Course: The quality of democracy and the quality of governance in a multilevel perspective

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Course title The quality of democracy and the quality of governance in a multilevel perspective
Course code KPOL/N110
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study 2
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 7
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Maškarinec Pavel, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Introduction to the study, acquaintance with the literature and requirements for completing the course. 2. Democracy as a "root" concept for assessing the quality of democracy: procedural vs. substantive democracy. 3. The level of democracy and the conceptualization of its measurement (Freedom House, Polity IV Project, etc.). 4. Formulas of democracy: consensual and majority model of democracy (A. Lijphart) and its modifications (A. Vatter). 5. Patterns of democracy at the substate level of governance. 6. The quality of democracy: the dimension of the quality of democracy and the conceptualization of their measurement (L. Diamond - L. Morlino; D. Altman - A. Pérez-Li?án; D.H. Levine - J.E. Molina; A. Roberts; A. Gwiazda; M. Bühlmann et al. etc.). 7. Quality of democracy: macro-level (institutionalist) vs. individual (bottom-up) perspective; input and output legitimacy. 8. The quality of democracy in the countries of the third wave of democratization. 9. The quality of democracy and the conceptualization of its measurement at the sub-state level of governance. 10. Quality of democracy at the substate level of governance in the V4 countries. 11. Quality of governance and conceptualization of its measurement. 12. Quality of governance at the substate level of governance. 13. Final lecture.

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with one of the very current topics of political science research - research into the quality of democracy in a multilevel perspective (i.e., at the national, regional and local levels of government). With regard to the heterogeneity of the research field of democracy quality, considerable attention is paid to conceptual debates associated not only with the question of defining the concept of democracy and its individual dimensions, but also the definition of democracy, which can significantly affect the operationalization of democracy. Attention is also paid to related topics: a) measuring the level of democracy; b) measuring patterns of democracy; c) measuring the quality of governance.
The student is able to use professional terminology. The student distinguishes various theoretical and methodological approaches used in current research on the quality of democracy. The student knows various definitions of the dimensions of the quality of democracy. The student is familiar with and distinguishes differences in the issue of measuring the level of democracy, the quality of democracy and the quality of governance.
Prerequisites
None

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
To successfully complete the course, it is required: 1) Pre-Exam Credit: active participation in seminars (at least 75%), to submit a seminar paper; 2) Exam: a written exam in the form of a test examines the student's ability to analyze and interpret selected issues of the quality of democracy and the quality of governance based on reading and studying the literature.
Recommended literature
  • BERNAUER, J. ? VATTER, A. Power Diffusion and Democracy. Institutions, Deliberation and Outcomes. Cambridge, 2019. ISBN 978-1-108-48338-4.
  • LEVINE, D. H. ? MOLINA, J. E. The Quality of Democracy in Latin America. Boulder, 2011. ISBN 978-1-58826-786-3.
  • Lijphart, A. Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, 1999. ISBN 978-030007893.
  • MAŠKARINEC, P. Kvalita demokracie v Mongolsku. 2019.
  • MUNCK, G. L. What is democracy? A reconceptualization of the quality of democracy. Democratization 23(1): 1-26. 2016.
  • ROBERTS, A. The Quality of Democracy in Eastern Europe. Public Preferences and Policy Reforms. Cambridge, 2010. ISBN 978-1-107-41757-1.
  • ROTHSTEIN, B. The Quality of Government. Corruption, Social Trust, and Inequality in International Perspective. Chicago, 2011. ISBN 9780226729572.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester