Course aims: This course focuses on how democracies erode - and how they rebuild.We will focus on how populist parties, authoritarian politicians, and aggrieved social forces can undermine liberal democracy, and why that matters. We examine historical authoritarian systems, and how modern autocrats differ, emphasizing that modern erosion of democracy if often gradual and wrapped in a populist flag. We will examine the economic, cultural, and political causes of the democratic breakdown, and then look at cases across several regional settings. In the United States, populism was both a force for changing politics - and for the undermining of democracy. Finally, we will see how illiberalism spreads, and how it can be stopped.
5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-SI
Course aims: This course focuses on how democracies erode - and how they rebuild.We will focus on how populist parties, authoritarian politicians, and aggrieved social forces can undermine liberal democracy, and why that matters. We examine historical authoritarian systems, and how modern autocrats differ, emphasizing that modern erosion of democracy if often gradual and wrapped in a populist flag. We will examine the economic, cultural, and political causes of the democratic breakdown, and then look at cases across several regional settings. In the United States, populism was both a force for changing politics - and for the undermining of democracy. Finally, we will see how illiberalism spreads, and how it can be stopped.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.