The main aim of this course is to provide insights about democracy studies. Along with the definitions of democracy and democratization, how the literature has been evolving and where it has been headed are main issues that will be covered in this course. After providing the necessary conceptual tools, the actual cases under the banner of waves of democratization will be evaluated. This course aims to compare and contrast the following (1) various conceptualizations democracy and democratization (2) different paths towards democracy. In order to do this, the course is designed in themes that are embedded in a wider framework of theoretical analyses of democracy as well as relevant case studies from several countries.