| Resum: |
In many ways, political science can trace its origins back to the attempts by thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle to come to terms with the concepts of democracy and citizenship as they emerged in the Ancient Greek poleis, particularly that of Athens. While modern liberal democracy functions in quite a different way from its ancient predecessor, the normative, theoretical and empirical preoccupations of the Ancients have continued to inform modern debates on democracy and citizenship, concerned as they are with questions such as regime change, political participation, citizen rights, and institutional arrangements. In addition, other questions, such as the increasing democratic demands of citizens, have become central to debates surrounding the functioning of liberal democratic systems. 1 The purpose of this module, then, is to present some of the main debates and approaches to understanding liberal democracy and citizenship as these have developed over time in the West, and to this end the module is divided into six parts. The first analyses the historical social, economic and institutional conditions that have allowed liberal democracy to develop and flourish in some places and not in others. The second part deals with the quality of democracy at the aggregate level. In the third, fourth, fifth and sixth parts, we explore some the challenges faced by contemporary democratic political systems such as corruption, economic performance, external migration, the rise of populism, increasing democratic discontent, and the effects of digital media on citizen engagement. At the end of the module, students are expected to be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of a wide range of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches to the study of themes related to the concepts democracy and citizenship. |
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