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Fall 2025
States and Power in Politics: State-Building
States and Power in Politics: State-Building
(Gov 2170)
Mondays, 6-8 pm
No institution is more consequential for patterns of order, violence, and human development than the modern state. This joint Harvard-MIT PhD seminar will investigate the politics of state-building in comparative perspective. The course is intended primarily for Ph.D. students inpolitical science/government, particularly for those with research interests in comparative politics.
Spring 2026
Why Democracy?
Why Democracy?
(Gen Ed 1204)
Tuesdays/Thursdays, 12 pm-1pm
Syllabus
What is democracy? What gives rise to it and what leads it to die? This is a Harvard General Education course in which we explore the origins, successes, and failures of democratic systems around the world from the 18th century to today. Through case studies ranging from the U.S. Constitution and Weimar Germany to contemporary Hungary and India, students will gain a deeper understanding of how democracies are built, unravel—and what can be to done to defend democracy
Spring 2026
Democratic Backsliding in the United States and Beyond
Democratic Backsliding in the United States and Beyond
(Gov 2370)
Mondays 3-5 pm
Syllabus
This PhD seminar reviews major studies of democratic backsliding and authoritarian threats to responsive government, and considers issues about defining, empirically documenting, and explaining outcomes in such periods. Course segments will analyze and compare major periods of conflict over democratic backsliding – especially the rollback of post-Civil War Reconstruction in the United States and contemporary 2000s challenges to U.S. democracy. Compares U.S. episodes to selected cases abroad, including contemporary India, Turkey, and Hungary.
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