Democratization process practiced in Taiwan and Poland: comparative case analysis

general courses

The aim of the course is to analyze the democratization processes of two, in many respects different, political entities – Poland and Taiwan. The geopolitical situation of the regions will be analyzed, as well as the socio-economic reasons for the changes. Historical and identity perspective will also be adopted. The course of process of democratization and its political consequences will be shown. The classes at the beginning provide general knowledge on comparative politics, political transitions and methods.

The aim of the course is to analyze the democratization processes of two, in many respects different, political entities – Poland and Taiwan. The geopolitical situation of the regions will be analyzed, as well as the socio-economic reasons for the changes. Historical and identity perspective will also be adopted. The course of process of democratization and its political consequences will be shown. The classes at the beginning provide general knowledge on comparative politics, political transitions and methods.

The aim of the course is to analyze the democratization processes of two, in many respects different, political entities – Poland and Taiwan. The geopolitical situation of the regions will be analyzed, as well as the socio-economic reasons for the changes. Historical and identity perspective will also be adopted. The course of process of democratization and its political consequences will be shown. The classes at the beginning provide general knowledge on comparative politics, political transitions and methods.

Łukasz Zamęcki, Li-Jiuan Chen-Rabich (editors), The Democratization Process of Poland and Taiwan: Comparative Perspective, Peter Lang 2023.

Lim, Timothy. (2010). Introduction: What is Comparative Politics?. In.Doing Comparative Politics: An Introduction to Approaches and Issues,Edition: 2nd, Publisher: Lynne Reinner

Heywood, Andrew. 2013. Politics. Palgrave Macmillan

Garner, Robert; Peter Ferdinand, Stephanie Lawson, and David B. MacDonald. 2016. Introduction to Politics [Second Canadian Edition]. Oxford University Press

Teorell, Jan. 2010. Determinants of Democratization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1.

Huntington, Samuel, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), Chapter 1-3.

Tilly, Charles, “What is Democracy?” pp. 1-24 of Democracy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Schmitter, Philippe C., and Terry Lynn Karl, “What Democracy Is… and Is Not,” Journal of Democracy 2, no. 3 (summer 1991): 75-88.

Sen, Amartya, “Democracy as a Universal Value,” Journal of Democracy 10, no. 3 (July 1999): 3-17.

Munck, Gerardo L. and Jay Verkuilen. 2002. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy. Evaluating Alternative Indices.” Comparative Political Studies, vol. 35(1):5-34.

Carbone, Giovanni, “The Consequences of Democratization,” Journal of Democracy 20, no. 2 (April 2009): 123-37.

Chapters 1 and 2 in Acemoglu, Daron and Robinson, James A. 2005. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press

Huber, Evelyne, Dietrich Rueschemeyer and John D. Stephens, “The Impact of Economic Development on Democracy,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 7, no. 3 (1993): 71-85.

Przeworski, Adam and Limongi, Fernando. 1997. Modernization: Theories and facts. World Politics, 49(3):155–83.

Boix, Carles. 2011. Democracy, development, and the international system. American Political Science Review, 105(4):809–828.

Lee, Hongsub (2001). Transition to Democracy in Poland. East European Quarterly. Vol. 35, No. 1, p. 87-107.

Tomasz Słomka (2013) Transformation of Political System in Poland. In Poland and Spain: from Political Transition to European Integration, ed. M. Mizerska-Wrotkowska, J. M. Reniu Vilamala, Barcelona.

Bożena Dziemidok-Olszewska, The Specificity of the Constitutionalization Process of Systemic Changes in Poland During the Period of Transformations, Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego, No. 6 (58)/2020

Joseph Wong (2001) Dynamic Democratization in Taiwan, Journal of Contemporary China, 10:27, 339-362, DOI: 10.1080/10670560120045823

Vanhuysse, Pieter (1999). The political dynamics of economic reforms: Przeworski's theory and the case of Poland and Hungary. East European Quarterly. Vol. 33, Issue 4, p. 491-515.

Ibih, Mevludin (2019). Post-Communist Transition Processes in Poland and Bulgaria. Vizione. Issue 33, p. 459-470.

J. Bruce Jacobs: Democratizing Taiwan, Brill 2012. p. 5-18.

Fan, Yun. (2004). Taiwan: No Civil Society, No Democracy. In Civil Society and Political Change in Asia: Expanding and Contracting Democratic Space, ed. Muthiah Alagappa. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Ekiert, G. (1991). Democratization Processes in East Central Europe: A Theoretical Reconsideration. British Journal of Political Science, 21(3), 285-313.

Zbigniew Kantyka. "Polish experiment 1980—1989 — revolution or transformation? Antinomies of transition from authoritarianism to democracy". Studia Politicae Universitatis Silesiensis 13:25-43.

Wesołowski, Włodzimierz (1990). Transition from Authoritarianism to Democracy. Social Research. Vol. 57, Issue 2, p. 435-461.

Chien-Kai Chen, The State-Society Interaction in the Process of Taiwan’s Democratization from 1990 to 1992, East Asia (2011) 28:115–134 DOI 10.1007/s12140-011-9141-4

Hung-Mao Tien, Chyuan-Jeng Shiau. (1992) Taiwan’s Democratization: A summary, World Affairs, vol. 155, no. 2.

Su-Mei Ooi. (2009). The Transnational Protection Regime and Taiwan’s Democratization. Journal of East Asian Studies, 9(1), 57-85, DOI: 10.1017/S1598240800002812

Yu-Shan Wu. (2013). Comparing Taiwan and the CEE Trio: The Impact of Social and Institutional Factors. Taiwan Journal of Democracy, special issue (May), 103-127, Full Text: http://www.tfd.org.tw/export/sites/tfd/files/publication/journal/dj201305/103-128.pdf

Shao-chuan Leng and Cheng-yi Lin (1993). Political Change on Taiwan: Transition to Democracy? The China Quarterly , no. 136

Shelley Rigger, Politics in Taiwan: Voting For Reform, 1999, p. 1-33.

Sebastian Kubas, The trajectory of the process of democratization in Poland in the light of theory, political praxis and external evaluation: 1989–2019, Studia Politologiczne 2020, no. 57

Christian Schafferer (2020) Taiwan’s defensive democratization, Asian Affairs: An American Review, 47:1, 41-69, DOI: 10.1080/00927678.2020.1730041

Ian McAllister, “Democratic Consolidation in Taiwan in Comparative Perspective,” Asian Journal of Comparative Politics 1, no. 1 (2016): 44–61

On completion of this course, students should:

- understand what the comparative politics is and understand the importance of the comparative method in political science;

- know diverse political and party systems;

- be able to apply main theories and methods to study democratization process;

- recognize social, cultural, economic, political and international background of democratization process in Taiwan and Poland;

- evaluate and explain the political development of Poland and Taiwan;

- have improved ability to work in multinational student groups;

- engage in expressing thoughts clearly, orally and through written work;

- recognize works by the principal protagonists of the field of transitology.

Class participation: class attendance is mandatory, but maximum two absences during semester are allowed. Students are responsible for making up any work missed due to absence.

Assessment criteria: Due to the on-line teaching in the summer semester of academic year 2020/21 the criteria of assessment and grading policy need to be specifically designed.

Student is asked to actively participate in the classes. Test, paper and class activity is taken into consideration to pass the course.

Class activity:

for substantive participation in class discussions the student receives 1 point for each week.

Paper:

Every student is asked to write a paper on one of the course’ topic. A student can receive a maximum of 20 points for writing a maximum 10-page (10 pages without cover page; Times New Roman 12; 1,5 spaces) scientific paper in accordance with the guidelines. The paper should be as analytical as possible. Please avoid merely describing the issue. Base your arguments on works by other authors but try to test your own hypothesis. The student obtains from 0 to 1 point for: the work's compliance with the topic, complying with the volume limit and from 0 to 3 points for: methodological issues, data used, argumentation, work language, originality of the work, quality. Topics can be discussed with the instructor, but they will ultimately be independent projects of the student and originality of the topic is one of the assessment points. The paper need to be handed by 26 of May 2021. Paper must be submitted on time. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Failure to cite internet and other non-traditional media sources in your written work constitutes plagiarism.

Final test:

Test is graded from 0-20 points (ca. 20 questions). Most of the questions will have form of multiple-choice questions. But “true-false”, “matching” and “short-answer” questions may also appear.

Grading policy:

34≤ points – 5

25-33 points – 4

16-24 points – 3

0-15 points – course not passed

On-line classes Etiquette:

- Cameras should be on, through whole meeting;

- Mics should be unmuted only when lecturer ask you to do so. Use the icon “Raise the hand” when want to speak and wait for lecturer response;

- You are encourage to use chat to discuss presented issues but use chat only to course aims;

- Computers may only be used for class-related work.

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