Democracy, Deliberation, and Global Citizenship

Around the world, democratic self-governance is celebrated as a political ideal. Arguably, such self-governance requires informed and engaged citizens who intentionally participate in the decisions that govern their lives. Clearly many factors like wealth, power, institutions, culture, democratic procedures and access to information, e.g. social media, and education all facilitate or impede political dialogue and civic action. In this course, we explore local and global conceptions of democracy and citizenship to help us better understand the obligations and challenges that are part of being an informed and engaged citizen in our various communities.