Political Mobilization and Democratic Breakthroughs

Mass political mobilization occurs in both democracies and autocracies. Sometimes political protests, demonstrations, and acts of nonviolence civic resistance undermine autocracies, produce democratic breakthroughs, or generate democratic reforms. Other times, they do not. This course explores why, first examining the original causes of mobilization, and then understanding why some movements succeed and others fail. The first sessions of the course will review theories of revolution, social movements, and democratization. The remainder of the course will do deep dives into case studies, sometime with guest lecturers and participants from these historical moments. Cases to be discussed will include Chile, South Africa, Eastern Europe and the USSR (1989-1991), Russia (2011), Serbia and other color revolutions (2000, 2003, 2004), Tunisia, Egypt, and the Arab Spring (2011), China and Hong Kong (1989, 2016), and recent mobilizations (Belarus in 2020, Burma and the U.S. in 2021). The deadline to apply for this course is December 3rd.