Aaron Gold
The University of the South
Politics
Is there evidence of democratic pluralism, or, perhaps the opposite, a democratic deficit in local TN politics? What frameworks best conceptualize how local politics in TN is governed? In Comparative Democratization, students will investigate the larger frameworks and causes of democratization and democratic backsliding cross-nationally and apply what they have learned using TN local politics as a case study. They will focus on specific local issues in the Franklin County School Board and the Franklin County Council in order to better understand the democratic process. This course aims to balance three components: a wide conceptual overview of the academic literature, a grounding in different case studies across the world, and a civic engagement component where students observe and analyze local politics and write issue briefs on policy issues as a lens through which to understand democratic decision making. Throughout the course, students will become acquainted with various theories and perspectives on democratization, why countries become democratic, and why they backslide. Specifically,students will learn about the many components of a well-functioning democracy, such as openand competitive elections, a vibrant civil society, an independent judiciary, executive constraints.political rights and civil liberties, a government that is responsive to majority rule, but protectiveof minority rights. We will cover multiple themes; a few examples are institutions, socialmovements, elections, the economy, authoritarianism, international interference, and politicalviolence. The course also covers the rigorous social science coding of democracy; how scholars measure democratic institutions, laws, norms, and behaviors, and then use those measurements as a basis for comparisons and scholarly inquiries. Lastly, this course will bring the former two components to bear to better understand localpolitics in TN. For instance, is there evidence of political pluralism, majority representation,respect for minority rights, coalition-building, democratic norms, effective lobbying and interestgroup activity, public participation, and open and transparent government processes? Studentswill be tasked with observing the local school board and the county commission to investigatethese and other questions. They will follow a particular issue area on one of these localbodies—such as property taxes or school funding—and write an issue brief that will analyze theissue. The brief will also examine elements of democratic practice around the chosen issue. Bythe end of the course, students will acquire a solid understanding of the literature on comparative democratization, an understanding of the democratic challenges multiple states around the world face today, and an experience observing two local political institutions and the issues they address in rural Tennessee.
Spring 2023
My plan is for students to observe, analyze, and meet with members of two local democratic institutions in practice: the Franklin County, TN School District and the Franklin County, TN County Commission. First, my plan is for students to attend two sessions of each, observe their procedures and evaluate them based on guiding questions from the theories we discuss in class. I will ask students to reflect on challenge they see to their democratic procedures, institutions, and norms. Students will also compare these institutions in light of these characteristics. Second, students will complete issue briefs on a chosen policy issue that has been on the agenda at either the school board meetings or the county council. Students will conduct policy research before meeting these elected officials.My hope is to bring multiple elected officials to speak to my class (I already have one commitment from a school board member). I will ask these elected officials to engage with my students along two lines. First, I want them to speak about how democracy works in their institution: is it an open process, are there checks on their power, is lobbying effective, are elections competitive and representative, are their challenges to their democratic institution?Second, I will want to provide space in which students who are examining particular local issues for their issue briefs can ask these elected officials questions about the issue area. My hope is for students to be intimately aware of local TN politics in all of its complexities and to have the opportunity to put what they learned in class to the test by observing and analyzing actual democracy in action. They will share their issue briefs at the end of the course with elected officials on the two local bodies, an action which might potentially inform policy making. In the process, students will be engaged in the democratic process themselves—as citizens who have completed research and shared knowledge.