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Instructors: Thomas Roselius
Event type:
Lecture
Displayed in timetable as:
Populism, Authoritar
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
2,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
5 | 20
Registration group: englische FS-Veranstaltungen
Comments/contents:
Welcome! This course endeavors to offer an overview and in-depth understanding of the legal and political mechanisms
and dimensions of anti-democratic trends in contemporary European and American politics.
How do populism and authoritarianism differ and why do political scientists classify certain democracies as “backsliding?”
This course aims to form a comprehensive legal analysis in pursuit of answering such questions over the course of our 14 week
period of the seminar course.
I warmly invite all participants to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and engage in respectful dialogue with
fellow seminar participants.
Learning objectives:
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are to obtain legal, historical, and political understandings of the populism phenomenon,
specifically how the sociocultural context pertains to the modes and methods populists use in reshaping
and remaking legal structures.
We will compare the legal and political implications of populist sentiments in the European Union and the United States,
discussing the “pull” factors among voting populations that leads to increased support for populist messages.
Additionally, we will examine in no uncertain terms the role that jurisprudence plays in fueling democratic backsliding.
Didactic concept:
The course is designed to give an overview of the different structures and legal tactics that populist and authoritarian
leaders use to build influence and power. This course will be based on content modules, one per week which will consist
of a preparation reading and concurring in-person lecture.
The lecture will follow the scheduled table below and aims to offer an overview of different subtopics relating
to authoritarianism and populism such as function of the judiciary in authoritarian regimes as well as concepts
such as “The Authoritarian Personality” in political science.
We will also discuss the term democratic deficit and what that means in terms of public trust in legal institutions
in the United States and European Union.
Additional examination information:
Assessment Overview:
The assessment of this course will have primarily three components.
The first consists of oral participation in the seminar as well as offering diligent responses to the questions
posed by the lecturer as well as by fellow seminar participants.
The second component of the assessment will focus on the Written Exam which will be a cumulative examination
consisting of a posed research question.
The final piece of the evaluation will be based upon a 10 minute presentation towards the end of the course that will allow
participants to focus more in-depth on course topics most interesting to them.
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