Assess students' ability to evaluate and compare the relative influence of institutional structures (electoral systems, party systems, judicial and media independence), political ideology (polarization, identity-based rhetoric, nativism), and economic interests (inequality, austerity, labor market change) on the rise of authoritarian populism in Western democracies since 2008; require a reasoned argument, cross-national evidence (e.g., US, UK, France, Italy, Poland, Hungary), consideration of interacting mechanisms, and appraisal of explanatory power and policy implications.