| Course Name | Comparative Politics |
| Code | Semester | Theory (hour/week) | Application/Lab (hour/week) | Local Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSIR 605 | Spring | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Prerequisites | None | |||||
| Course Language | English | |||||
| Course Type | Required | |||||
| Course Level | Third Cycle | |||||
| Mode of Delivery | - | |||||
| Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course | ||||||
| Course Coordinator | - | |||||
| Course Lecturer(s) | ||||||
| Assistant(s) | ||||||
| Course Objectives | The primary objective of this course is to help students construct a comparative approach in analyzing political systems and their components in relation to complementary social and economic indicators. The secondary objective of this course is to encourage students to use their theoretical know-how in analyzing contemporary political affairs in the world. Finally, the course seeks to motivate students for future inquiry by focusing on the limitations of existing conceptual and theoretical approaches and concluding with thought-provoking questions, rather than answers. |
| Learning Outcomes | The students who succeeded in this course;
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| Course Description | The course content includes a brief discussion of comparative methodology, followed by a broad overview of state formation and state theory. The discussions on democracy and authoritarianism will serve as an initial attempt towards comparative analysis. In addition, the focus on social movements and different levels of economic development will be complementary variables in comparative analysis. Further inquiry will focus on global governance, cosmopolitanism and anarchy as possible lines of inquiry in the future. |
| Related Sustainable Development Goals | |
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| Core Courses | |
| Major Area Courses | X | |
| Supportive Courses | ||
| Media and Managment Skills Courses | ||
| Transferable Skill Courses |
| Week | Subjects | Required Materials |
| 1 | Introduction | |
| 2 | Comparative Methodology | *Ljiphart, Arend, "Comparative Politics and The Comparative Method." American Political Science Review 65, No. 03 (1971): 682-693. Suggested Read: Landman, Todd, Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics, Routledge, 2006. |
| 3 | State Theory | * Held, David, Political Theory and the Modern State, Stanford UP, 1989. Suggested Read: Berberoglu, Berch, Political Sociology in a Global Era: An Introduction to the State and Society, Routledge, 2013. |
| 4 | Democracy | *Tilly, Charles, Democracy, CUP, 2007. Suggested Read: Laclau, Ernesto, and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, Verso, 2014. Held, David, Models of Democracy, Standford UP, 1997. |
| 5 | Authoritarianism | *Linz, Juan J., Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, Rienner Publishers, 2000. Suggested Read: Atwood, MArgaret, Handmaid’s Tale, Anchor Books, 1998. Orwell, George, 1984, Samaira Book Publishers, 2017. |
| 6 | Roundtable Discussion: Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Mexico, India, Spain | |
| 7 | MIDTERM EXAM | |
| 8 | Government and Its Branches | * Ljiphart, Arend, Patterns of Democracy, Yale UP, 2012. Suggested Read: Newton, Kenneth, and Jan W. Van Deth, Foundations of Comparative Politics: Democracies of the Modern World, Cambridge UP, 2016. |
| 9 | Non-State Actors in Politics | *Della Porta, Donatella, and Mario Diani, Social Movements: An Introduction, Wiley and Blackwell, 2006. Suggested Read: Tilly, Charles and Sidney Tarrow, Contentious Politics, Oxford UP, 2015. |
| 10 | Politics and Economics | *Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, Crown Business, 2012. Suggested Read: Frank, Andre Gunder, Development of Underdevelopment, Monthly Review, 1966. |
| 11 | The Polity in Crisis | * Bauman, Zygmunt, and Carlo Bordoni, State of Crisis, Polity Press, 2014. Suggested Read: Della Porta, Donatella, Can Democracy Be Saved?, Polity Press, 2013. |
| 12 | Political Alternatives: Global Governance, Cosmopolitanism, Anarchy | * David Held, Reframing global governance: Apocalypse soon or reform! ,New Political Economy, 11:2, 2006, 157-176. * Brock, Gillian, and Harry Brighouse (eds.), The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism, Cambridge UP, 2005. *Ward, Colin, Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford UP, 2004. |
| 13 | Roundtable Discussion: Turkey, South Korea, Argentina, Chile, Russia, Iran | |
| 14 | Review | |
| 15 | Review | |
| 16 | Final Exam |
| Course Notes/Textbooks | Required and suggested readings are listed above.
*All course readings are available at the University Library and as open sources. |
| Suggested Readings/Materials | ACADEMIC HONESTY: Honesty and trust are the most fundamental pillars of learning and are necessary foundation for success and academic freedom in a university. Hence, any behavior that jeopardizes the learning environment by violating the rules of academic honesty will not be tolerated or condoned: Violations of academic honesty include but are not limited to: Cheating or facilitating cheating • looking or attempting to look at another student's answers or allowing others to copy one's answers, • copying other student’s in-class or take-home exam answers or letting others use take-home exam answers, • using "cheat sheet," pre-programmed calculator if not allowed by the instructor, • having someone else prepare the term project or homework or letting others use one’s homework/term project/paper, • Assistance of another person in preparation of a tem paper/homework/project if not allowed by the instructor, • Taking an exam for another student, • Purchasing term projects or homework or other assignments, • Signing in place of another student using their name/signature/student id number, Plagiarism • showing the work of another as one's own, • Not properly citing an earlier own work, • Submitting the same homework/paper/term project in one more one course if not allowed by the instructor, • Inaccurately or inadequately citing sources including those from the Internet, Violations of academic honesty can result in disciplinary action, as stated in the "Student Disciplinary Rules and Regulation" of the University. http://www.ieu.edu.tr/en/bylaws/type/read/id/13 and http://kariyer.ieu.edu.tr/en/bylaws/type/read/id/81 By enrolling in the University, each student is assumed to have read the rules and regulations regarding academic dishonesty, and lack of knowledge of this policy is not an acceptable defense. |
| Semester Activities | Number | Weigthing |
| Participation | 1 | 10 |
| Laboratory / Application | ||
| Field Work | ||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | ||
| Portfolio | ||
| Homework / Assignments | ||
| Presentation / Jury | 1 | 20 |
| Project | ||
| Seminar / Workshop | ||
| Oral Exam | ||
| Midterm | 1 | 30 |
| Final Exam | 1 | 40 |
| Total |
| Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 3 | 60 |
| Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 1 | 40 |
| Total |
| Semester Activities | Number | Duration (Hours) | Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | ||
| Study Hours Out of Class | 14 | 8 | 112 |
| Field Work | |||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | |||
| Portfolio | |||
| Homework / Assignments | |||
| Presentation / Jury | 1 | 12 | |
| Project | |||
| Seminar / Workshop | |||
| Oral Exam | |||
| Midterms | 1 | 25 | |
| Final Exams | 1 | 28 | |
| Total | 225 |
| # | Program Competencies/Outcomes | * Contribution Level | ||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | To be able to improve and deepen the theoretical and conceptual proficiencies on Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 2 | To be able to evaluate critically and analytically the relationships between various factors in the discipline of Political Science and International Relations such as structures, actors, institutions and culture at an advanced level. | X | ||||
| 3 | To be able to determine the theoretical and empirical gaps in Political Science and International Relations literature and gain the ability of questioning at an advanced level. | X | ||||
| 4 | To be able to gain the ability to develop innovative, leading and original arguments in order to fill the gaps in Political Science and International Relations literature. | X | ||||
| 5 | To be able to gather, analyze, and interpret the data by using advanced qualitative or quantitative research methods in Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 6 | To be able to develop original academic works and publish scientific articles in refereed national or international indexed journals in the field of Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
| 7 | To be able to describe individual research and contemporary developments in Political Science and International Relations in written, oral, and visual forms. | X | ||||
| 8 | To be able to take responsibility in an individual capacity and/or as part of a team in generating innovative and analytical solutions to the problems that arise in relation to the politics in daily life. | X | ||||
| 9 | To be able to develop projects in determining the institutional and political instruments for conflict resolution in national and international politics. | X | ||||
| 10 | To be able to prepare an original thesis in Political Science and International Relations based on scientific criteria. | X | ||||
| 11 | To be able to follow new research and developments, publish scientific articles and participate the debates in academic meetings in Political Science and International Relations through a foreign language. | X | ||||
| 12 | To be able to have ethical, social and scientific values in the stages throughout the processes of gathering, interpreting, disseminating and implementing data relevant to Political Science and International Relations. | X | ||||
*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest
