Democracies, Autocracies, and In-Betweens: Comparing State-Society-Relations in East Asia

MA Course / MEAS Core Lecture

As a region featuring democratic as well as autocratic regimes, East Asia provides an ideal testfield for comparative politics and ample evidence of the variable patterns of state-society relations. The aim of this course is to familiarize students with normative and empirical distinctions between democracy and autocracy as well as the strengths and weaknesses of conventional indices to measure democracy. Based on this conceptual knowledge, we will then compare empirical cases of state-society relations across regime-types in East Asia.

The seminar will be held in a blended-learning format combining digital components and face-to-face instruction.