The course comprises of three interrelated sections: the first one examines a selection of important “moments” of Democracy as an ideal or/and regime, such as classical Athens and the «re-invention» of democracy in the 18th century. The second section examines models of democracy, mainly from a theoretical point of view, such as those of deliberative democracy and the economic theory of democracy. The third section examines the state of “malaise” or crisis observed in contemporary democracies and the challenges they have to meet, such as the problems of democratic control, legitimization and accountability which issue from the reduction of the power of national representative institutions and the fragmented character of world governance, the tendencies of the rise of populism and extremism, the tension between technocracy and popular sovereignty etc.