Students are expected to carry out their reading assignments in preparation for the next class and to actively participate in class discussions.
Leistungsnachweis
Students will hand in three 1-page essays throughout the seminar, hold a presentation on a class topic, and turn in a term paper at the end of the course. The presentation will be held in English, the essays and the term paper may be written in English or in German.
Online/Digitale Veranstaltung
Veranstaltung wird in Präsenz abgehalten.
Hauptunterrichtssprache
englisch
Literaturhinweise
To prepare for our first class, please read the following texts:
- Zakaria, F (1997) The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, in: Foreign Affairs, 76 (6) (Nov-Dec 1997), pp. 22-43.
- Cooley & Nexon (2022) The Real Crisis of Global Order. Illiberalism on the Rise, in: Foreign Affairs, 101 (1) (Jan-Feb 2022), pp. 103-118.
Both articles are accessible through the EZB in Opac (via Hein Online) if you are logged in with eduroam or using the university's VPN. They will provide you with contextualising information from which our course will depart.
Not least since the election of Donald Trump to the White House in November 2016, it has become clear that the model of Western liberal democracy, once thought to be on course for undisputed global success following the fall of the USSR, is now rather in a state of crisis. One of the main threats to liberal democracies new and old is coming from right-wing populist parties such as the AfD in Germany, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National in France, or Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary: they are all reclaiming power for a homogenous, virtuous, sovereign ‘people’ allegedly wronged by corrupt elites, accused of favouring themselves and other minorities over the interests of the ‘true people’.
After a general introduction to populism theory, we will look at the features of right-wing populism as opposed to left-wing populism on the one hand and right-wing extremism and fascism on the other hand. We will then use this theoretical framework to analyse a selection of real-world right-wing populist actors in the US and across (Western as well as Eastern) Europe, focusing on their commonalities and differences from a comparative perspective and thereby gaining an understanding of the profound and controversial significance of right-wing populism for contemporary liberal democracies.
Anmelderegeln
Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "Anmeldung gesperrt (global)".
