HON351, American Values in Global Perspective
Spring Semester 2008
Study Guide
Problematic Democracies
Reading Assignment:
Fareed Zakaria, "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 76, No. 6, Nov/Dec 1997, pp. 22-43 (electronic reserves)
Azar Gat, "The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 4, July/August 2007, pp. 59-69 (electronic reserves)
Other articles (optional):
"Venezuela's Chavez Tightens Grip," Christian Science Monitor, January 10, 2007
Fund for Peace, "The Failed State Index 2007,"
The World's Most Repressive Societies
Parade Magazine, "The World's Ten Worst Dictators," February 11, 2007
Questions to consider in reading the Zakaria article:
1. How does Zakaria define "constitutional liberalism"?
2. Do democracy and constitutional liberalism go hand in hand? Which one tends to come first?. What does Zakaria mean when he writes?
"What is distinctive about the American system is not how democratic it is but rather how undemocratic it is, placing as it does multiple
constraints on electoral majorities."
3. How does Zakaria define "illiberal democracy?
4. What potential problems are posed by illiberal democracies?
Q uestions to consider while reading the Gat article:
1. What larger question regarding the relationship between liberal democracy and captalism does this article addresses?
2. Why does the author believe the liberal democractic countries (primarily the US and its allies) were able to defeat major authoritarian regions during World II and Communist ones during the Cold War?
3. To what extent does the liberal democracy of the United States explain its rise to become the dominant world power? What other factors have worked to theadvantage of the United States?
4. To what factors does the author attribute the spread of democracy to many countries around the world since World War II?
5. Why does the author view the recent rise of capitalism in China and Russia as an especially significant historic development? What possible implications does it have for the prevalence of democracy around the world?