This course develops research questions about democracy, autocracy, and everything in-between. It uses the post-1945 experiences of Northeast and Southeast Asia’s varied political systems to address important theoretical debates in comparative politics, and developmental studies. It seeks to understand why, over the past decades, East Asia has seen the rise, demise and return of authoritarian modes of governance, in parallel with the emergence of multifaceted processes of political liberalisation. It examines the various challenges of democratic transition and consolidation in the region, but also democratic regression and illiberal politics, questioning the developmental state and modernization theory, military intervention in politics, political contention, party systems, elites and dynasticism, democracy promotion and their impact on authoritarian resilience and democratic change. How can we make sense of East Asia’s highly diverse political institutions, regime formation and durability, historical legacies and cultural dynamics, and what can we learn from the region? The course will be structured thematically so that students will be able to study East Asia comparatively while making connections with the broader fields of comparative politics.