PLSC 485HComparative Authoritarianism

Catalog

This course examines the origins, institutions, and consequences of authoritarian rule across regions, including Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Students explore how authoritarian regimes emerge, maintain power, and respond to pressures for democratization, with attention to repression, elections, propaganda, economic performance, and elite politics. A central focus is on why citizens may accept, tolerate, or resist less than democratic institutions, drawing on theories of political behavior and political psychology. Through comparative case studies and theoretical readings, the course equips students to analyze authoritarian governance, democratic backsliding, and regime change in a global context.