Informace o kurzu

The course is focused on a thorough introduction and theoretical reflection of democratic and non-democratic political systems. It will develop students' ability to identify the basic elements and ways of functioning of democratic and non-democratic regimes and on the basis of theoretically based criteria to compare empirical examples within individual types and across types. The course will first discuss in depth the theoretical dichotomy of democracy-non-democracy, students will be acquainted with the most important classifications of democratic and non-democratic political systems and the conditions of their survival. Attention will be paid to the distinction between different types of undemocratic political systems and the issue of democratic transition and the factors that may affect the success and failure of the democratization process. The second part of the course will focus on the introduction of basic models of democratic political systems and forms of government, emphasis will be placed on the functions of individual institutions within political systems and the effects resulting from their different settings. Throughout the course, especially in seminars, theoretical concepts will be illustrated on empirical cases. Students will work on seminar assignments in which they will work with theoretical concepts: apply them to selected countries, and compare political systems with each other based on theoretical criteria. Detailed information for the current semester, see: www.kurzy.uhk.cz