POL SCI 401: Legitimacy, Power, and the Survival of Political Systems

Course Description

This course examines what allows political systems to survive, exert power, and maintain control over their population. It focuses on the concept of legitimacy – i.e. whether people believe a government has the right to make decisions that are binding on the mass public. The course covers how political systems and institutions develop legitimacy, how that legitimacy helps maintain control of the mass public, and why people sometimes choose to willingly follow commands issued by political authorities and other times choose to resist or rebel.