This courses uses the comparative method, in conjunction with political science theory, to explore and explain the wide variation in political institutions around the world. The course devotes significant attention to understanding the most basic institutional characteristic of a state: its regime type. The first portion of the course wrestles with key definitions: what are the defining characteristics of democracies? What are the defining characteristics of dictatorships and other forms of authoritarian rule? How do we understand regimes that do not fall neatly into either category? The second portion of the course explores the causes of regime transitions: when, where, how, and why does democracy emerge? When is democracy likely to collapse? When do dictatorships fail, and what type of regime results? Finally, the course explores the wide array of outcomes (or "dependent variables") that are influenced by a country's political institutions: economic development, inequality, intrastate conflict, and others.
