLINO, L. (2012) Changes for Democracy: Actors, Structures, Processes. Oxford: Oxford University Press (digital version at UAB library)
MACPHERSON, C. B. (1977) The life and times of liberal democracy. Oxford
SASSEN, S. (2003) \"The Participation of State and Citizens in Global Governance\" in Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 10, issue 1, pp. 5-28 (digital version at UAB library)
SNYDER, T. (2018) The road to unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. Tim Duggan
TOCQUEVILLE, A. (1835) La democràcia a Amèrica (diverses edicions)
The Economist Democracy Index https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index
V DEM Democracy report https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/f0/5d/f05d46d8-626f-4b20-8e4e-53d4b134bfcb/democracy_report_2020_low.pdf
FREEDOM HOUSE Freedom in the world https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderless-struggle-democracy
Software
Microsoft Excel could be required when analyzing the data of democratic indexes
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |