History of Democracy

Presentation

This curricular unit aims to critically analyze the main historical milestones of the development of democratic ideals, by outlining both historical processes as well as the most relevant texts of the history of political philosophy, in the framework of their relationship with the birth of Democracy. On the other hand, this curricular unit intends to explore the impact of contemporary challenges on the concept of democracy, highlighting, for this purpose, phenomena such as populism, the global village, the Arab Spring, as well as the holism and non-western vision that characterize everyday life of several states (which in some cases were former millenary civilizations).

Programme

Political Science and Election Studies

Level of Qualification|Semesters|ECTS

| Semestral | 5

Year | Type of course unit | Language

1 |Mandatory |Português

Code

ULP618-15941

Recommended complementary curricular units

N/A

Professional Internship

Não

Syllabus

PART I: THE BIRTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF WESTERN DEMOCRACY

1.1. THE DAWN OF DEMOCRACY: ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME

1.2. CLASSICS OF DEMOCRACY 

PART II: DEMOCRACY: COPING WITH CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES

2.1. SAMUEL HUNTINGTON'S CONTRIBUTION: THE THIRD WAVE

2.2. THE WESTERN VISION VERSUS THE NON-WESTERN VISION OF DEMOCRACY         

2.2.1. DEMOCRACY AND HOLISTIC SOCIETIES         

2.2.2. DEMOCRACY AND ARAB SPRING

2.3. DEMOCRACY, POPULISM AND THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

Objectives

The skills to be developed are those of textual and critical analysis; recognition of textual and argumentative patterns; knowledge of historical contexts and ideas; comparison of different contexts; synthetic and analytical evaluation of ideas; construction of historical and philosophical explanations.

Teaching methodologies and assessment

Classes are based on the exposition and debate of the contents included in syllabus.
In order to ensure an effective assimilation of the contents and to reinforce the pedagogical innovation practices, the lecturer seeks to encourage the active participation of students. In this sense, both the analysis and discussion of individual works on the topics taught in class, will be carried out.

Continuous evaluation includes: Written test (50%), a written essay/report (25%) + individual presentation (25%).

References

Filho, Arlindo. 2016. "Teoria contemporânea da democracia: as visões de Schumpeter e Dahl". Em Tese. 13(2): 127-141. https://doi.org/10.5007/1806-5023.2016v13n2p127

Huntington, Samuel. 1997. O choque das civilizações e a recomposição da nova ordem mundial. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva.

Medeiros, Nayara. 2015. 'Democracia clássica e moderna: discussões sobre o conceito na Teoria Democrática'. Revista Eletrônica de Ciência Política, 6(2): 258-279. doi: 10.5380/recp.v6i2.42359

Sakamoto, Yoshizaku. 1991. "O contexto global da democratização". Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política, (23): 131-144. https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-64451991000100009

Sousa, Fernando de. 2006. "A democracia, face política da globalização?". Revista Brasileira de Política , 49 (1): 5-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-73292006000100001.

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