PSCI 20719 - Democracy & Us in Age of Trump

Course Credit: 1
Democracy and the American State in the Era of Trump The Economist magazine recently reclassified the United States as a flawed democracy. This course will examine that issue by first discussing the various meanings of democracy and then evaluating contemporary American political practices in that light. Among the issues to be considered are authoritarian leadership versus democratic leadership; the breakdown of political civility; the dangers of an imperial presidency; the weakening of formal and informal constraints on arbitrary government actions; and the corruption of democratic politics by both money and the manipulation of a free and fair voting process. Special attention will be paid to the presidency and, in particular, the presidency of Donald Trump. [HSS]