During the last 20 years nearly every country in Europe has become a parliamentary democracy. This process has revitalised the debate about the conditions for democratisation and the persistence of a democratic political system, also in the well-established democratic systems of Western Europe. In the seminar we will approach this topic in two ways: by discussing the issue of defining and measuring processes of democratisation on a theoretical level and by studying empirical cases. A special focus will be placed on the development in Germany.
Lijphart, Arend, 1999: Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performances in Thirty-Six Countries, New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Glaeßner, Gert-Joachim, 2006: Politik in Deutschland, 2. Auflage, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag
The seminar is compulsory for students of the German Turkish Masters Program and open for further students ISW- or other students.
