GV329      Half Unit
Making Democracy Work

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Pre-requisites:

Students must have completed GV101 before taking this course.

Additional requisites:

Comfort with basic statistics as covered by Research Design in Political Science (GV249) or an equivalent course in research design or introductory statistics (such as ST102, ST107, ST108, GY140, SA201) is recommended but not required.

The extent to which electoral competition motivates elected officials to respond to the needs of citizens determines the quality of a democratic political system. This course examines the theoretical and practical challenges to how elections promote democratic responsiveness and accountability. The course will cover contemporary political science research on a series of topics. How do elections incentivize political responsiveness? How do politicians campaign and distribute state resources to win elections? Why do some voters support corrupt, underperforming politicians while others choose effective leaders? Why are some elections rigged while others are free and fair? Why do some elections spark violence while others are peaceful? Which interventions can make democratic institutions work? Readings will draw on empirical cases from many world regions, including Africa, Latin America, the post-Soviet countries, South Asia, and the historical United States. Students are expected to be active participants in this course and will participate in several class debates and writing exercises.

20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Proposal (1000 words) in Winter Term Week 7

A short proposal (800-1,000 words) for the final project, due in Week 7.

Students will write a formative essay that will help them prepare an outline for their final essay. The short essay will comprise a research question, an overview of the argument, a draft structure and an indicative reading list. Feedback will be provided via email and/or individual sessions with students.

1. Przeworski, Manin and Stokes (eds), Democracy, Accountability and Representation, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
2. Diamond and Morlino (eds), Assessing the Quality of Democracy, A Journal of Democracy Book; Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
3. Ferejohn J. 1986. “Incumbent Performance and Electoral Control.” Public Choice 50:5-26.
4. Besley, T. 2005. “Political Selection.” Journal of Economic perspectives 19(3): 43-60.
5. Achen and Bartels. 2016. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton Studies in Political Behavior. Princeton University Press.
6. Simpser. 2013. Why Governments and Parties Manipulate Elections: Theory, Practice, and Implications. Cambridge University Press.
7. Stokes et al. 2013. Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics, Cambridge University Press.
8. Ferraz and Finan. 2008. “Exposing Corrupt Politicians: The Effects of Brazils Publicly Released Audits on Electoral Outcomes,” Quarterly Journal of Economics.
9. Grossman and Michelitch. 2018. “Information Dissemination, Competitive Pressure, and Politician Performance between Elections: A Field Experiment in Uganda.” American Political Science Review.
10. George Kwaku Ofosu. 2019. Do Fairer Elections Increase the Responsiveness of Politicians? American Political Science Review.

Continuous assessment (20%)

Essay (80%, 3000 words) in Spring Term Week 2

For the in-class assessment: Students will be asked to serve as a seminar discussant twice during the term. On these weeks the discussant will present their summaries and thoughts of essential reading in class presentations with other student discussants for the week.

In the last class meeting, each student will give a 5-minute overview of his/her plans for the final course essay.
 

GENERAL COURSE STUDENTS ONLY:

The Class Summary Grade for General Course students will be based on 50% formative coursework and 50% class participation (including 25% for attendance and 25% for class presentation).