Week 12: Democratization

Hi all,

We’ve finally made it to the last week of my oppressive reign. (And I made it without being overthrown!).

This week, we will finish discussing different ways in which “contentious politics” gets diffused in a society, and finish with some consideration of the process of democratization. When do revolutions lead to democratization? What factors might help authoritarian countries to democratize?

We will also do some course evaluations on Friday, and I will reveal whatever percentage of the final exam questions you manage to retain given your currently low level of class points (or manage to claw back through revolutionary action).

Regime Classification Project: Final Steps

I have put the last of the planned analysis posts of your regime classification data here on the blog and on Blackboard. This is the data you will be using for the “results” section of your final essay.

I know this is the part of the RCE where those of you who are a bit scared of numbers might panic - please don’t! I’m happy to meet with you to explain anything that might be unclear. You should also make use of your fellow POLS209 teammates - you can’t beat the dictator without cooperation, and I am led to believe there are many “illegal” Facebook groups out there where you can solicit help.

Grades

Thanks to those of you who submitted an EBP last week. Grades are now available for EBPs (out of 10), along with rubric scores and comments by one of the tutors.

Everyone who submitted something to the blog (including an EBP) should also get a regular blog grade for last week (out of 2). Almost anything course-related should earn 1 point; “exceptional” contributions may earn 2 points. You can accumulate up to 10 points this way. If you contributed something last week but did not receive a regular contribution grade, please let me know; it’s possible that I may have missed you.

Important deadlines!

Your final essay is due on Monday June 8, via Blackboard only. Make sure you use the template available in the lecture notes folder to write it. You will also need to make use of the blog posts I have written describing the data you gathered and its correlations with corruption data.

People with IDs ending in 0 or 9 have EBPs (the last EBPs of the term!) due this week on democratization and its problems (2 and 5 June). Check your specific instructions here.