Course Contents
Theory of Democracy
Literature
Buchstein, Hubertus, Pohl, Kerstin; Trimcev, Rieke (Hrsg.) (2021): Demokratietheorien. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag.
Dahl, Robert 1989: Democracy and its Critics, Yale University Press: New Haven/London.
Schmidt, Manfred G. 2019: Demokratietheorien. Eine Einführung, Wiesbaden: VS (6. Auflage).
Expected Number of Participants
30
Official Course Description
After the end of the Cold War, both the democratic form of government and the democratic principle as a normative idea experienced an unprecedented spread, or to put it in the words of Robert Dahl: "In our time, even dictators seem to believe that a dash or two of the language of democracy is an indispensable ingredient for their legitimacy." This success of democracy is remarkable, not least from the perspective of the history of ideas, because democracy was used rather pejoratively for a long time, which only slowly changed from the 19th century onwards.
This BA course introduces the theory of democracy based on selected classical and modern writings. Ideally, a distinction can be made between rather normative-justifying and rather empirical-explanatory theories, whereby both perspectives will be considered in this seminar. After an examination of the origins of the theoretical engagement with democracy in the Greek polis, the course addresses central positions of modern and contemporary democratic thought.
Online Offerings
moodle
Theory of Democracy
Literature
Buchstein, Hubertus, Pohl, Kerstin; Trimcev, Rieke (Hrsg.) (2021): Demokratietheorien. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag.
Dahl, Robert 1989: Democracy and its Critics, Yale University Press: New Haven/London.
Schmidt, Manfred G. 2019: Demokratietheorien. Eine Einführung, Wiesbaden: VS (6. Auflage).
Expected Number of Participants
30
Official Course Description
After the end of the Cold War, both the democratic form of government and the democratic principle as a normative idea experienced an unprecedented spread, or to put it in the words of Robert Dahl: "In our time, even dictators seem to believe that a dash or two of the language of democracy is an indispensable ingredient for their legitimacy." This success of democracy is remarkable, not least from the perspective of the history of ideas, because democracy was used rather pejoratively for a long time, which only slowly changed from the 19th century onwards.
This BA course introduces the theory of democracy based on selected classical and modern writings. Ideally, a distinction can be made between rather normative-justifying and rather empirical-explanatory theories, whereby both perspectives will be considered in this seminar. After an examination of the origins of the theoretical engagement with democracy in the Greek polis, the course addresses central positions of modern and contemporary democratic thought.
Online Offerings
moodle
- Lehrende: Jörg Kemmerzell
- Lehrende: Stefan Meyer
Semester: ST 2023