POL 210: Theory of Democracy -- Spring 2025

Things to worry about now

On Monday, April 7, we'll discuss institutions. Please start reading the first two chapters of the Levitsky and Ziblatt, book; we will start discussing them on Wednesday, April 9.
Remember that we do not have class in-person on April 14 and 16. I will post videos connected to short extra credit assignments for you to do on your own time that week.
The second paper assignment was due April 1.
I have regular and extra office hours coming up this week:
- Thursday, April 3, by video call, any time: by appointment
- Friday, April 4, in person, Rowley G142: 11:30 am to 1 pm
- Monday, April 7, in person, Ballston 3010: : 10 am to 11 am and 1:45 pm to 3 pm
- Tuesday, April 8, in person, Rowley G142: 11:30 am to 4:30 pm

Summary

Mondays and Wednesdays 11:00 am to 12:15 pm
Ballston 3010

Professor Chad Rector
crector@marymount.edu

For individual meetings with me it is usually best to email in advance. I have regular drop-in hours in the classroom for the hour before class on Mondays, and for most of the day on Tuesdays in my office on main campus (Rowley G124), but is it always best to email in advance if possible to confirm.

Syllabus Links to an external site.

A critical examination of modern theories of democracy, including considerations of citizenship, rights, representation, identity, ideology, and institutional change.

Course Assignments and Grades

Grades are based on:

Class participation. 20%. Starting week 2, each week is organized around a set of discussion questions - I will post these at the top of this page and will highlight them in class the week before. Students should come to class prepared to discuss their understanding of the assigned readings and their answers to the questions. I understand that some students have an easier time participating through more structured presentations while others are better engaging in free-flowing discussions, so students will have several different ways to meet this requirement and will receive regular feedback on their participation.
Three short papers. 15% each. (45% total.) Due February 21, April 1, and May 9. Each paper is about 4-6 pages, with an assignment that asks students to critically analyze two or more democratic concepts in the context of a current events issue.
Midterm exam. 15%. Three short essays, written in an in-person, in-class exam.
Final exam. 20%. Four short essays, written during an in-person exam.

Students who miss an exam will have a chance to take a makeup. Students who turn in papers or give presentations containing plagiarism (including ones that are partly written by an LLM, such as GPT, unless I specifically assign an LLM) will fail the course and be formally charged through the University’s Academic Integrity process.

This seminar course requires students to be attentive to class discussion. Please take notes on paper. Do not have a laptop or tablet out during class. If you have an urgent need to check your phone for an important message, please keep your phone on the table (rather than "hiding" on your lap) so you can check it quickly and then set it back down.

Please try to complete assignments on time. Under ordinary circumstances, papers will be marked down a half point for each day late until half the points remain; after that, the paper may be turned in for up to half credit any time before the final exam.

Readings

Three books are required for the course.

Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. Tyranny of the minority: Why American democracy reached the breaking point. Crown Press, 2023.
Noel, Hans. Political ideologies and political parties in America. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Stasavage, David. The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today. Princeton University Press, 2020.

Course Schedule

The coursework during the semester is divided into several segments. Assigned readings are listed under the class time you should have them read by.

Introduction - Two metaphors for thinking about what democracy is

Monday, January 13
Introduction, and the metaphor of the gold that is sometimes (but not always) kept in reserve

Wednesday, January 15
The metaphor of the farmers and the bandits
Readings: Olson, Mancur. "Dictatorship, democracy, and development." Download Olson, Mancur. "Dictatorship, democracy, and development." American political science review 87.3 (1993): 567-576. Download American political science review 87.3 (1993): 567-576.

Part 1: Democracy came from lots of places

Wednesday, January 22
The origins of democracy
Reading: Stasavage, Preface and Chapter 1

Monday, January 27
The Wyandot and Haudenosaunee confederations
Reading: “The Influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the 13 Colonies: The Birth of Democracy in the Western World” Download “The Influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the 13 Colonies: The Birth of Democracy in the Western World” and Stasavage, Chapter 2

Wednesday, January 29
Bureaucracy, production, and the early modern state; also, the hydraulic civilization
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 3

Monday, February 3
Technology and literacy
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 4

Wednesday, February 5
Europe
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 5

Monday, February 10
China
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 6

Wednesday, February 12
Islam
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 7

Monday, February 17
European weak state democracies and economic development
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 8

Wednesday, February 19
England
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 9
Also: Fall registration (slide Links to an external site.)

Monday, February 24
The United States
Reading: Stasavage, Chapter 10

Wednesday, February 26
The modern waves of democratization
Reading: Stasavage, Chapters 11 and 12

Monday, March 3
Civilizations and review

Wednesday, March 5
Midterm Exam

Part 2: Ideology and representation

Monday, March 17
Representation
Reading: Edmund Burke, 1774, Speech to the Electors of Bristol Links to an external site..

Wednesday, March 19
Varieties of representation
Reading: Cayton, Adam, and Ryan Dawkins. "Incongruent Voting or Symbolic Representation? Asymmetrical Representation in Congress, 2008–2014." Download Cayton, Adam, and Ryan Dawkins. "Incongruent Voting or Symbolic Representation? Asymmetrical Representation in Congress, 2008–2014." Perspectives on Politics 20.3 (2022): 916-930. Download Perspectives on Politics 20.3 (2022): 916-930.

Monday, March 24
The coalition merchants
Reading: Noel, Chapters 1-3

Tuesday, March 25, 11 am, Reinsch Hall, Lunch provided
Against Exclusion: Disrupting Anti-Chinese Violence in the 19th Century

Wednesday, March 26
Do ideas matter?
Reading: Noel, Chapters 4-5

Monday, March 31
So, ideology is all made up and nothing matters?
Reading: Noel, Chapters 6-8

Part 3: Democracy and institutions

Wednesday, April 2
Individual and collective preferences
Reading: Voting Systems and the Condorcet Paradox Links to an external site. and Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem Links to an external site. Infinite Series videos.

Monday, April 7
Institutions for flexibility and decisiveness

Wednesday, April 9
Is America in trouble?
Reading: Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapters 1 and 2

Monday, April 14 - class meets online (no in-person class)
Jim Crow
Reading: Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapter 3

Wednesday, April 16 - class meets online (no in-person class)
Malapportionment

Tuesday, April 22 (yes we are meeting on Tuesday this week, per university schedule)
Civic virtue

Wednesday, April 23
Conflict over basic rules
Reading: Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapters 4-6

Monday, April 28
Comparative democratic backsliding and institutional resilience
Reading: Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapter 7

Wednesday, April 30
What’s next?
Reading: Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapter 8

Exam day
Final exam

Slides: the hydraulic civilization Links to an external site., l'etat, c'est moi Links to an external site., left and right Links to an external site., conservatives Links to an external site., liberals Links to an external site., wisconsin Links to an external site.