300176 How democracies are defended: Discourses, institutions, movements (LEH) (SoSe 2025)

It is now widely recognized that we are currently experiencing a “crisis of democracy” or a “democratic recession” (Diamond 2024). But what exactly does it mean to talk about a crisis of democracy? What is this crisis, what are its causes and what can be done about it?

The course aims to give students the opportunity to engage with these questions and develop their own research designs in this area. Our attention will focus in particular on the possibilities of defending democracy in times of democratic “backsliding”, i.e. the slow erosion of democratic institutions brought about or exploited by emerging autocratic regimes. We ask: What are the essential contents of the autocratic playbook that aims to dismantle democratic institutions? Knowing this playbook, what might the democratic counter-playbook look like? What should the defenders of democracy pay attention to in order to prevent backsliding from occurring or accelerating? What current and historical cases of crisis and defense of democracy might be of interest here, how exactly did and do the defenders of democracy proceed, and what can be learned from their actions and experiences?

The syllabus for the course will be developed collaboratively and in response to current developments (such as in the United States and Germany). I will suggest some readings at the beginning to get the discussion going and find comparable cases for further discussion. We then agree together on empirical cases and texts that we find particularly interesting and organize the sessions accordingly.

The course is a “große Lehrforschung”: a 4-hour teaching format that extends over two semesters and is designed to allow students to engage particularly intensively with a topic over a longer period of time. The goal is for you to develop your own research designs, which will culminate in a research paper at the end of the two semesters (and may also be the basis for a master's thesis). In individual cases, it might also be possible to complete the research work in just one semester (this can be discussed at the beginning of the course if required).

Bibliography

Diamond, Larry (2024): How to end the democratic recession: the fight against autocracy needs new playbook. Foreign Affairs, 103(6), 126-140.