Continuity and Change in Central and Eastern European Politics
POLS 332
Fall 2026
3 Units
In-person
3
one-way Exclusions
Course Description
This course examines the major institutional and societal changes and powerful continuities that have shaped states and people in Central and Eastern Europe - a region that experienced unprecedented transformations since the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and beginning of NATO and European Union Enlargement. The class explores how these processes unfolded across this diverse region, and how governments and societies respond to internal and international crises today.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop deeper knowledge about the politics and society of Central and Eastern Europe.
- Apply new concepts and analytical tools to salient questions “e.g., the drivers of regime change and social transformation; the power of nationalism; the continuing role of institutional and cultural history; the challenges of democratization and democratic backsliding” in the region and beyond.
- Apply comparative concepts and methods used by political scientists in your own work.
- Communicate clearly, and in professionally in written and oral form.