Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Lüneburg
In today's global political climate, better understanding authoritarianism is of renewed importance. After decades of decline, authoritarianism appears to be on the rise. Over one-third of all countries and 40 percent of the world's population leave under some form of authoritarian rule. This third wave of authoritarianism is characterized by regimes' ability to adapt and consolidate institutions in a way that no longer follows preconceived authoritarian stereotypes. The seminar focus on understanding how authoritarian politics works. During the semester we will study who the key actors are within authoritarian regimes, how they come to power, what strategies they use to survive, and how they fall. We will engage
with state of the art literature and empirically based analyses on authoritarian politics.