This course aims to examine the basic features of democracy, its definitions, the causes of its emergence, as well as its strengths and problems. The course also examines the waves of democratization in the modern world, with particular emphasis on the global spread of democracies in the late 20th century and beyond, and applies the concepts of democracy and democratization to controversial questions like whether democracy is a universal value, whether it can promote human rights, whether there is an inherent conflict between the Confucian ethos and democracy, whether democracy leads to welfare-state, and whether democracy is favourable or unfavourable to economic development. The course attempts to assess some major challenges facing democracy, such as the China model and globalized capitalism. Students are required to critically evaluate the democratization process in some of the East Asian societies: Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and so on.