• Understand the distinctions and similarities between industrial democracies and post-communist and former authoritarian regimes.
• Evaluate the risks and opportunities associated with business initiatives in emerging economies, including differences in risk and reward profiles between developing and developed countries, and among developing countries.
• Assess the political, economic, cultural, and institutional legacies that define nations and the implications of those legacies for democratic development under different economic arrangements.
• Apply theoretical concepts to established and emerging democracies through tests, a paper project, and class discussion.
• Integrate conceptual foundations useful in understanding the relationship between economic development and democratic institutions in a wide variety of cultural, geographical, and socioeconomic scenarios
• Identify the unique challenges and opportunities associated with democratic development under different types of capitalist institutions in emerging economies, and to differentiate between developing nations, transition economies, and developed economies.
• Identify and classify the country-level factors, including economic, political, cultural, and institutional characteristics that affect democratic development in a given region or country.
• Analyze and discuss alternate democratic and economic strategies for emerging economies, and defend and support positions related to these strategies in a paper project.
• Identify the “prospects” for a post-communist or authoritarian country to develop into a strong democracy under competitive capitalism, and present a comprehensive discussion of the challenges a country with such a background is likely to face.
• Research and assess the democratic and economic prospects in emerging markets.

This is a course dealing specifically with the literature of democracy and economic development. The course goal is to determine the factors that contribute to make some countries strong democracies as well as thriving economies and, conversely, what other factors are responsible for hampering democracy and slowing down economic progress.

More specifically, the coursecontent will be organized according to the following topics:

1. Economic performance and the role of government institutions

2. The debate about democracy and development (modernization theory) in the 1960s

3. Keynesianism vis a vis Neoliberalism

4. The Collapse of Soviet Communism and its repercussions on Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa

5. Global Markets and their Problems: financial crises in Mexico (1995), East Asia (1997),

Russia and Brazil (1998), and Argentina 2002

6. Market Reforms and Its Discontents: Stiglitz critique of the Washington Consensus and

Neoliberalism

7.On the Role of Democracy in Building Strong Economies and Societies

8. Social Capital and Institutional Success or does the quality of citizens shape strong democracies and capitalist economies?

9. Has liberalism, as Francis Fukuyama claims, prevailed over any rival type of socioeconomic organization?

10. The Quality of Democracy: What does it take to have an effective democratic system?

11. Huntington and the Clash of Civilization: Now that the cold war is over, is the next conflict rooted on religion and culture? Will democracy and capitalism survive such a

challange? Or is this view a western over-reaction to emerging challenges from previously neglected parts of the world?

The first part of the course deals with broad theoretical issues. The second one examines how different theoretical explanations fit the reality of both developed and developing nations. Thestructure of the course will follow a lecture format over a 12-week period. It will survey, in a sequential fashion, a series of interrelated topics:

The course will be taught in English. Requirements for the course are reading all the assignments in a timely manner and active participation in class discussions. Beginning with the second week, students will write a précis of a reading which will be due at the beginning of class. The course will be completed by a take-home exam paper.Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the empirical material as well as their ability to employ concepts and theories appropriately.

Copies of assigned articles and chapters from books will be available on-line at the course website. There also is a list of suggested readings for those who want to pursue an argument.

Friedman Milton (1962). Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1 and 2.

North, Douglass (1989). "Institutions and Economic Growth: A Historical Introduction," WorldDevelopment, VOl. 17, No. 9, pp. 1319-1332.

Almond Gabriel A. (1991): “Capitalism and Democracy” PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 24, No. 3, (Sep., 1991), pp. 467-474

Kesselman, Mark, ed. (2008). Readings in Comparative Politics: Political Challenges & Changing Agendas. 2^nd ed. New York: Wadsworth.

Samuel Huntington(1968), Political Order in Changing Societies. Yale University Press.

Commanding heights episode 1 Public Broadcasting Corporation DVD no. 1,2, and 3

Putnam Robert (1993):Making Democracy Work, (Princeton: Princeton University Pres). Chapters 1, 5, and 6.

Rodan, Gary (2004). Neoliberalism and transparency: political versus economic liberalism. AsiaResearch Centre,Murdoch University.

Larry Diamond and Loeonardo Morlino (2004), "An Overview"The Journal of Democracy, 2(2) Volume 15, Number 4.

Schmitter, Philippe (2004) "The Ambiguous Virtues of Accountability" Journal of Democracy, vol. 15, no. 4

Dalton (2007) “Understanding Democracy Data from Unlikely Places”Journal of Democracy, Volume 18, no. 4

FukuyamaFrancis (April 2006) “Identity, Immigration, and Liberal Democracy” Journal of Democracy Volume 17, no. 2.

Nathan Brown (2008) “Islamists A Boone or a Bane for Democracy”Journal of Democracy, Volume 19, no. 3