Democracy in Analysis

What does it mean that a political system is democratic? What consequences do our theoretical points of departure have for how we understand democracy in different circumstances? How can democracy be evaluated, both normatively and empirically? How do different normative models of democracy relate to democratic institutions and their functioning? Particular emphasis is placed on the study of democracy in non-traditional contexts such as international politics, public administration and social movements. In the analysis of the quality and value of democracy students are trained in the application of a range of democratic-theoretical concepts such as political equality, freedom, non-domination, deliberation, collective self-determination and the so-called demos-problem, i.e. the delimitation of the people (demos) itself. The course will train participants in how to judge the quality of democracy using both qualitative and quantitative measures, such as indexes, and how to evaluate such measures.