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Course: International relations
Key information:
The study must relate to existing authoritarian states (e.g. China, Iran but not the Soviet Union) or transitions
from authoritarianism and democratisation and problems of democratic consolidation in the late Twentieth
Century and Twenty-First Centuries i.e. not before 1970s (e.g. Hungary, Egypt and Chile but not the US and the
UK)
Possible countries/ regions are:-
a) The Soviet Union/Russia (you would only consider the Soviet Union if answering question 2 i.e. the causes of
Soviet collapse) For questions 3 and 4 you could look at Russia or Ukraine post-1991, or undertake a
comparison of any two other post-soviet states e.g. Belarus, Moldova, the Caucasus states, the Central Asian
states, Baltic states. Give the word limit and the literature available I would suggest you only look at Russia
and/or Ukraine on their own rather than in comparison with others.
b) Central European states and the Balkans – e.g. Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia (or if you are looking at
question 3 and 4 th

en Czech Republic and Slovakia separately), Romania, Bulgaria, German Democratic
Republic (the latter only applies to question 2), the Balkan states – Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia. In most
cases, depending on sources it may be best to undertake a comparison of two.
c) Chile or other relevant countries in Latin America
d) One or two of Spain, Portugal, Greece for questions 2 to 4
e) South Africa – there will not be a specific lecture on this but it makes for a good case study for questions 2-3.
f) North Africa and the Middle East – you may be best to concentrate on one or two states in particular. If you
wish to you could also look at Iraq – even though transition here is separate from the Arab ‘Revolutions’.
g) Africa more generally – you could choose a comparative case study of authoritarianism and problems of
democratisation in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, DRC, Gambia and most recently Zimbabwe. A comparison
may be best and be sure that there is sufficient literature available. We have African Studies journals.