Ballots, Bullets, Barricades

Catalog description

Across the globe, people are starting to participate in diverse and multifaceted ways. In some countries, citizens vote in record numbers, while others suffer from low turnout. More and more people are taking to the streets, for example, in Turkey, Bangladesh, and the Arab World. Civic engagement has declined in the United States, but flourished in new democracies and authoritarian regimes, such as China, India, and Mubarak's Egypt. What explains these variations? Who participates? Why do people take to the streets? This course will address some of these questions, comparing theories and cases from across the world. Students will learn about multifaceted forms of political participation: electoral politics, protest, informal politics, and civic engagement.