We will start with brief introductions of the lecturer and the students. Then we will ask some basic questions - what are the current world powers? What is the current world order? What are the different approaches of International Relations? We will talk about the rapid changes in world order in the last 30 years. In the second half of the lecture we will focus on what is the basic concept of the state, legitimacy and power. Finally we will go through the assignments and assessment breakdown.

We will draw on the notions of legitimacy and power to make the basic division between democratic and authoritarian regimes. We will review the development from historical political systems such as absolutism, monarchy and aristocratic rule to modern systems of political rule from democracies (liberal and illiberal) to authoritarian regimes - dictatorships, military regimes or totalitarian states. This will set up the basic structure for the rest of the semester. The case study for this session will be France and the regimes it experienced in the 19th century.

We will go over the roots of democracy and its development from Greece to the form we know today. We will draw the distinctions between consensual and majoritarian democracies as defined by Lijphart. We will have our first student presentation, followed by a discussion on the topic of “What are the limits to democracy in the West? (historically and now)”. In the second half of the session we will carry onto the mainstream ideologies: liberalism, conservatism and socialism with examples. Reading: Schmitter and Karl, “What is Democracy... and is not”; Lijphart - Patterns of Democracy (Chap. 1-3)

What is a constitution? What is the purpose of a constitution? Does a modern democracy have to have a constitution? How do contemporary justices influence the readings of constitutions written centuries ago? We will look at examples of what happens to democracies when fundamental changes are made to constitutions, with examples from Turkey and Russia. A presentation will be held on the topic of “Changes to the Russian constitution in 2020 - is Russia a liberal democracy or an authoritarian state?” We will then analyse the purpose and the importance of a judiciary independent from the executive and legislative branches of power in democratic systems.

In the first half of the lesson, we will focus on the distribution of executive and legislative power in different democratic systems with examples. We will investigate the way voters elect the executive and how the different systems affect campaign strategies. We will see how different systems deal with removing the executive before the end of term. In the second half of the lesson we will discuss the role of the media in politics. Is it an extended voice of the executive? Is it the “fourth pillar of democracy”? We will analyse the impact of media on polarisation and the public opinion and discuss examples of reporting on sensitive issues and their political impact.

What is the origin of political parties? What are the main functions of different kinds of parties? What are party systems (esp. one-party system, two-party system and multi-party system)? What is the definition of “the right” and “the left”? We will compare the advantages and disadvantages of these systems in democratic setting with examples of the UK, US and Germany. In the second half of the lesson we will conduct a Mock US Presidential Debate.

What main different electoral systems are there (focus on majoritarian and proportional) and what is their influence on the representation of the voters? What are the advantages and disadvantages of different systems? How does the system affect the number of parties? Is any system more democratic than the others and how is it linked to ideologies? Case study: UK vs Germany. A presentation will be held on the topic of “Electoral College system in the USA: Historical reasons & current legitimacy - should it be canceled?”

We will focus on entities (economic, religious, single issue, professional etc.) that lie outside of the government and the state, however which still impact the political sphere. These include NGOs, political movements but also lobbies. What different interest groups are there and what are their main objectives? How do we classify them? We will analyse what qualifies as a social movement and what happens when violence is introduced into the equation. We will discuss if there is a distinct line between a guerilla group and a terrorist group. A presentation will be held on the topic of “Black Lives Matter vs. National Rifle Association - Influence on the US Politics”.

In this class we will analyse what causes democratic backsliding, that is decline in the quality of democracy. What are the current challenges to democracy in the western liberal democracies (populism, nationalism, polarisation)? What are common challenges in new democracies? Can any country be “democratic for good”? We will also focus on external challenges to democracy - the increase in the number of authoritarian states in the world. As a case study, we will use Poland and Hungary today and will analyse their historical experiences with both nationalism and authoritarianism and compare it to their current political climate. We will hold a discussion on “what is the biggest threat to democracy today?”

What kinds of authoritarian regimes are there? What is the difference between an authoritarian and totalitarian state? Why do authoritarian regimes hold elections? What is their claim to legitimacy? What is their source of stability? Is autocracy more efficient than democracy? We will analyse the authoritarian regimes in Nazi Germany, former USSR and Iran and draw comparisons. A presentation will be held on the topic “In what ways is China an authoritarian regime and what are its unique characteristics?”

Where does the economy come in? What should be the relationship between the economy and the state? Does capitalism lead to democracy? Does communism still exist today? What kinds of capitalism are there? How involved can and should the government be in the market for it to still be considered a capitalist market? In this lecture we will introduce the basic concepts of political economy and focus especially on the long held “modernisation theory”. We will test this theory on the case study of present China and contrast it with the rise of the far-right movement in post-89 democracies. Discussion will be held at the end on the topic of “does capitalism lead to democracy?”

In this lesson we will focus on what happens when the state is no longer capable of providing the basic functions that define it. What are the internal and external causes of states failing? What role does legitimacy play in this situation? Can terrorist organisations take over the state role and how does that affect their legitimacy and international standing? With this topic, we will focus on different states in the Middle East as our case study - where non-state actors often operate outside of the delineation of state borders. In the final student presentation we will look at the topic of “Hezbollah - a terrorist organisation or a social care provider”.

In this lecture we will go through some (but definitely not all) other ideological traditions. These include fascism, anarchism, feminism or environmentalism. We will analyse the context in which they arose and whether they are still relevant. A discussion will be held on the topic of “Environmentalism - an ideological tradition or a response to a global threat?”

In the final lesson we will review the course via the prism of the main current global security threats. We will hold a big discussion on the topic “what are the biggest global security threats at the moment?” Are they political (democratic vs. authoritarian regimes, polarisation, populism, democratic backsliding)? Are they economic (rising income inequality)? Cyber (cyber warfare, disappearing protection of privacy)? Ecological (changing climate)? Health (pandemics?). We will compare them in order of danger and impact and then compare the current situation to historical figures to gain perspective and maintain some level of optimism where possible.