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Course Description

While the term "democracy" is used worldwide today, its meaning is not as settled as you might think. Different societies and cultures have varying ideas about which aspects of democracy matter most. This course examines how democracy has been understood in different times and places, comparing mainstream stories about democracy's development with evidence from other cultures and time periods.

In this course, you'll analyze the core features of liberal democracy and explore how governments organize political power through institutions. By examining centralized versus decentralized systems, presidential and parliamentary governments, and various electoral methods, you'll understand how these structural choices affect democracy in practice.

Through discussions and assignments, you'll evaluate democratic principles in different political systems, analyze constitutional frameworks, and compare election systems across countries. By the end of this course, you will have developed skills for measuring democracy while considering whether its definition should be broad or specific.

Faculty Author

Paul Friesen

Benefits to the Learner

  • Compare mainstream and cross-cultural examples of democracy
  • Identify the core features of modern liberal democracy
  • Evaluate key critiques of democratic systems
  • Explore different government structures and election systems
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Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy
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