Class dates: Tuesdays, Feb 10, 17, 24, March 3, 10 (5 weeks)

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

Location: Online (via Zoom)

This course will explore several Flawed Democracies in the World, such as: France, Malta, United States, Chile, Slovenia, Israel, South Korea, Belgium, Botswana, Lithuania, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, India, and Slovakia. Some of the key characteristics of flawed democracies are the following: weak checks and balances and corruption in functioning of government, low confidence in political parties, polarization, voter apathy, media freedom infringement, and suppression of opposition. From geography to climate, to demographics, to history, to politics and government, to economy and culture, each country will be analyzed according to a variety of indexes. What makes each country a Flawed Democracy in the world will be discovered in the major categories of Electoral Process, Functioning of Government, Political Participation, Political Culture, and Civil Liberties. The instructor welcomes a diversity of political thought.

Instructor: Paul Macek has master’s degrees in History and English. He has taught U.S. History for over twenty-five years. He has also worked as a proofreader, copyeditor, indexer, translator, writer, and publisher for over thirty years. Paul Macek is the author of seven books: one on education, two on literature (one of which was a translation), and four on American history.