Politics

Electoral Autocracy and its Critics

Module code: L2110
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

The most common form of autocracy today is electoral autocracy, in which multiparty elections and autocratic practice combines. In this module, you will study the ideologies articulated in justification and critique of such regimes worldwide today. You will interpret politicians’ speeches and performances, read and evaluate analyses of them. You will analyse how these justifications of electoral autocracy are articulated in dialogue with past and present political theory. You will analyse how justifications of electoral autocracy disfigure strands of democratic theory, and how critiques of electoral autocracy draw on and contribute to democratic thought.

Module learning outcomes

• Effectively formulate, organise and communicate arguments
• Describe the arguments through which electoral autocracy is justified
• Analyse how meanings are fixed in the formulation of justifications of electoral autocracy
• Critically evaluate theories of the ideologies through which justifications of electoral autocracy are analysed
• Analyse the underlying patterns in the ideologies through which electoral autocracy and democratic rule are justified and critiqued