UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
“POLS 60408: Comparing Democracies”
Michael Coppedge
“Comparing Democracies" is a semester‑long workshop devoted to establishing rigorous criteria for evaluating how democratic "democracies" are and what difference it makes. During most of the post-war era, U.S. political science moved toward a consensus on a narrow, Schumpterian concept of democracy that reduced a rich and complex tradition to electoral competition, broad suffrage, and certain attendant institutions. This was a useful concept for several decades, as it made possible an increasingly rigorous program of research on the causes and consequences of democracy. But at the end of the Third Wave, it has become hard to ignore the price that we paid for this productivity. Now there are many more countries that satisfy the minimal requirements for a narrow version of democracy. At the same time we are painfully aware that some democracies are much more “democratic” than others. Yet the concept we inherited does not provide us with clear criteria for making such judgments. The purpose of this seminar is to reconsider, in a more broad-minded frame of mind, what the essential components of democracy are, and to examine empirically their interrelationships and their consequences for other social and political values.”
To see the syllabus, click here.
“POLS 645: Comparative Research on Democratization”
Michael Coppedge
"One of the central tasks in the study of politics has long been to explain the birth and survival of democracy. Over the years, scholars have offered dozens of hypotheses, focusing on culture, institutions, leadership, religion, ethnic cleavages, diffusion, dependency, social equality, economic development, or various combinations of several of the above. Clearly the problem has not been the difficulty of dreaming up explanations, but the difficulty of demonstrating which one or ones are correct. In their efforts to support some of the possible explanations, political scientists and sociologists have employed nearly every research method imaginable, and in recent years an escalation of methodological sophistication has taken some research on democratization to the cutting edge of comparative politics. A roughly chronological selection of this literature can therefore serve as a springboard for discussions about both practical questions of research design and methods, and the fascinating and timely theoretical question of what causes democracy--which are the twin topics of this course.”
To see the syllabus, click here.
“Democracy Past, and Present”
Guillermo O’Donnell
“The meanings of democracy are many since its origins in Athens until today, ranging from common sense conceptions to sophisticated (albeit not necessarily better) theoretical formulations.
We will center on a topic often neglected: the historical trajectory of the idea of democracy as well as of others that came to be closely associated with it—-republicanism and liberalism. For this purpose, we will, in addition to some historical works, read brief selections from some "classics." You have run into some of these authors during your studies at Notre Dame; the difference is that we will read them from the perspective of how ideas about contemporary democracy came about. Later on we will examine some contemporary issues and theories.”
To see the syllabus, click here
“POLS 60437: Democracy and the State”
Guillermo O’Donnell
“We will look at a topic that, for various reasons to be discussed, has been largely neglected in the literature: the intersections and mutual influences between the state and democracy, at this point understood as a regime.
The above implies another movement not often made in the literature: disentangling the various dimensions entailed by the term “state.” In addition to its bureaucracies, in my view the state is (at least) a legal system, a focus of collective identity that usually claims to be a state for a nation, and a filter of currents from its “outside.”
This makes necessary to look at topics such as rule of law, nation and nationalism, and how the impacts of present globalization traverse states.”
To see the syllabus, click here
“GOVT-491: Democracy: Issues and Questions”
Guillermo O'Donnell
"There is no other term that elicits, as democracy does, so much discussion and (at least nominal) support in the contemporary world. The meanings of democracy are many, since its origins in Athens until today, ranging from common sense conceptions to sophisticated (albeit not necessarily better) theoretical formulations. Furthermore, the emotions triggered by democracy are enormous, including those who thought it was the worst possible kind of polity and the millions that in recent times took to the streets and risked their lives demanding it."
To see the syllabus, click here.
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