Class dates: Fridays, September 18, 25, October 2, 9, 16 (5 weeks)

Class time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Location: Online (via Zoom)

This course explores the following countries in their struggle between democracy and dictatorship: Papua New Guinea and Fiji (two of the most influential nations in Oceania), Bhutan and Bangladesh (two countries with strong economic and cultural ties), Peru and Mexico (two countries in the Americas that have recently transformed themselves into electoral democracies), Morocco and Tunisia (two critical geopolitical countries in North Africa), and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine (two European countries with war-torn histories). 

Each pair of countries has struggled with the following characteristics: electoral frauds, pressure on political opposition, non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment of media, low levels of political participation, and a declining rule of law. Each country will be analyzed according to a variety of indexes -  from geography to climate, to demographics, to history, to politics and government, to economy and culture. The instructor welcomes a diversity of thought.

Instructor: Paul Macek has been an educator for over forty years. He has also worked as copyeditor, translator, writer, and publisher for over thirty years. He is the author of eight books: one on education, two on literature (one a translation), and five on American history.