Democracy and Autocracy in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood

A participant, who has successfully completed the course:
-demonstrates understanding of key concepts related to democracy and autocracy and identifies their key characteristics;
-identifies factors contributing to democratization or autocratic tendencies;
-examines the conceptualization of the Eastern Neighbourhood, and analyzes the historical and contemporary contexts that has shaped the region;
-compares and contrasts political systems within region by analyzing the role of political institutions, electoral processes, and political parties;
-critically evaluates the political trajectories, including challenges to democracy considering factors such as corruption, violation of human rights, disinformation and external influences;
-applies knowledge to specific case studies and assesses prospects for democracy in the Eastern Neighbourhood.

Maili Vilson - Researcher as well as Deputy Head for Academic Affairs at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu. She has published in academic journals on the Europeanisation of national foreign policy and on the Eastern Partnership, and has also served as an expert for several international think tanks as well the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
Thomas Michael Linsenmaier - Analyst at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). His main research interests revolve around International Relations theory, particularly the English School tradition, and issues related to European integration
Stefano Braghiroli - Associate Professor in European Studies and the Programme Director for European Studies master programme at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). His main research interests include party politics in the European Parliament, EU-Russia relations, electoral politics in Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey.
Anna Beitane - Project Manager. Responsible for development of e-courses and MOOCs at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). Her main areas of expertise include EU-Russia relations, the domestic and foreign policy of post-Soviet countries, with a particular focus on the Baltics states and Russia.
Givi Gigitashvili - Research Associate at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. In this role, he investigates influence operations, social media manipulation, and computational propaganda campaigns in Eastern European and South Caucasus countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, a master’s degree in EU-Russia studies from University of Tartu, and a postgraduate diploma in strategic communications from King’s College London.
Catherine Helen Gibson - Lecturer in East European and Eurasian Studies at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). Her teaching and research focuses on East European and Eurasian area studies and social science methodology. She teaches on the Erasmus Mundus International Masters programme in Central, East European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CEERES). She is author two academic monographs, two co-edited volumes, and over 15 peer reviewed academic publications.
Katsiaryna Lozka - PhD fellow in Political Science at Ghent University. Her doctoral research focuses on necropolitical violence and resistance in Belarus and Ukraine. She was a research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Belarus Observatory, a visiting researcher at the University of Vienna, University of Tartu, and a research fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the US. Katsiaryna holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Master's degree in European Studies from Comenius University in Bratislava.
Natalia Kovyliaeva - Ph.D. candidate and Junior Fellow Researcher in Political Science at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). Her current dissertation project, titled "Gaining Voice: Feminist Grassroots Mobilizations in Putin's Russia," explores the emergence and development of the feminist grassroots movements and their tactics and strategies in Russia starting from the early 2000s. Natalia holds an MA in Political Science from Central European University (Budapest, Hungary).
David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher - Lecturer in Political Thought and Cultural History at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). His main research focus is the cultural and intellectual history of modern Europe and Russia.
Sandra Charlotta Hagelin - Doctoral student at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). Her research interests include Eastern Partnership, Europeanisation, borderisation and policy-making.
Oleksii Kolesnykov - Research Fellow in Political Science at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and served for a decade at Chernivtsi National University before joining the Association for Community Self-Organization Assistance. He has led this organization since 2018 and contributed as an expert to the EU-funded Association4U project and assisted the Office of the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration for over six years.
Shota Kakabadze - Postdoctoral fellow at the ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon and a policy analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science degree from the University of Tartu (Estonia). His main research interest includes discourses on national identity, foreign policy, political radicalisation.
Claudiu Daniel Tufis - Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Bucharest. He received his Ph.D. in 2007 from the Department of Political Science at The Pennsylvania State University. His main research interests include political culture, political behavior, electoral studies, civil society, social movements, higher education public policies, social research methodology, and the analysis of social data.
Sara Danaj -

Topic	Credit	Lectors
1. Module 2: Historical Context 2.1. The historical context of the Eastern Neighbourhood region 2.2. The colonial legacy on contemporary politics in the Eastern Neighbourhood	15	Stefano Braghiroli, Anna Beitane, Catherine Helen Gibson, David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher
2. Module 1: Introduction to Democracy and Autocracy 1.1. Democracy: definition and characteristics 1.2. Autocracy: definition and characteristics 1.3. Conceptualizations of the Eastern Neighbourhood	15	Stefano Braghiroli, Sandra Charlotta Hagelin
3. Module 3: Institutions and Political Systems 3.1. Introduction of political institutions and systems 3.2. The role of the EU	15	Maili Vilson, Stefano Braghiroli
4. Module 4: Challenges to Democracy: Corruption, Violation of Human Rights, Disinformation and Geopolitics 4.1. Corruption and its threat to democracy: Eastern Neighbourhood Perspectives 4.2. Human rights in the crossfire: balancing rights and security 4.3. Countering disinformation in the Eastern Neighbourhood: a critical imperative 4.4. Geopolitics as an external threat to democracy in the Eastern Neighbourhood	16	Thomas Michael Linsenmaier, Anna Beitane, Givi Gigitashvili, Natalia Kovyliaeva, Claudiu Daniel Tufis
5. Module 5: Case Studies 5.1. Ukraine's democratic journey: challenges, progress, and ongoing struggles 5.2. Belarus: autocracy, protest, and international responses 5.3. Georgia: political trajectories and challenges	17	Anna Beitane, Katsiaryna Lozka, Oleksii Kolesnykov, Shota Kakabadze

MOOC is free of charge

The MOOC takes place in the Moodle online environment.

Learning takes place in the online learning environment, which presupposes that students have good ICT and web communication skills.

The course is developed within the framework of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence "Rejuvenating Democracy in the EU (REPAIR)" with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement 101085795). The course takes place fully online in the Moodle learning environment of the University of Tartu. The video lectures are pre-recorded.

The course consists of 5 modules:
Module 1: Introduction to Democracy and Autocracy
Module 2: Historical Context
Module 3: Institutions and Political Systems
Module 4: Challenges to Democracy
Module 5: Case studies (Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia)

To pass the course students should attempt each assignment and receive in each of them at least the minimum amount of points. In order to pass the course the final computation of points should not be lower than 51 points.

non-differentiated (pass, fail, not present)

The course consists of 100 points. To pass the course students should attempt each assignment and receive in each of them at least the minimum amount of points. In order to pass the course the final computation of points should not be lower than 51 points.

The final assessment of the course consists of the following elements:
-one multiple-choice quizze = max 10 points (min. 3 points)
-written assignment: timeline assignment = max 20 points (min 13 points)
-written assignment: institutional analysis = max 25 points (min 13 points)
-written assignment: policy brief = max 20 points (min 11 points)
-short written presentation = max 25 points (min 13 points)
-contributions to the forums (week 1, 2, 3) - pass/fail (prerequisite for passing the course)

Total: 100 points

Quiz - short multiple-choice quiz is organized during week 1 and is aimed at testing basic knowledge and understanding of learning material. The quiz will be focused on terminology discussed during the first week of the course. The test consists of 10 questions, giving 1 point per each correct answer. The quiz can be taken twice with no penalty. The submission with the maximum score is used as the effective score for that quiz. The following assignment gives 10 points in total towards the final grade. Written assignments - brief written assignments are conducted during weeks 2,3 and 4. The first written assignment (timeline) expects students to locate key historical milestones along a defined timeline. The second written assignment (institutional analysis) focuses on a comparison of political institutions from two of the countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood on the basis of comparing the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of power. The third written assignment (policy brief) will focus on completing missing paragraphs in a pre-written fictional policy brief to demonstrate understanding of challenges in the region and potential solutions to such challenges (particularly focusing on the issues, discussed in the video lectures - corruption, human rights, disinformation and geopolitics). Each written assignment will contain a template, which would be filled in by a learner. The following written assessments are aimed at testing learner's analytical and critical thinking competences. Written assignment for week 2 and 4 gives 20 points, while written assignment during week 3 is worth 25 points. Detailed instructions about each specific written assignment will be posted on Moodle, along with grading matrix. Short presentation - is organised during week 5 of the course. Learners are required to create a short presentation based on template slides. The presentation should focus on one of the case countries discussed in week 5 selecting one of the issues discussed in week 4 (corruption, human rights, disinformation and geopolitics) within the chosen case country. The assignment will challenge students to demonstrate their knowledge and analysing skills in a concise format. Brief presentation gives 25 points towards the final grade. Discussion forum - there are three forum discussions in this course: week 1, 2 and 3. Every student is expected to contribute with minimum one post in each discussion. Contribution to the forums is a pre-requisite for passing the course, and it will be evaluated with "sufficient" or insufficient" label.

Certificate of completion

Thank you for enrolling to the course! The course starts on 28.04.2025. Detailed instructions and login credentials will be sent to you closer to the course opening.

Should you encounter any problem, please contact:
- Anna Beitane, Project Manager - anna.beitane@ut.ee

24.04.2025

Anna Beitane, anna.beitane@ut.ee, +372 +372 737 5198