SOCIOLOGY
Bachelor	TR-NQF-HE: Level 6	QF-EHEA: First Cycle	EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code	Course Name	Semester	Theoretical	Practical	Credit	ECTS
POL6003	Comparative Politics	Fall	3	0	3	6

This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester.

Basic information

Language of instruction:	English
Type of course:	Non-Departmental Elective
Course Level:	Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle)
Mode of Delivery:	Face to face
Course Coordinator :	Assoc. Prof. ESRA ALBAYRAKOĞLU
Course Lecturer(s):	Dr. Öğr. Üyesi ARDA CAN KUMBARACIBAŞI
Recommended Optional Program Components:	none
Course Objectives:	This seminar has two goals. First, the seminar aims at familiarizing you with the core issues and fields of research in comparative politics. Second, it strives to provide you with conceptual, analytical and theoretical tols necessary for comparative political research.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
Acquires social, scientific and ethical values under any circumstances with regard to the field of Political Science and International Relations in data collection, interpretation, and dissemination processes and also develops knowledge and deepens the level of expertise.

Acquires knowledge on geographical, institutional, structural, conceptual and theoretical development of the international relations; also on the political, economic and juridical foundation of the state. Evaluated to be critical a variety of security issues, strategies, and practical consequences in the international arena.

Course Content

This course is a survey of major topics in comparative politics for Ph.D. students in political science. Comparative politics is both a method and a subject. As a subject, comparative politics studies the structures, institutions and outcomes of political processes. As a method, comparative politics aims at systematically comparing and contrasting the political mechanisms (not just of different countries, but in different regions and transnational formations) in order to increase our knowledge of political life.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Subject	Related Preparation
1)	Introduction
2)	What is comparative politics?	Arend Lijphardt, “Comparative politics and comparative method,” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 65, No. 3 (September 1971), pp. 682-693. David Collier, “The comparative method” in Political Science: The state of the discipline II, edited by A.W. Finifter, Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association.
3)	Thinking about Power	John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness. Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (University of Illinois Press, 1982), 3-32. Jeffrey C. Isaac, “Beyond the Three Faces of Power: A Realist Critique,” Polity, Vol. 20, No.1 (Autumn 1987), pp.4-31.
4)	State building	Thomas Ertman, Birth of the Leviathan : Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
5)	Democracy and Social Classes	Barrington Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World (Beacon Press, 1993)
6)	States and Revolutions	Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China (Cambridge University Press, 1979)
7)	Regimes and Performance	Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Crown Business, 2012)
8)	Nationalism	Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Verso, 2006)
9)	Political Culture	Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, 1994)
10)	Social Movements	Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement (Cambridge, 2011)
11)	Institutions and Interests	Albert O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Harvard, 1970)
12)	Institutions and Political Development	Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies (Yale, 2006)
13)	Political Violence	Stathis Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War
14)	Overview and general assessment of the course	Acedemic Articles and related books

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks:

Thomas Ertman, Birth of the Leviathan : Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Barrington Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World (Beacon Press, 1993)
Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China (Cambridge University Press, 1979)
Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Crown Business, 2012)
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Verso, 2006)
Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, 1994)
Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement (Cambridge, 2011)
Albert O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Harvard, 1970)
Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies (Yale, 2006)
Stathis Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge, 2006)

References:

Arend Lijphardt, “Comparative politics and comparative method,” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 65, No. 3 (September 1971), pp. 682-693
David Collier, “The comparative method” in Political Science: The state of the discipline II, edited by A.W. Finifter, Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association
John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness. Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (University of Illinois Press, 1982), 3-32
Jeffrey C. Isaac, “Beyond the Three Faces of Power: A Realist Critique,” Polity, Vol. 20, No.1 (Autumn 1987), pp.4-31

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements	Number of Activities	Level of Contribution
Attendance	14	% 20
Homework Assignments	14	% 40
Final	1	% 40
Total		% 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK		% 60
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK		% 40
Total		% 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities	Number of Activities	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Course Hours	14	3	42
Application	14	4	56
Study Hours Out of Class	14	6	84
Homework Assignments	13	3	39
Paper Submission	1	1	1
Final	1	3	3
Total Workload			225

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect	1 Lowest	2 Low	3 Average	4 High	5 Highest

	Program Outcomes	Level of Contribution
1)	To learn and compare major sociology perspectives, both classical and contemporary, and apply all of them to analysis of social conditions.
2)	To be able to identify the basic methodological approaches in building sociological and anthropological knowledge at local and global levels
3)	To be able to use theoretical and applied knowledge acquired in the fields of statistics in social sciences.
4)	To have a basic knowledge of other disciplines (including psychology, history, political science, communication studies and literature) that can contribute to sociology and to be able to make use of this knowledge in analyzing sociological processes
5)	To have a knowledge and practice of scientific and ethical principles in collecting, interpreting and publishing sociological data also develop ability how to share this data with experts and lay people, using effective communication skills
6)	To develop competence in analyzing and publishing sociological knowledge by using computer software for quantitative and qualitative analysis; and develop an attitute for learning new techniques in these fields.
7)	To identify and to have a knowledge of the theories related to urban and rural sociology and demography, and political sociology, sociology of gender, sociology of body, visual sociology, sociology of work, sociology of religion, sociology of knowledge and sociology of crime.
8)	To have knowledge of how sociology is positioned as a scientific discipline from a philosophical and historical perspective
9)	To have the awareness of social issues in Turkish society, to develop critical perspective in analysing these issues and to have a knowledge of the works of Turkish sociologists and to be able to transfer this knowledge
10)	To have the awareness of social issues and global societal processes and to apply sociological analysis to development and social responsibility projects
11)	To have the ability to define a research question, design a research project and complete a written report for various fields of sociology, either as an individual or as a team member.
12)	To be able to transfer the knowledge gained in the areas of sociology to the level of secondary school.