GOVT 3284

Populism, Democracy & Authoritarianism

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2017-2018.

Populist leaders, movements, and parties who claim to represent "the people" (however defined) and challenge political establishments have shaken up the traditional political order in many countries around the world in recent times.  The populist label is loosely applied to a wide range of political phenomena, however, on both the left- and right-wings of the political establishment, including such iconic figures as Juan Perón and Hugo Chávez in Latin America, Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orban, and the Podemos movement in contemporary Europe, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines—not to mention Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the United States.  Many followers of such leaders see populism as providing a corrective to flawed or failed representative institutions under democracy; critics of populism, on the other hand, believe it has intrinsic authoritarian tendencies, and thus see populism as a serious threat to democratic rule.

When Offered Fall.

Distribution Category (SBA-AS)
Course Subfield (CP)

View Enrollment Information