Democracy, Autocracy and Economic Development

Do democracies outperform authoritarian regimes in terms of economic development or not? If yes or no, why? - these are among the most primordial questions not just in political economy as academic discipline, but also in current political debates.  The course therefore aims at analyzing the relationship between political systems and economic development. Throughout the course we will look at the most important theoretical concepts on how this nexus can be approached and analyze what features or institutions of different regime types have particular relevance for economic performance.