Graduate Education Institute · Political Science and International Relations · Doctorate
Course Objective
The aim of this course is to provide the analytical and practical knowledge in order the students to understand comparative politics around the world. In this course, we will address a variety of issues and topics that are substantial for the comparative politics and students will be able to discuss freely on them.
Course Content
Some of the subjects that will be covered in this course are: The state: origins and development, States and democracy, Democratic change and persistence, constitutions, political systems, Multi-level government: international, national and sub-national, Implementation: the public bureaucracy, Citizens, elites and interest mediation, Policies and performance and etc.
Required Resources
Drogus, Carol Ann and Stephen Orvis. 2014. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Understanding major approaches in comparative politics
- Learning different methodologies in comparative politics
Core Area Distribution
Teaching Methods
Assessment & Evaluation
ECTS / Workload
| Activity | Quantity | Duration (h) | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Duration (Including Exam Week) | 15 | 3 | 45 |
| Out of Class Study Period | 15 | 5 | 75 |
| Midterm | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Quiz | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Assignment | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Practice | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Course Schedule
| Week | Subject | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Comparative Politics and Social Science Methods | Textbook Chapter 1 “Introduction” | Lijphart, Arend. 1971. “Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method,” APSR, 65: 682-693. |
| 2 | What is State? How did It Emerge, Develop, and Diffuse? | Textbook Chapter 2 “The Modern State” | Max Weber. “Politics as Vocation” | Mann, Michael. 1984. “The Autonomous Power of the State.” European Journal of Sociology Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 185-213. |
| 3 | Nations and Nationalism | Textbook Chapter 4 “States and Identity” | Rogers Brubaker. Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany. Introduction (pp. 1-17). [Fransa ve Almanya’da Vatandaslik ve Ulus Ruhu. Heretik Yayinlari, 2018]. | Aktürk, Şener. 2011. “Regimes of Ethnicity: Comparative Analysis of Germany, the Soviet Union/Post-Soviet Russia, and Turkey.” World Politics Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 115-164. |
| 4 | Modernization Theory and Its Critics | Lerner, Daniel. The Passing of Traditional Society. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1958. Ch. 1. | Deutsch, Karl. 1961. “Social Mobilization and Political Development,” APSR 55 (3): 493-514. | Huntington, Samuel. Political Order in Changing Societies. 1968, pp. 1-92. | Przeworski, Adam and Fernando Limongi. 1997. “Modernization: Theories and Facts.” World Politics Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 155-183. | Acemoglu, Robinson, and Yared. 2008. “Income and Democracy” American Economic Review, Vol. 98, No. 3, pp. 808-842. |
| 5 | Political Culture, Religion, and Politics | Svante Ersson and Jan-Erik Lane. “Political Culture.” Danielle Caramani, ed. Comparative Politics, pp. 419-444. | Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel. “A Revised Theory of Modernization,” pp. 15-47. | Textbook Chapter 12 “Policies and Politics of Inclusion and Clashing Values” | M. Steven Fish. 2011. Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence. New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1. |
| 6 | Comparing Ideologies and Political Regimes | Textbook Chapter 3 “States, Citizens, and Regimes” | Robert Dahl. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971 (Ch. 1). | Schmitter, Philippe and Terry Karl. 1991. “What Democracy is... and is not.” Journal of Democracy 2(3): 75-88. |
| 7 | Political Systems, Participation, and Representation in Democracies | Textbook Chapter 6 “Governing Institutions in Democracies” | Textbook Chapter 7 “Institutions of Participation and Representation in Democracies” | Berman, Sheri. “Civil Society and Political Institutionalism,” American Behavioral Scientist 40:5 1997, 562-574. M. Steven Fish. 2006. “Stronger Legislatures, Stronger Democracies.” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 5-20. |
| 8 | Midterm exam | See syllabus |
| 9 | Regime Change | Textbook Chapter 9 “Regime Change” only pages 454-477. | Theda Skocpol. 1976. "France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social Revolutions" Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 175-210. | Weyland, Kurt. 2012. “The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848?” Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 917-934. |
| 10 | Why are Some Countries Democratic and Others Not? What is the Relationship between Democracy and Development? | Textbook Chapter 10 “Globalization, Economic Sovereignty, and Development” | Moore, Barrington. 1966. The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press (pp. 413-483). | Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. 2005. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Ch. 1 and 2). | Roberto Stefan Foa. 2018. "Modernization and Authoritarianism." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 129-140. |
| 11 | Democratization | Textbook Chapter 9 “Regime Change” only pages 477-507. | Narizny, Kevin. 2012. Anglo-American Primacy and the Global Spread of Democracy: An International Genealogy.” World Politics, Vol. 64, No. 2, pp. 341-373. | Schedler, Andreas. 1998. “What is Democratic Consolidation?” Journal of Democracy 9(2): 91-107. |
| 12 | Authoritarian Institutions | Textbook Chapter 8 “Authoritarian Institutions” | Diamond, Larry. 2002. “Thinking about Hybrid Regimes” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 21-35. | Levitsky, Steven and Lucan Way. 2010. Competitive Authoritarianism. Only “Introduction,” pp. 1-36. | M. Steven Fish. 2017. “What is Putinism?” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 61-75. | Steven Levitsky and Lucan Ahmad Way. 2019. "How autocrats can rig the game and damage democracy," Washington Post, Monkey Cage, January 4. | Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Erica Frantz. 2016. "When Dictators Die." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 159-171. |
| 13 | What is the Role of the State in Economy? | Textbook Chapter 5 “States and Markets” | J. A. Caporaso and D.P. Levine. Theories of Political Economy. Only Introduction (pp. 1-6) and Conclusion (pp. 217-226). | Lipscy, P. Y. (2018). Democracy and Financial Crisis. International Organization, 72(4): 957-961. | Gerschenkron, Alexander. 1964. Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Essays. New York: Praeger Publishers. |
| 14 | Market Failure and Welfare State | Textbook Chapter 11 “Public Policies When Markets Fail” |
| 15 | Final exam | See syllabus |
| 16 | Resit exam | See syllabus |


