(POLI 201S)
FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT
The syllabus mentions “Case Study Paper, details forthcoming (25%)”. Here are the “details”:
In General: Take one of our “Democracy and Democratization” class readings and apply it to one of our case studies, Brazil or Russia. Relevant readings are:
Huntington (1991/2009) re: the politics of authoritarian breakdowns and democratic transitions,
Lim (2010): Chapter 6 and all the arguments/illustrations around the three research traditions,
Guidry & Sawyer (2003): democratization and democratic quality improvements as “contentious pluralism,”
Morlino (2004): locating, operationalizing and understanding democratic quality
Bunce (1995 [forthcoming reading]): comparing authoritarian breakdowns and democratic transitions between “the South” and “the East”.
More Specifically:
1. Choose a particular theoretical proposition or argument, or a conceptual framework, from one or more of our class readings listed above. Fully explicate it.
2. Explain why you chose this theoretical proposition, argument, or conceptual framework over others from the readings.
3. Choose one of our real-world cases: Brazil or Russia.
4. Apply your theoretical proposition or argument, or conceptual framework accordingly.
5. Find three peer-reviewed academic journal articles (no magazines or newspapers or blogs or websites) that somehow apply the theoretical proposition or argument, or conceptual framework that you have chosen to your chosen case