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DEMMELHUBER Thomas & WOLCZUK Kataryna - Revolution, Democracy and Authoritarianism in the EU's Neighbourhood (20h)

This optional course consists of two parts (2 x 10 hours). The first section tackles the southern neighborhood whereas the second section focuses on the eastern neighborhood. Both parts try to answer the question: why does democratization sometimes fail? The course deconstructs political developments through the lens of comparative politics oscillating between democracy and authoritarianism and various strands of the theoretical literature (agency, structure, institutions et al.). Both parts aim at identifying variables that inhibit the institutionalization of democracy or explain the resilience of autocracy with a critical approach to “transitology”. Specific country case studies will be considered together with opposing theoretical and conceptual approaches that aim to explain why some countries have evolved towards democracy and others towards authoritarianism in the same neighborhood. As a prospective result of this course students should be able to come up with a conceptual framing and a more nuanced understanding of political developments in EU’s eastern and southern neighbourhood. // ECTS Card

Professors: Thomas DEMMELHUBER & Kataryna WOLCZUK