Democracy and Its Impacts

Catalog description

This course examines advances in democratization around the globe, and compares the performance of democratic and authoritarian governments. This course examines the impacts of international democracy aid around the globe, and compares the performance of democratic and authoritarian governments in promoting citizens' well-being. Democracy assistance for activities such as conducting elections and strengthening civil society has become a key component of foreign aid provided by longstanding democracies. Its use is based on a widespread belief that democracies perform better than autocracies in a number of policy domains. The course focuses on how such aid affects recipient countries, and how performance of democratic and authoritarian regimes actually differs. It traces the expansion of international democracy aid, explores the different types of assistance that donor countries provide, and reviews empirical research on the impacts in recipient countries. It then turns to a comparison of the performance of democratic vs. authoritarian regime type in generating public goods such as economic prosperity, socioeconomic equality, and civic peace.