Useful links
Unit of study_
GOVT6109: Political Regimes and Regime Transition
2025 unit information
This unit will provide an in-depth examination of theories of political regimes and regime transitions. Political scientists have developed a variety of theories to explain democratic breakdown and democratization, and formulated an expansive typology of regimes to describe the diverse forms of democracy, authoritarianism, and hybrid regimes. This unit provides a broad overview of theories of political regimes and regime transitions, and introduces students to some of the major debates and controversies in this field of study.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Government and International Relations |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
|
None |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
?
|
None |
| Prohibitions:
?
|
None |
| Assumed knowledge:
?
|
None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Understand how political scientists define terms such as “democracy” and “authoritarianism”
- LO2. Critically engage with such concepts and how they have been applied in the past
- LO3. Have a deeper understanding of major theories used to explain transitions from one regime type to another (e.g., democratic breakdown, democratisation)
- LO4. Learn to apply such theories to both historical (e.g., “third wave” of democratisation) and contemporary cases (e.g., India, China)
- LO5. Become familiar with cutting-edge concepts in comparative politics, such as “hybrid regime,” “subnational authoritarianism,” and “authoritarian successor parties”
- LO6. Gain a richer understanding of world events through the application of theories of regimes and regime transitions (e.g., “democratic erosion,” “deconsolidation”)
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 2 2025
|
Normal day | Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
