The “False Choice” of Liberal Democracy: Participatory Assessment in the International Relations Classroom

Abstract

This article discusses practical forms of participatory assessment in the international relations (IR) classroom to examine the relationship between teaching and practicing democracy. These techniques include a series of exercises that allow students to explore the links between IR course content and classroom pedagogy. Drawing on the work of Slavoj Žižek, this study examines the ways in which participatory teaching methods challenge students to think about freedom and participation in the classroom and in general. Creating a responsive and participatory classroom generates important questions about the nature of foreign policy creation and the practical and ideological limits on democracy in IR.