B8120 - DEMOCRACY AND POPULISMS

Learning outcomes

The course offers an introduction to the concepts and analytical instruments of political sociology which enable us to study democracy. Key concepts in the analysis include legitimacy, political culture, the public sphere, and the interaction between politics and society. Particular attention will be paid to the phenomenon of populism e its various forms of manifestation, discussed in a context of transformation of modern democracy. The students will be engaged in the development of the following skills: - knowledge of a sociological approach to democracy (classical theory/contemporary theory); - the understanding of the role of conflict in democratic society; - the understanding of the role of civil society in democracy; - analytical capacities to comprehend the transformation of modern democracy; - the in-depth understanding of diverse manifestations of populism; - the understanding of challenges and opportunities that derive from the populist phenomenon.

Course contents

Core skills and knowledge

The course provides students with an introduction to the concepts and analytical tools of political sociology for studying democracy, including legitimacy, political culture, the public sphere, and the interaction between politics and society. Particular attention is given to the phenomenon of populism and its various forms of manifestation in a context of transformation of modern democracy.

Students are stimulated to develop the following skills: - knowledge of the sociological approach to democracy (classical theory/contemporary theory); - understanding the role of conflict in democratic society; - understanding the role of civil society in democracy; - analytical skills to understand the transformation of modern democracy; - in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of populism; - comparative knowledge of different manifestations of populism; - understanding of the threats and opportunities that derive from the phenomenon of populism.

 

Contents

Modern democracy faces a number of major challenges, and is often seen as in a deep crisis. Sociological analysis is fundamental to understand the current challenges, because it highlights the complex link between politics and society, and underlines the historical, conflictual, fragile, and maybe even cyclical character of modern democracy.

The course discusses the various theories and concepts related to a sociological understanding of democracy, followed by a discussion of the most important challenges of our time, including populism, post-national integration, processes of depoliticization and juridification, and the challenges of globalized capitalism.

 

Educational objectives

The objectives of the course are the stimulation of critical knowledge and in-depth understanding of:

• democracy as an idea and as an institutional constellation;
• the role of political culture in democracy;
• the link between formal politics and society; the fundamental role of civil society in democracy;
• the historical change of democracy;
• the intrinsic contestability of democracy;

• the causes of stability and instability of democracy;
• populism as the eternal possibility of democratic regimes;
• theoretical and conceptual tools for the analysis of democracy and democratic politics;
• theoretical and conceptual tools for the analysis of populism;
• the analysis of populism as a historical and variable phenomenon;

 

Office hours

See the website of Paulus Albertus Blokker