MVV314K Threats to Democracy

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught online.
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Monika Martišková, PhD. (seminar tutor), doc. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D.
Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Mgr. Věra Redrupová, B.A.
Supplier department: Faculty of Law
Timetable of Seminar Groups
MVV314K/01: Mon 23. 11. 16:00–17:40 041, 18:00–19:40 041, Tue 24. 11. 16:00–17:40 041, Wed 25. 11. 18:00–19:40 041, Thu 26. 11. 16:00–17:40 041, M. Martišková
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 13/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 38 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The subject-matter of the course is to understand more deeply the idea of democracy through various topics. The course will give the introduction into the concept of democracy as it was ment to be performed in the ancient times of Athens glory, and how the decisions of the people directly threatened the democratic system. Moving further in the history, describing the regimes of totality and its intrigues often results in a condemnation of the system. The media manipulation also contributes to threats to democracy. The Jefferson’s preference for “newspapers without government” over “government without newspapers” (1787) is going to be discussed. The rule of law in democratic and legal state is nowadays not weakened only by the power of media, but also by the government and legislation itself. We will talk i.e. about how “COVID-19 provisions” influenced the proper legislative procedure, the cases when law is not applied equally to all citizens or about the government of the people as a government of arbitrariness. Internet extremism, hoaxes, misinformation and fake in digital space is the last topic, yet not the last to be taken seriously.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
- understand and explain the concept of democracy, how it was invented and developed and how it was/ is understood among different periods of time and nowadays, specify the advantages and risks of this kind of governing;
- work with information on the governing concepts and create their own concept of the best way of governing the state, with the reasoning;
- make reasoned argumentation on the topic of threats to democracy from the various aspects;
- make deductions based on acquired knowledge in the topic of rule of law, legality, the difference in the perception of democratic and legal state;
- interpret the definition of democratic state and its role;
Syllabus
  • 1. The Athenian democracy and how the will of people can ruin the whole concept of governing.
  • 2. The concept of totalitarian regimes - its bases, performance and “justification”.
  • 3. Propaganda and manipulation in media.
  • 4. New threats to democratic and legal state, withdrawal from legality, the decay of rule of law.
  • 5. Restrictions on freedom on the Internet ensuring the protection of (liberal) democracy.
Literature
  • Materials will be provided for each topic separately, before and during the lectures.
Teaching methods
Lectures and discussions.
Assessment methods
One assessment in the form of a multiple choice test and oral discussion about a previously discussed chosen topic.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2020/MVV314K