Overview
In this course we ask which modes of thinking about democracy are most appropriate and effective for answering the following questions:
- Is true democracy an ancient ideal that is only realisable in small communities?
- Is it a modern ideal well-suited to mass societies characterized by diverse and educated citizenry, pluralism, and advanced technology?
- Is the pragmatic polity a stable practice and a satisfactory ideal for the whole world?
- Is it an unstable compound of capitalism, liberalism, and democracy that is mired in contradiction and likely to fail?
- Is democracy just an instrument for securing other valued goods, such as liberty, non-violence, prosperity, and certain kinds of legal equality?
- Does it possess sufficient intrinsic merit to be valued as an end in itself?
Outline
POLI 470: Democratic Theory and Practice is divided into 11 units.
- Unit 1: The Concept of Democracy: Universally Valued, Essentially Contested
- Unit 2: Classical Models: Ancient Democracy and Early Modern Republicanism
- Unit 3: The Second Coming of Democracy: Liberal and Radical Responses to Modernity
- Unit 4: Liberal Democracy under Modern Capitalism: Pluralist and Elitist Models
- Unit 5: Challenges to Liberal Democracy
- Unit 6: Deliberative Democracy
- Unit 7: Critical and Postmodern Theory
- Unit 8: Democracy and Citizenship in a Divided World
- Unit 9: Democracy and Citizenship in Diverse Communities: Canada and Its Indigenous Peoples
- Unit 10: Democracy and Globalisation
- Unit 11: Possible Futures
Objectives
When you have completed POLI 470: Democratic Theory and Practice, you should be able to
- identify the principal meanings of, and criteria for, democracy;
- distinguish democratic from non-democratic institutions and practices;
- distinguish democracy from related concepts, such as freedom, equality, majority rule, republicanism, constitutionalism, and citizenship;
- describe the main characteristics of multinational constitutional democracies;
- identify the leading models of democracy in terms of their central ideas and historical conditions;
- critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of democratic theories and practices;
- describe how changing social and political conditions have affected the evolution of democratic ideas and practices;
- describe how trends and developments in political theory and philosophy have affected theories of democracy and of democratic citizenship; and
- discuss the prospects for democracy and citizenship in the twenty-first century, particularly in relation to such factors as social, economic, and environmental conditions; power and domination; technological change; globalisation; ethnic diversity, and cultural change.
Evaluation
To receive credit for POLI 470, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a D (50 percent). You must complete four written assignments (two short essays, a research proposal, and a final research essay), and you must achieve a minimum grade of 50 per cent on Assignment 4. The following chart lists the study activities and the credit weight associated with each activity.
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1: Short Essay 1 | 20% |
| Assignment 2: Research Proposal | 10% |
| Assignment 3: Short Essay 2 | 20% |
| Assignment 4: Final Research Essay | 50% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Gutmann, Amy, and Dennis Thompson. 2004. Why Deliberative Democracy? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Held, David. 2006. Models of Democracy, third ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Mouffe, Chantal. 2009. The Democratic Paradox. London: Verso.
Tully, James. 2008. Public Philosophy in a New Key. Vol. 1: Democracy and Civic Freedom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Other Materials
All other course materials are online.