PSC 420 - Seminar in Regimes & Regime Changes

Course unit(s): 1
Prerequisite(s): PSC 103 Introduction to Comparative Politics & International Relations or IST 101 Introduction to International Studies . Two additional courses in the Comparative and/or International subfields are strongly recommended.
The course is designed to introduce students to modern democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian political systems (regimes). We will study how power is organized and exercised in various political systems of the world. Students will learn about institutions and processes that shape domestic politics in various regimes and that explain why and how political regimes change. The course will analyze the causes of breakdown as well as consolidation of democratic and non-democratic regimes. Iraq will be used as a case study.