Skip to main contentSkip to Xpert Chatbot

FedericaX: Democracy and Autocracy: Theories and Empirical Findings

Learn which forms of government can best guarantee a free, fair, and just life by exploringhow democracy and autocracy emerge, evolve, andimpact our lives.

6 weeks
4–6 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts Nov 22
Ends Dec 31

About this course

Skip About this course

This course is part of the IPSAMOOC project, a joint venture Federica Weblearning - IPSA, the International Political Science Association

Democracy and Autocracy are core concepts of Political Science but they are also contested concepts. It is important, therefore, to understand the basic theories underpinning these two types of regime.

The last few decades have seen regime change become one of the main topics in democracy studies. The aim of this course is to analyze why and how democratic regimes emerge from autocratic regimes,as well as why and how democratic regression or democratic breakdown takes place.

As evidenced by events of the last few decades, we also need to subdivide these root concepts into subtypes that reflect deficient forms of democracy or moderate forms of autocracy.

From 1990 onwards, in particular, we can see that democratization and autocratization have taken diverse pathways, and we have witnessed progress and regression in the worldwide development of democracy; often with a considerable variety of democratic or autocratic subtypes. This course explores these developments.

At a glance

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • The theories underpinning the key concepts of Democracy and Autocracy
  • New subtypes of democracy and autocracy
  • How and why democracies emerge, regress or break down

This course is part of Introduction to Political Science IPSAMOOC XSeries Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
5 high-quality courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
8 months
4 - 6 hours per week

Interested in this course for your business or team?

Train your employees in the most in-demand topics, with edX For Business.