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Inequality and Democracy
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 21 hours
  • Course by Utrecht University
  • Offered by

About

Most countries are getting more and more unequal. But the core of democracy is political equality: that everyone should have an equal say in how their country is run. Can we really expect these things to go together? Can people have equal political power while economic inequality grows and grows? Take this course and decide for yourself. You’ll learn about: • The rise of economic inequality • Property rights and the corporation • Democracy: Its value and history • Campaign finance and lobbying • Tax avoidance and capital flight • Alternatives to our economic system This is an interdisciplinary course combining: • Politics • Philosophy • Economics • History • Law Our course is for anyone looking for an accessible introduction to these topics. You might a concerned citizen, or someone who works in a field like politics, media, education, government or law. The difficulty level is similar to the first-year of an undergraduate degree. No prior knowledge is assumed.

Modules

1.0 Course introduction

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
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1 Videos

  • 1.0.1 Welcome to the course

2 Readings

  • 1.0.2 About the course
  • 1.03 Short survey

1.1 Patterns of inequality

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 1.1.3 What about you?

1 Videos

  • 1.1.2 Economic inequality around the world

1 Readings

  • 1.1.1 In this week

1.2 Causes of inequality

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 1.2.3 Causes of inequality

1 Videos

  • 1.2.1 Causes of inequality

1 Readings

  • 1.2.2 Case study: The rise of bosses pay in the USA

1.3 Inequality and justice

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 1.3.3 Theories of justice: What do you know?

1 Videos

  • 1.3.1 When is inequality (un)just?

1 Readings

  • 1.3.2 The fairness of inequality: a philosophical debate

1.4 Inequality and democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 1.4.2 Democracy at stake

1 Discussions

  • 1.4.3 Discussion prompt: Economic inequality and democracy

1 Videos

  • 1.4.1 Inequality and Democracy: The road ahead

1.5 Want to know more?

    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Readings

  • 1.5.1 Want more?

2.1 Private property

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • 2.1.3 Private property – what it is(n’t)
  • 2.1.4 The History of property

1 Videos

  • 2.1.2 Private property as a legal construct

1 Readings

  • 2.1.1 Property and corporations

2.2 The business corporation

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • 2.2.3 Do you know the business corporation?

1 Discussions

  • 2.2.5 Friedman right or wrong?

1 Videos

  • 2.2.1 The business corporation as a legal construct

2 Readings

  • 2.2.2 The purpose of corporations: a historical tale
  • 2.2.4 Friedman on the purpose of business

2.3 The efficiency of property and corporations

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 2.3.3 It’s all about efficiency!

1 Videos

  • 2.3.1 The superior efficiency of private property

1 Readings

  • 2.3.2 The corporation – efficiency and power

2.4 Property, corporations and political power

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 2.4.3 Some questions about power

1 Videos

  • 2.4.1 Economic power and political power

1 Readings

  • 2.4.2 Cycles of economic and political power

2.5 Conclusion

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • 2.5.1 Assessing corporate power

1 Readings

  • 2.5.2 Want more?

3.1 Introducing democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 3.1.3 Basic ideas in democratic theory

1 Videos

  • 3.1.2 Defining democracy

2 Readings

  • 3.1.1 In this module
  • 3.1.4 Characteristics of real democracies

3.2 Reasons for democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • 3.2.3 Plato and you

1 Videos

  • 3.2.1 Democracy for the common good

2 Readings

  • 3.2.2 Plato against democracy
  • 3.2.4 Democracy for intrinsic reasons

3.3 Power and wealth in history

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 3.3.2 Historical fixes

1 Videos

  • 3.3.1 Property and power in history

1 Readings

  • 3.3.3 Their money or their rights

3.4 Democracy and inequality today

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 3.4.4 Political inequality in the UK and US

1 Videos

  • 3.4.1 Political inequality today

2 Readings

  • 3.4.2 Economic elite domination
  • 3.4.3 Why unequal turn-out matters

3.5 Conclusion

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • 3.5.1 Why should the public have influence?

1 Readings

  • 3.5.2 Want more?

4.1 Introducing lobbying and campaign financing

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 4.1.4 What do you know about campaigning and lobbying?

1 Videos

  • 4.1.2 An intro to campaigning and lobbying

2 Readings

  • 4.1.1 In this module
  • 4.1.3 Lobbying and campaign finance around the world

4.2 The size of lobbing and campaign financing

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 4.2.3 Can you tell?

1 Videos

  • 4.2.1 The dominance of the rich

1 Readings

  • 4.2.2 Does campaign spending work?

4.3 The arguments for and against campaign financing

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 4.3.3 Lobbying and campaign finance: pro and con

1 Discussions

  • 4.3.4 What to think about voters’ capacities?

1 Videos

  • 4.3.1 What are the arguments in favour?

1 Readings

  • 4.3.2 Corruption and political inequality

4.4 Regulation

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 4.4.2 Regulations where you live

1 Videos

  • 4.4.1 Regulating campaign finance

1 Readings

  • 4.4.3 Experiments with public funding

4.5 Conclusion

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • 4.5.1 Lobbying: right or wrong?

1 Readings

  • 4.5.2 Reading: want more?

5.1 Introducing capital flight & tax avoidance

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • 5.1.4 Classifying capital flight

1 Videos

  • 5.1.2 Types of capital flight

2 Readings

  • 5.1.1 In this module
  • 5.1.3 Case studies

5.2 Capital flight, inequality and democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 5.2.3 Consequences of capital flight

1 Videos

  • 5.2.1 The race to the bottom

1 Readings

  • 5.2.2 The impact of capital flight

5.3 Dealing with tax avoidance

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 5.3.3 The financial secrecy index

1 Videos

  • 5.3.1 Exposing secrets, closing loopholes

1 Readings

  • 5.3.2 Getting rid of tax havens

5.4 Responding to real capital flight

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 5.4.2 Responding to real capital flight

1 Discussions

  • 5.4.3 Sovereignty, democracy, or globalization?

1 Videos

  • 5.4.1 The capital flight trilemma

5.5 Conclusion

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • 5.5.1 Capital flight: apply your knowledge

1 Readings

  • 5.5.2 Want more?

6.1 Theories of property-owning democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 6.1.5 Property-owning democracy

1 Videos

  • 6.1.2 Property-owning democracy

3 Readings

  • 6.1.1 In this module
  • 6.1.3 Thomas Paine’s agrarian justice
  • 6.1.4 Community wealth funds

6.2 Workplace democracy

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 6.2.2 Case study: Mondragon

1 Discussions

  • 6.2.4 The parallel case argument

1 Videos

  • 6.2.1 Workplace democracy

1 Readings

  • 6.2.3 Codetermination in Germany

6.3 The Commons

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 6.3.2 Basic concepts

1 Videos

  • 6.3.1 Common property regimes

2 Readings

  • 6.3.3 The knowledge commons
  • 6.3.4 Energy cooperatives

6.4 Transforming society’s institutions

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • 6.4.3 Strategies for change

1 Videos

  • 6.4.1 A theory of transformation

1 Readings

  • 6.4.2 Pathways to an equal society

6.5 Conclusion

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • 6.5.1 Your alternative economic institution

1 Readings

  • 6.5.2 Want more?

6.6 Course conclusion

    • 2 Readings
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2 Readings

  • 6.6.1 Acknowledgements and Biographies
  • 6.6.2 Final survey

Auto Summary

Explore the intricate relationship between economic inequality and political democracy in this interdisciplinary course. Delve into topics like property rights, campaign finance, and tax avoidance, while examining democracy's history and value. Ideal for concerned citizens and professionals in politics, media, education, and law, this foundation-level course requires no prior knowledge. Offered by Coursera with flexible subscription options, it spans 1260 minutes and integrates politics, philosophy, economics, history, and law for a comprehensive learning experience.

Yara Salman
Instructors

Yara Salman

Rutger Claassen
Instructors

Rutger Claassen

Michael Bennett
Instructors

Michael Bennett