Our syllabus is designed for a 13-week, semester-long course. Readings address the causes, symptoms, and consequences of democratic erosion. Over the course of the semester, students gain theoretical, empirical, and historical context to help them understand our unique political moment.
1. Setting the stage
Bermeo, Nancy. 2016. “On Democratic Backsliding.” Journal of Democracy 27(1): pp. 5-19.
Cheeseman, Nic. “How Zambia’s long-stable democracy ended up in a political crisis in 2017.” Quartz. July 7, 2017.
Shifter, Michael. “Nicaragua Is Turning into a Real-Life House of Cards.” Foreign Policy. September 5, 2016.
McCarthy, Michael. “6 things you need to know about Venezuela’s political and economic crisis.” The Washington Post. May 18, 2016.
Marcinkiewicz, Kamil and Mary Stegmaier. “Poland appears to be dismantling its own hard-won democracy.” The Washington Post. July 21, 2017.
2. Definitions and theories of democracy and democratic consolidation
Schumpeter, Joseph. 1947. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers. Chapter 22.
Dahl, Robert. 1972. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapter 1.
Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson. 2006. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2.
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy.” American Political Science Review 53(1): pp. 69-105.
Bitar, Sergio and Abraham F. Lowenthal. 2015. Democratic Transitions: Conversations with World Leaders. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pick or assign one chapter per student.
3. Definitions and theories of democratic erosion
Lust, Ellen and David Waldner. 2015. Unwelcome Change: Understanding, Evaluating, and Extending Theories of Democratic Backsliding. Washington, DC: USAID. pp. 1-15.
Levitsky, Steven and Daniel Ziblatt. 2018. How Democracies Die. New York: Crown. Chapter 1.
Lehoucq, Fabrice. 2008. “Bolivia’s Constitutional Breakdown.” Journal of Democracy 19(4): pp. 110-124.
Anria, Santiago. 2016. “Delegative Democracy Revisited: More Inclusion, Less Liberalism in Bolivia.” Journal of Democracy 27(3): pp. 99-108.
4. Using democratic institutions to undermine democracy
Varol, Ozan. 2015. “Stealth Authoritarianism.” Iowa Law Review 100(4): pp. 1673-1742. Parts I, II and III.
Huq, Aziz and Tom Ginsburg. 2017. “How to Lose a Constitutional Democracy.” UCLA Law Review 65(78): pp. 80-169. Parts 1 and 4; skim part 3.
5. Populism and demagoguery
Müller, Jan-Werner. 2016. What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Berman, Sheri. 2017. “The Pipe Dream of Undemocratic Liberalism.” Journal of Democracy 28(3): 29-38.
Kendall-Taylor, Andrea and Erica Frantz. “How Democracies Fall Apart: Why Populism is a Pathway to Autocracy.” Foreign Affairs. December 5, 2016.
Pita, Adrianna. 2016. “The Rise of the Right: Right-wing Populism in the US and Europe.” The Brookings Institution. April 19, 2016.
6. Information, communication, and accountability
Weitz-Shapiro, Rebecca and Matthew Winters. 2016. “Can Citizens Discern? Information Credibility, Political Sophistication, and the Punishment of Corruption in Brazil.” Journal of Politics 79(1): pp. 60-74.
Ferraz, Claudio and Fred Finan. 2011. “Exposing Corrupt Politicians.” J-Pal Policy Brief.
Svolik, Milan W. 2019. “Polarization Versus Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 30(3): pp. 20-32.
Mercieca, Jennifer R. 2019. “Dangerous Demagogues and Weaponized Communication.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 49(3): pp. 264-279.
Siegal, Alexandra A. and Joshua A. Tucker. 2018. “The Islamic State’s Information Warfare: Measuring the Success of ISIS’s Online Strategy.” Journal of Language and Politics 17(2): pp. 258-280.
7. Disinformation and fake news
Bandeira, Luiza, Donara Barojan, Roberta Braga, Jose Luis Peñarredonda and Maria Fernanda Pérez Argüello. 2019. Disinformation in Democracies: Strengthening Digital Resilience in Latin America. Washington, DC: The Atlantic Council. pp. 6-19.
Pomerantsev, Peter. 2019. “The Disinformation Age: A Revolution in Propaganda.” The Guardian. July 27, 2019.
Persily, Nate and Alex Stamos. 2019. “Regulating Online Political Advertising by Foreign Nationals and Governments.” Chapter 3 in Securing American Elections. Michael McFaul, ed. Stanford: Stanford Cyber Policy Center.
DiResta, Renée. 2018. “What We Now Know About Russian Disinformation.” New York Times. December 17, 2018.
Bellingcat Podcast. 2019. “MH17, Episode 2: A Pack of Lies.” Bellingcat Podcast. July 24, 2019.
8. Clientelism, corruption, and money in politics
Mares, Isabela and Lauren Young. 2016. “Buying, expropriating, and stealing votes.” Annual Review of Political Science 19: pp. 267-288.
Stokes, Susan, Thad Dunning, Valeria Brusco and Marcelo Nazareno. 2013. Voters, Brokers and Clientelism. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6.
Carlin, Ryan E. and Mason Moseley. 2015. “Good Democrats, Bad Targets: Democratic Values and Clientelistic Vote Buying.” Journal of Politics 77(1): pp. 14-26.
Pavão, Nara. 2018. “Corruption as the Only Option: The Limits to Electoral Accountability.” Journal of Politics 80(3): pp. 996-1010. .
Vaishnav, Milan. 2017. When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapter 1.
Makaya, Lindsey and Amy Smith. “Could corruption investigations undermine democracy in Latin America.” Vox. May 17, 2018.
9. Socialism, neoliberalism, and economic inequality
Bartels, Larry M. 2017. Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Chapter 1.
Gilens, Martin. 2005. “Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness.” The Public Opinion Quarterly 69(5): pp. 778-796.
Solt, Frederick. 2008. “Economic inequality and democratic political engagement.” American Journal of Political Science 52(1): pp. 48-60.
Streeck, Wolfgang. 2014. Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. London; New York: Verso. pp. 47-75.
Kramer, Larry. 2018. “Beyond Neoliberalism.” Palo Alto, CA: Hewlett Foundation. pp. 3-22.
Toro, Francisco. “No, Venezuela doesn’t prove anything about socialism.” The Washington Post. August 21, 2018.
10. Polarization
McCoy, Jennifer, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer. 2018. “Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities.” American Behavioral Scientist 62(1): pp. 16-42.
Iyengar, Shanto and Masha Krupenkin. 2018. “The Strengthening of Partisan Affect.” Political Psychology 39(S1): pp. 201-218.
Mason, Lilliana. 2018. Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1 and 3.
LeBas, Adrienne. 2018. “Can Polarization Be Positive? Conflict and Institutional Development in Africa.” American Behavioral Scientist 62(1): pp. 59-74.
Ortellado, Pablo and Márcio Moretto Ribeiro. “Mapping Brazil’s political polarization online.” The Conversation. August 3, 2018.
11. Scapegoating, paranoia, and exclusion
Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2016. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. New York: The New Press. Chapters 1, 9 and 15.
Cramer, Katherine J. 2016. The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1.
Parker, Christopher S. and Matt A. Barreto. Forthcoming. “The Great White Hope: Existential Threat and Status Anxiety in the Age of Trump.” Political Behavior.
Dinas, Elias, et al. 2019. “Waking Up the Golden Dawn: Does Exposure to the Refugee Crisis Increase Support for Extreme-Right Parties?” Political Analysis 27: pp. 244-254.
Bansak, Kirk, Jens Hainmueller and Dominik Hangartner. 2016. “How Economic, Humanitarian, and Religious Concerns Shape European Attitudes Toward Asylum Seekers.” Science 354(6309): pp. 217-222.
12. Civil society and social movements
Gamboa, Laura. 2017. “Opposition at the Margins: Strategies Against the Erosion of Democracy in Colombia and Venezuela.” Comparative Politics 49(4): pp. 457–477.
Chenoweth, Erica and Maria J. Stephan. 2012. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. Reprint. New York: Columbia University Press. Chapter 1.
Yarwood, Janette. 2016. “The struggle over terms limits in Africa: The power of protest.” Journal of Democracy 27(3): pp. 51-60.
Berman, Sheri. 1997. “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic.” World Politics 49(3): pp. 401–429.
13. Globalization, “globalism,” and democracy promotion abroad
Burgoon, Brian. 2009. “Globalization and backlash: Polayni’s revenge?” Review of International Political Economy 16(2): pp. 145-177.
Rodrik, Dani. 2018. “Populism and the Economics of Globalization.” Journal of International Business Policy 1(1-2): pp. 12–33.
Kaufman, Joshua, Carol Sahley and Barbara Smith. 2013. USAID Strategy on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development.
Smilde, David and Abraham F. Lowenthal. “Negotiating Venezuela’s Transition.” The New York Times. June 11, 2019.
