Class Democracy, Transitions and Paradoxes

After a period of transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic regimes, liberal democracies have been under pressure from both authoritarian tendencies, such as populism or authoritarian constitutionalism, and their old and new paradoxes. In this context, this curricular unit is a privileged locus of critical analysis of theories developed in the context of political science to: a) describe and explain the complexity of these processes and paradoxes, b) contribute to the quality of citizenship and democratic governance.

CP1: Democracies and challenges to democracy: authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

CP2: Theories of democratic transition: structuralist, strategic choice, institutionalist, economic.

CP3: Transitions from authoritarianism to democracy and transitions from democracy to authoritarianism: unliberal populism, constitutional authoritarianism.

CP4:  Failed transitions.

CP5:  The paradoxes of democracy: low levels of satisfaction of the functioning of democracy vs. the belief that democracy is the best regime; liberal individualism vs. democratic homogeneity; inclusion vs. democratic exclusion; the paradox of innovation.

CP6: The impact of democratic paradoxes on political governance.

CP7: The contribution of political science to the understanding of democratic transition processes and the paradoxes of democracy.

Oral presentations, followed by debate, related to bibliographic references (30%) + individual written work (50%) + written test (30%) + participation in classes (10%) = 100%.  The individual written work can be about a film related to the content of the UC..For example, the film Os Capitães de Abril, directed by Maria de Medeiros, is explicitly related to the contents of this UC.

Dahl, R. A Democratic Paradox. Political Science Quarterly, 2000, 115 (1), pp. 35-40.https://doi.org/10.2307/2658032.

Haggard, S. and Kaufman, R. Inequality and Regime Change: Democratic Transitions and the Stability of Democratic Rule. American Political Science Review , 106 (3) August 2012 doi:10.1017/S0003055412000287.

Linz, J. Autoritarismo e democracia. Prefácio de António Costa Pinto . Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, 2015. ISBN:978-972-24-1801-0.

March, J. and Olsen, J. The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life. The American Political Science Review , 1984), 78 (3), pp. 734-749, https://doi.org/10.2307/1961840.

Mouffe, C. Carl Schmitt and the Paradox of Liberal Democracy. Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence , 1997, 10 (l), pp. 21-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0841820900000217