週次

Week

課程主題

Topic

課程內容與指定閱讀

Content and Reading Assignment

教學活動與作業

Teaching Activities and Homework

學習投入時間

Student workload expectation

課堂講授

In-class Hours

課程前後

Outside-of-class Hours

1

Introduction

The weekly topic is assigned with two articles (journal articles or book chapters).

For the detailed syllabus, please see the course attachment.  

Discussion

Twice a semester, students must prepare a ten-minute oral presentation, based on one of the assigned articles of their choice.

3

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2

Theories of Democratization and Post-Communist Studies

• Christian Welzel, “Theories of Democratization,” in Christian W. Haerpfer, et al., eds, Democratization (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009),, ch. 6.


• Grzegorz Ekiert, “Three Generations of Research on Post-Communist Politics–A Sketch,” East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, Vol. 29, No. 2 (May 2015), pp. 323-337.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

3

The Authoritarian Resurgence

• Martin K. Dimitrov, “Understanding Communist Collapse and Resilience,” in Martin K. Dimitrov, ed., Why Communism Did Not Collapse: Understanding Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Asia and Europe (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013), ch. 1.


• Kenneth M Roberts et al., “Global Challenges to Democracy: Backsliding, Resiliency, and Democratic Theory,” in Valerie J. Bunce et al. eds., Global Challenges to Democracy: Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy, and Resilience (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2025), ch. 1.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

4

Measuring Democracy and Democratic Backsliding

• Patrick Bernhagen, “Measuring Democracy and Democratization,” in Haerpfer, et al., eds, Democratization, ch. 3.


• Andrew T. Little and Anne Meng, “Measuring Democratic Backsliding,” PS: Political Science and Politics 57 (April 2024), pp. 149-161.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

5

Constitutional Engineering and Democratization

• Henry E. Hale, “The Informal Politics of Formal Constitutions: Rethinking the Effects of ‘Presidentialism’ and ‘Parliamentarism’ in the Cases of Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine,” in Tom Ginsburg and Alberto Simpser, eds., Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014), ch. 10.


• Thomas Sedelius, Olga Mashtaler & Tapio Raunio, “Semi-Presidentialism and War: Executive Leadership Models in Ukraine during Zelenskyi’s Presidency,” East European Politics, Vol. 40, No. 4 (2024), pp. 658-683.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

6

Political Parties and Democratization

• Rico Isaacs, “The Role of Party Interest Articulation in the Personalist-Authoritarian Regimes of the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan,” Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 67, Nos. 4-5 (2020), pp. 375-387.


• Kiran Rose Auerbach, “How Do Political Parties Capture New Democracies? Hungary and North Macedonia in Comparison,” East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, Vol. 37, No. 2 (May 2023), pp. 538-562.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

7

Elections and Democratization

• Victoria Leukavets, Andrey Makarychev & Giorgi Beridze, “Electoral Campaigns in Times of Lockdown: Post-Soviet Experiences,” Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 75, No. 4 (May 2023), pp. 545-563.  


• Paul D’anieri, “Elections, Succession, and Legitimacy in Ukraine: Lessons from Six Presidential Elections,” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Dec. 2024), pp.6–27.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

8

Civil Society, Contentious Politics, and Democratization

• Mark R. Beissinger, “Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding,” in Valerie J. Bunce et al. eds., Global Challenges to Democracy: Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy, and Resilience, ch. 10.  


• Milada Anna Vachudova, Danijela Dolenec, and Adam Fagan, “Civic Mobilization against Democratic Backsliding in Post-Communist Europe,” East European Politics and Societies and Cultures. Vol. 38, No. 4 (Nov. 2024), pp. 1144–1165.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

9

Political Identity, Illiberalism and Democratization

• HÅVARD BÆKKEN, “Forging Frontline Russians Militarized Patriotism and Identity Policy in the Occupied Donbas,” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Vol.58, No. 1 (March 2025), pp. 28–52.


• Petra Guasti and Lenka Bustikova, “Varieties of Illiberal Backlash in Central Europe,” Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 70, No. 2 (2023), pp. 130-142.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

10

Social Media, New Technology and Democratization

• Alesia Rudnik, “Practices and Agencies in the Belarusian Protests of 2020: Perspectives of Protest Participants and Leaders,” Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 77, No. 4 (May 2025), pp. 537-560.


• Jelena Cupac et al., “Democratization in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to the Special Issue,” Democratization, Vol. 31, No. 5 (2024), pp. 899-921.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

11

Memory Politics and Democratization

• Michael Bernhard and Jan Kubik, eds., Twenty Years after Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014), ch. 1.


• Kristin M. Bakke, Kit Rickard, and John O’Loughlin, “Perceptions of the Past in the Post-Soviet Space,” Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 4 (2023), pp. 223-256.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

12

State Governance, Economic Development and Democratization 

• István Benczes & Joanna Orzechowska-Wacławska, “Governing the Economy under Populist Rule: The Cases of Hungary and Poland,” Problems of Post Communism, Vol. 71, No. 4 (2024), pp. 341-355.


• Rachel Beatty Riedl, “Neoliberalism and the Third Wave,” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 36, No. 2 (April 2025), pp. 130-143.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

13

Political Elite, Political Succession and Democratization 

• Karrie J. Koesel, “Guardians of the Status Quo: Stopping the Diffusion of Popular Challenges to Authoritarian Rule,” Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Spring 2018), pp. 251-284.


• Gaziz Abishev, Bakhytzhan Kurmanov & Zhaxylyk Sabitov, “Authoritarian Succession, Rules, and Conflicts: Tokayev’s Gambit and Kazakhstan’s Bloody January of 2022 (Qandy Qantar),” Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 40, No. 6 (2024), pp. 429-451.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

  14

Civil-Military Relations and Democratization

• Zoltan Barany, The Soldier and the Changing State: Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2012), ch. 1.


• Suzanne E. Scoggins, “Rethinking Authoritarian Resilience and the Coercive Apparatus,” Comparative Politics, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Jan. 2021), pp. 309-330.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

15

External Influence and Democratization

• Antonino Castaldo, “External Democracy Promotion in Time of Democratic Crisis: Linkage, Leverage, and Domestic Actors’ Diversionary Behaviours,” East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb. 2022), pp. 96-117.


• Alexander Libman and Anastassia V. Obydenkova, “Understanding Authoritarian Regionalism,” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct. 2018), pp. 151-165.

Discussion/Lecture/Presentation/Reading

3

6

16

 Final Paper

No reading assignments

Independent research on final paper; One-on-One meeting by appointment

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