Introductory description

Never before has the world witnessed such a high proportion of democracies. But what makes them emerge? How do democracies sustain themselves? What makes some countries such persistent dictatorships? These questions have attracted a huge body of literature in Comparative Politics and make for fascinating empirical research projects.

This module will introduce you to the evolution of democratisation theories, and provide an insight into the regional specificities of regime dynamics. You will then evaluate the applicability of a theory of democratisation in a 3000-word comparative research project.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. The Comparative Method, Case Selection, and Research Design
2. What is Democracy?
3. Theories of Democratisation: The Role of Development
4. Theories of Democratisation: The Role of Culture
5. Theories of Democratisation: The Role of Unearned Income
6. (Reading Week)
7. Regional Focus: sub-Saharan Africa (Neopatrimonialism)
8. Regional Focus: Latin America (Agency Approaches)
9. Regional Focus: South East Asia (The Values Debate)
10. No Democratisation: Autocratic Survival

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Apply the comparative method to real-world scenarios
• Select cases for analysis in political science
• Design an independent research project
• Discuss different conceptualisations of democracy
• Understand different approaches to explaining democracy
• Apply a theory of democratisation to empirical data
• Evaluate regional specificities in democratisation

Indicative reading list

• Ake, Claude. 1993. The Unique Case of African Democracy.” International Affairs. Royal Institute of International Affairs. 69(2): 239–44.
• Arriola, Leonardo R. 2009. Patronage and Political Stability in Africa. Comparative Political Studies 42(10):1339–1362.
• Brians, Craig L., Lars Wilnat, Jarol B. Manheim and Richard C. Rich. 2010. Empirical Political Analysis. Pearson
• Bryman, A. 2008. Social Research Methods, 4th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Bayart, Jean-François. 2009. The State in Africa – The Politics of the Belly. Second ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Beblawi, Hazem. 1987. The Rentier State in the Arab World. In The Rentier State, ed. Hazem Beblawi and Giacomo Luciani. New York: Croom Helm.
• Berman, Bruce J. 1998. “Ethnicity, Patronage and the African State: The Politics of Uncivil Nationalism.” African Affairs 97:305–341.
• Boix, Carles and Susan Stokes. 2003. “Endogenous Democratization.” World Politics 55:517–549.
• Bräutigam, Deborah. 2000. Aid Dependence and Government. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International.
• Clark, Robert. 2012. “World-system position and democracy, 1972?2008.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53(5-6):367–399.
• Clark, Robert and Jason Beckfield. 2009. “A New Trichotomous Measure of World- System Position Using the International Trade Network.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 50(1):5–38.
• Clark, William Roberts; Golder, M.R.; Nadenichek Golder, S. 2017 Principles of Comparative Politics. Sage
• Elkins, Zachary S. 2000. “Gradations of Democracy. Empirical Tests of Alternative Conceptualizations.” American Journal of Political Science 44(2):287–294.
• Epstein, David L., Robert Bates, Jack Goldstone, Ida Kristensen and Sharyn O’Halloran. 2006. “Democratic Transitions.” American Journal of Political Science 50(3):551–569.
• Erdmann, Gero and Ulf Engel. 2006. “Neopatrimonialism Revisited – Beyond a Catch-All Concept.” Working Paper No. 16, German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
• Gandhi, Jennifer and Adam Przeworski. 2007. “Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats.” Comparative Political Studies 40(11):1279–1301.
• Geddes, Barbara, Joseph Wright, Erica Frantz. 2018. How Dictatorships Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Grugel, Jean and Bishop, Matthew Louis. 2014. Democratization: a critical introduction. Second Edition. Basingstoke; Pelgrave Macmillan.
• Inglehart, Ronald; Welzel, C. 2005. Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Landman, Todd. 1999. “Economic Development and Democracy: The View from Latin America.” Political Studies 47(4):607–626.
• Landman, Todd and Carvalho E. 2014. Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction. Third ed. London: Routledge.
• Lipset, Seymour M. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Develop- ment and Political Legitimacy.” The American Political Science Review 53(1):69–105.
• Mainwaring, Scott and Aníbal Pérez-Liñán. 2013. Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America – Emergence, Survival, and Fall. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Morrison, Kevin M. 2010. “What Can We Learn about the “Resource Curse” from Foreign Aid?” The World Bank Research Observer 27(1):52–73.
• Munck, Gerardo L. and Jay Verkuilen. 2002. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democ- racy: Evaluating Alternative Indices.” Comparative Political Studies 35(5):5–34.
• O’Donnell, Guillermo. 1973. Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism: Studies in South American Politics. Berkeley: Institute of International Studies, University of California.
• O’Donnell, Guillermo and Phillipe C. Schmitter. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Transitions. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Przeworski, Adam, Michael E. Alvarez, José A. Cheibub and Fernando Limongi. 2000. Democracy and Development - Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Resnick, Danielle and Nicolas van de Walle. 2013a. Democratic Trajectories in Africa – Unravelling the Impact of Foreign Aid. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Reiche, Florian (forthcoming) Introduction to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Ross, Michael. 2001. “Does Oil hinder Democracy?” World Politics 53(3):325–361.
• Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens and John D. Stephens. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Shin, Doh Chull and Rollin F. Tusalem. 2019. East Asia. In: Democratization, ed. Christian W. Haerpfer, Patrick Bernhagen, Christian Welzel Ronald F. Inglehart. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Smith, Alastair. 2008. “The Perils of Unearned Income.” Journal of Politics 70(3):1–14.
• Therkildsen, Ole. 2002. “Keeping the State Accountable: Is Aid No Better Than Oil?”
  IDS-Bulletin 33(3):41–50.
• van de Walle, Nicolas. 2001. AFRICAN ECONOMIES and the POLITICS of PER- MANANENT CRISIS 1979-1999. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• van de Walle, Nicolas. 2007. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? The evolution of political clientelism in Africa. In Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition, ed. Herbert Kitschelt and Steven I. Wilkinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Walliman, Nicholas. 2010. Research Methods: The Basics. Routledge

Research element

Students are introduced to empirical research design throughout the module and will have to produce a summative assessment in the form of a research project.

Interdisciplinary

Democratisation theories have strong ties between Sociology, Political Science, and also History.

International

The module looks at global theories of democratisation, but also explored regional specificities of regime transitions in the second half of the module.

Subject specific skills

• Explanations of Regime Transitions
• Conceptualisation and Measurement
• The Comparative Method
• Empirical Research Design

Transferable skills

• The ability to conduct independent, empirical research
• The ability to apply the methods and techniques you have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply your knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects
• The transferable skills necessary for employment related to Politics and International Studies: lateral thinking; problem solving; detailed critical analysis and interpretation of a variety of primary and secondary sources; the ability to digest, retain and apply complex information and ideas; skills in research, independent study, group discussion, and in oral and written presentation; the ability to consider unfamiliar ideas and ways of thinking
• The skills necessary for the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility: e.g. the ability to assess your own capacity for progress in learning; the ability to organise your work and manage your time successfully; the ability to meet deadlines; the ability to reflect critically on the extent and limitations of how and what you have learned, discovered and understood
• The ability to deploy decision-making skills in complex and unpredictable situations
• Skills in the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences