“How did we get from the huge euphoria that followed the fall of communism in the early 1990s to our present politics of fear and resentment, and what are the prospects going forward?” These questions and more get answered in Yale’s free course, “Power and Politics in Today’s World.” Taught by Professor of Political Science Ian Shapiro, the course “provides an examination of political dynamics and institutions over this past tumultuous quarter century, and the implications of these changes for what comes next. Among the topics covered are the decline of trade unions and the enlarged role of business as political forces, changing attitudes towards parties and other political institutions amidst the growth of inequality and middle-class insecurity, the emergence of new forms of authoritarianism, and the character and durability of the unipolar international order that replaced the Cold War.”
You can watch the lectures on Youtube, or stream them all above. The syllabus and reading list can be found here.
“Power and Politics in Today’s World” will be added to our meta collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, and Venmo (@openculture). Thanks!
Related Content:
Death: A Free Philosophy Course from Yale
Modern Poetry: A Free Course from Yale
Having been alive since the Truman administration (God, I miss Ike!) the decline in America started at JFK’s assassination, continued through Vietnam, and peaked at Watergate, which sealed America’s fate of decline at every-level. Things were “normal” otherwise, until Clinton’s election, which ushered-in the Age of Political Correctness, and woke-Diversity. This hasn’t been a well-functioning country since, regardless of the party-in-office. “Feelings” rule the day, in the lunatic-controlled asylum now! How I pine for the 20th Century, when logic and civil-discourse ruled-the-day.