A Global Program That Takes a Global View

The M.A.’s curriculum addresses the diverse challenges and obstacles to promoting sustained democratization and achieving effective governance. The degree requires 42 credit hours, typically completed over the course of two years. Core courses on democracy promotion, political reform, and institutional and policy development, taught by leading scholars in the field, provide a crucial analytical foundation, while courses offered by the Department of Government and other Georgetown departments permit students to design a program that meets their specific interests. In keeping with our core objective of merging theory and practice, we invite policymakers working in a variety of official and non-governmental organizations to teach a number of our classes.

The program provides training organized around four core focus fields:

• History and Theories of Democracy and Democratization
• Democracy, Governance, and Institutions
• Democracy and Civil Society
• Democracy, Governance, and Development Policy

Each core field encompasses issues that are central to an understanding of current debates in the study of democracy and governance, with a balance of applied and theoretical training. In addition, we encourage students to take courses that allow them to focus on the unique political trajectory of a particular world region.

I. History and Theories of Democracy and Democratization

Students receive the conceptual and historical foundations necessary to comprehend the varied forms and practices that constitute contemporary democracy, as well as an understanding of democratic political institutions and the policies that maintain them through this focus field. It includes courses that address:

• The origins and trajectories of democracy
• Democracy in Western political thought
• Ideologies and norms, including religion, in the study of democracy
• The quality of democracy

II. Democracy, Governance, and Institutions

Policymakers and scholars agree that concerns over responsible governance and effective representation are at the forefront of current debate about the future prospects for democratic life. They are also central for understanding conditions that impede accountable government and how processes such as globalization are transforming representation and institutional capacity. Courses in this focus field will cover concepts and approaches to:

• Corruption and rule of law
• Institutions of governance and representation
• Globalization and democracy
• Political economy of development and economic reform

III. Democracy and Civil Society

Coursework in this area covers the full range of issues associated with contemporary experiences of civil society and social movements on democratization and political reform, as well as the role of civil society in consolidated democracies, and the links between globalization and transnational civil society. Courses in this area include:

• Civil society in transitioning countries and emerging democracies
• Social movements and political change
• The relationship between democracy and civil society
• Globalization and trans-national civil society

IV. Democracy, Governance, and Development Policy

The complex and still contested relationship between development, governance, and democracy is our fourth focus field. Courses in this area address foundation questions about democracy and economic development: Are development and democracy linked intrinsically? Does democracy promote economic development or vice-versa? Is good economic governance the same as good political governance? Are there differences between effective development policies in democracies and non-democracies? In this focus field we examine:

• Theories of democracy and economic development
• Governance and economic development
• Development policies of states and international organizations
• Theories of political development