The University of Chicago’s Minor in Democracy Studies
The University of Chicago’s new minor in Democracy Studies, which launched in Fall Quarter 2022, provides students essential knowledge, insights, methods, and critical perspectives necessary to understanding the world around us and the historical developments that have placed it in such a precarious state. Students in the minor learn, among other topics, how democracy extends well beyond the political arena, to encompass a broad set of structures, including civic organizations, laws, deliberative practices, rhetorical strategies, cultural forms, collective imaginaries, and moral, ethical, and spiritual codes.
The minor therefore offers a broad range of courses allowing students to select cross-disciplinary electives suitable to forming a broadly conceived program of study.
To learn more about the minor, continue reading this page and see our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Who Should Apply?
Beyond its broader educational and civic value, a minor in Democratic Studies offers preparation for a range of career interests, from politics, law, and public policy, to education, social work, journalism, media, and public interest advocacy.
Students pursuing careers in STEM may find a minor in Democracy Studies to be useful preparation for the ethical and professional challenges awaiting them in the marketplace.
A minor in Democratic Studies also provides a compelling interdisciplinary topical focus for students interested in pursuing graduate study in the social sciences and humanities.
Requirements and Declaration Process
Students in the minor complete a total of five courses, including one required course, “DEMS 15000: Democracy and Its Critics,” and four electives (see list of approved courses below). Official information about the requirements of the minor can be found in the 2022-23 College catalog.
The required Democracy and Its Critics course provides students with a multi-disciplinary introduction to the many ways in which struggles over self-government have raised fundamental challenges within politics, culture, and society.
Students are required to take one “global” course which largely focuses on the democratic experience of countries outside of the United States. Students are further encouraged, but not required, to take one course on democracy in ancient times (defined as prior to 650 AD).
Declaring the minor:
All students who wish to declare a minor in Democracy Studies must contact the program before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year. Students may be given credit for approved courses taken before declaring the minor. To declare the minor, please follow these steps:
- Review the approved course list below;
- Fill out the minor map and send it to Annie Diamond (Divisional Coordinator, Social Sciences Collegiate Division) via email (anniediamond@uchicago.edu); and
- Sign up for the Democracy Studies minor mailing list.
Once you submit your minor map, Annie will reply to you about the next steps. Please email Annie if you have any questions. See the Democracy Studies page in the College Catalog for additional information on minor requirements.
Updating your minor courses:
After you declare the minor, if you make changes to the courses you will use to satisfy your minor, you do not need to send a new form to the Democracy program: we will check in with you once per quarter to ask for course updates and will submit revised approval to your College advisor.
Contacts
- Primary Contact for Undergraduates: Annie Diamond, Divisional Coordinator, Social Sciences Collegiate Division (anniediamond@uchicago.edu)
- Faculty Director: James T. Sparrow, Associate Professor, History Department
- Kevin Kromash, Operations Director, Chicago Center on Democracy
Approved Courses
The following elective courses may be counted toward minor requirements. This list will be updated on a regular basis, at least quarterly. Changes that we are likely to make to the list include:
- If we learn that a course is not being offered this year, we will move it to the previously offered courses list.
- We may add additional courses as we learn about them.
- We may learn that we have listed a course under the wrong department, in which case we will amend the listing.
- When courses haven’t been offered in a number of years, we may remove them from this site.
Courses qualifying as “global” are marked with an asterisk * and those as ancient denoted with an obelus †.
Last updated: March 28, 2025
Autumn 2024
- * GLST 25850. No Justice, No Speech! Free Speech and Palestine in the University and Beyond
- * HIST 11301. Global British Empire to 1784: War, Commerce, and Revolution
- * HIST 13802. The Russian Empire
- HIST 17908. African-American History to 1865
- * HIST 23616. How Dictatorships Come to Power
- * HIST 29911. Global Legal History
- HMRT 21002. Human Rights: Philosophical Foundations
- * LACS 25136. The Era of Democratic Pessimism
- LLSO 29750. American Constitutional Theory
- PARR 21400. Trump, Turnout and Thanksgiving Dinner: Election Discourses in a Polarized Society
- PBPL 22100. Politics and Policy
- PLSC 22710. Electoral Politics in America
- PLSC 25215. The American Presidency
- * PLSC 28878. History of Government and Political Institutions
- * PLSC 28901. Introduction to Comparative Politics
- PLSC 29185. The Promise and Pitfalls of Direct Democracy: Referendums and Initiatives in Representative Systems
- PLSC 40010. Capital and Democracy in an Age of Finance
- SSAD 64700. Organizing Coalitions for Change: Growing Power and Social Movements
- * SOSC 21001. Human Rights: Contemporary Issues
Winter 2025
- * HIST 26500. History of Mexico 1876-Present
- HIST 27001. Law and Society in Early America, 1600-1800
- HIST 27908. Tocqueville in America, from Then to Now
- MAPS 30230. Contemporary Democratic Theory: Realism, Deliberative Democracy, Agonism
- PLSC 25610. Authority, Obligation, and Dissent
- PLSC 28801. Introduction to American Politics
- PLSC 44905. Feminism and the Radical Democratic Imaginary: Futures Past
- RDIN 20817. Race, Social Movements and American Politics
- PLSC 22400. Public Opinion
- * SOSC 21001. Human Rights: Contemporary Issues
Spring 2025
- ECON 28620. Crony Capitalism
- * GRMN 22124. The Cultural History and Politics of Postwar Germany
- HIST 18101. Democracy in America?
- * HIST 19902. Workers of the World: Global Labor History, 1600-present
- * HIST 28302. The American Founding, 1763-1789
- * PBPL 25831 Comparative Politics and Policy
- PLSC 22400. Public Opinion
- * PLSC 23220. Approaches to Authoritarian Politics
- PLSC 23313. Democracy and Equality
- PLSC 24810. Politics of the US Congress
- RDIN 20900. Violence: Vigilantism, Community Defense, and Armed Resistance
Previously offered courses
- * ANTH 32203. Caste, Reproduction, and Citizenship in India
- BPRO 25900. Digitizing Human Rights
- CCCT 25459. Topics in Contemporary Critical Theory III
- † * CLCV 21222. Democratic Failure in Greece and Rome
- † * CLCV 24521. Politics and Political Sphere in Ancient Rome
- † * CLCV 27709. Caesar and his Reception
- ENGL 17950. The Declaration of Independence
- ENGL 25230. Democracy and the School: Writing about Education
- ENGL 27250. Wealth, Democracy and the American Novel
- * GLST 24741. Politics and Popular Culture in the Arab World
- † * GREK 23922. Plato on Tyranny and Injustice
- † * GRMN 24223. Parrhesia: Fearless Speech from Socrates to Greta von Thunberg
- † * GRMN 25421. Babylon Berlin: Politics and Culture in the Weimar Period
- GRMN 25823. Fascism
- * HIST 10600. Power and Resistance in the Black Atlantic
- * HIST 12600. What is Socialism? Experiences from Eastern Europe
- * HIST 17606. American Revolutions
- HIST 18001. The United States in the Age of Total War
- HIST 18802. Performing Democracy
- HIST 18804. America in the Nineteenth Century
- HIST 18901. Inequality, Politics, and Government in US History
- * HIST 22610. Paris and the French Revolution
- * HIST 24508. Human Rights in Japanese History
- HIST 25300. American Revolution, 1763 to 1789
- * HIST 26409. Revolution, Dictatorship, & Violence in Modern Latin America
- * HIST 26509. Law and Citizenship in Latin America
- * HIST 26711. South Asia After Independence
- * HIST 27103. American Revolution in Global Context
- HIST 27605. United States Legal History
- HIST 28301. Early American Political Culture, 1600-1820
- HIST 28307. Populism in the United States: Past and Present
- * HIST 29002. The Age of Emancipation
- HMRT 21005. Militant Democracy and the Preventative State
- * HMRT 22704. Transitional Justice During Conflict and Peace
- * HMRT 23825. Human Rights in the Middle East
- * KNOW 32204. Science, Governance, and the Crisis of Liberalism
- LLSO 23420. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States, 1865-Present
- LLSO 28050. The American Constitution
- LLSO 29073. States of Exception in American History
- * LLSO 29075. Neoliberalism in Europe
- LLSO 29711. Law and Religion in the Modern United States
- * LLSO 29712. Comparative Constitutional Studies
- LLSO 22403. Free Speech and the First Amendment
- PARR 15000. Political Rhetoric: Speeches, Campaigns, and Protests
- PARR 18600. Public Engagement and Participation
- PARR 23500. Freedom of Speech on Campus
- PBPL 21850. Legislative Politics
- * PBPL 25834. Independence Movements
- PBPL 25910. The Health of American Democracy
- PBPL 26080. The Challenge of Government Oversight
- PBPL 27818. Philosophical Foundations of Public Policy
- PBPL 28765. The Politics of Authoritarian Regimes
- PHIL 21403. Locke and Rousseau
- PHIL 21600. Introduction to Political Philosophy
- PLSC 10500. What Should Democracy Mean Today?
- PLSC 20405. After Multiculturalism: Social Plurality, Democratic Citizenship, and Globalization
- PLSC 20817. Race, Social Movements and American Politics
- PLSC 21116. Elites and 20th Century Democratic Theory
- * PLSC 21607. Empire, Colonialism, and Democracy
- PLSC 22505. Knowledge and Politics
- * PLSC 23100. Democracy and the Information Technology Revolution
- * PLSC 23456. Comparative Politics of the Middle East
- PLSC 23615. Reconstructing Democracy: Tocqueville and Du Bois
- PLSC 24860. Congress in Chaos? Understanding Legislative Function and Dysfunction
- PLSC 25201. After Multiculturalism: Democratic Citizenship & Indigineous Resurgence in Settler Colonial Contexts
- * PLSC 25305. Democratic Backsliding in Russia, Poland, and Hungary
- PLSC 26226. American Political Economy and Race
- † * PLSC 26603. Democracy and the Immigrant in Classical Greek Thought
- † * PLSC 26615. Democracy’s Life and Death
- PLSC 26703. Political Parties in the United States
- * PLSC 28105. Transitional Justice
- * PLSC 28405. Democratic Erosion
- † * PLSC 28555. The Economy of Conspiracy
- PLSC 28605. Challenges to Democracy
- PLSC 28701. Introduction to Political Theory
- RDIN 22112. African American Political Thought: Democracy’s Reconstruction
- RLST 24901. Religion and Human Rights
- RLST 25400. The Bible in U.S. Politics: The Use and Abuse of Sacred Texts in the Public
- RLST 25561. Justice at the Margins: Religion, Race, and Resistance
- RLST 25563. Does American Democracy Need Religion?
- * RLST 28612. The Global Revolt Against Liberalism
- RLST 29000. The American Culture Wars
- RLST 29024. The Election Race of 2024: Ethics, Religion, and the American Polity
- † * SCTH 20677. Thucydides and Athenian Democracy at War
- † * SCTH 31710. Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy
- SCTH 31715. The Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Writings
- * SOCI 20106. Political Sociology
- SOCI 20138. Politics / Participation / Organization
- * SOCI 20544. Democratic Backsliding
Still want to learn more?
We have compiled a set of frequently asked questions about the minor. If you have other questions, please contact Annie Diamond (anniediamond@uchicago.edu)