MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS
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
POL4991	Political Culture and Democracy	Fall	3	0	3	4

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):	Prof. Dr. YILMAZ ESMER
Recommended Optional Program Components:	None
Course Objectives:	This course is designed to discuss theories, methods, and findings of empirical research on democratic political culture. First, we will discuss a general frame of reference for the study of political culture and then we move into the classics to distinguish between different types of democratic communities. After setting out the stage for a general framework, we proceed to a detailed examination of Turkish political culture.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
The students who have succeeded in this course;

1- Define various approaches to democracy;
2- Grasp the measurement of democracy and democracy scales developed by various institutions;
3- Explain various cultural approaches to politics and political regimes starting with Platon and Aristotle;
4- Evaluate definitions of political culture and comparative empirical studies of this concept;
5- Identify main features of Turkish political culture.

Course Content

Defining democratization, approaches to the measurement of democracy, classical and contemporary theories, analysis of democratic political culture, ‘‘The Civic Culture“, Islam and democracy, Turkish political culture

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Subject	Related Preparation
1)	Introduction
2)	What is democratization? What are the major analytical tools for studying democratization? How can regimes be classified? What are the two essential conditions of a democratic regime?	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 2 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009). Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 3 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
3)	Approaches to the measurement of democracy, major indices of democracy	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 3 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
4)	Classical and contemporary theories of democracy and democratization. Different paths to democratization	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 6 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
5)	When and how democratization fails?	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 17 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
6)	A general framework for the analysis of democratic political culture	Required reading: • Dieter Fuchs. 2007. “The Political Culture Paradigm.” In Russell J. Dalton and Hans-Dieter Klingemann (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 161-184.
7)	MIDTERM EXAM
8)	A true classic in the study of political culture: "The Civic Culture"	Required readings: • Gabriel A. Almond and Sidney Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press. esp. chapters 1, 2, 13. • Gabriel Almond, 1980. “The Intellectual History of the Civic Culture Concept.” In Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, eds., The Civic Culture Revisited. Boston: Little Brown, pp. 1-36.
9)	Political culture as an essential factor in sustaining a democratic regime.	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 9 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
10)	Gender, gender equality, women’s rights and democracy: do we know the answer to this question?	Required reading: • Democratization-Chapter 10 (C. W. Haerpfer, P. Bernhagen, R. F. Inglehart, C. Welzel, Oxford University Press, 2009).
11)	Religion, religiosity and democracy.	Required readings: • Samuel P. Huntington. 1993. “The Clash of Civilizations.” Foreign Affairs 72(3): 22-49. • Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart. 2003. “Islamic Culture and Democracy: Testing the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Thesis.” In Ronald Inglehart (ed.). Human Values and Social Change. Leiden: Brill, 5-33. • Yilmaz Esmer, “Is There and Islamic Civilization?” in Ronald Inglehart (ed.) Human Values and Social Change. Leiden: Brill,
12)	Rising populism and democracy: Can democracy survive the rising tide of populism?	Required readings: • Yascha Mounk, 2018 The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Save It? Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 41-61. • Rick Shenkman, “The Shocking Paper Predicting the End of Democracy,” Sept 08, 2019, Politico.
13)	Turkish Political Culture	Required reading: • Y. Esmer, A. Okcuoglu, S. Kurutas, “Political Culture: A Tale of Two Civilizations” in E. Canan Sokullu, ed., Turkey in Transition: Politics, Society and Foreign Policy. Peter Lang, 2020, 81-100.
14)	General Review

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks:	Weekly readings will be uploaded on ItsLearning at the beginning of the semester. Please note that all book chapters and articles listed on the syllabus are also accessible through the BAU Library.
References:	Haftalık ders okumalarının tamamı, dönem başında ItsLearning’e yüklenir. Ders izlencesinde yer alan tüm kitap bölümleri ve makalelere BAU Kütüphanesi’nden de erişilebilir.

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements	Number of Activities	Level of Contribution
Attendance	13	% 10
Midterms	1	% 30
Final	1	% 60
Total		% 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK		% 40
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK		% 60
Total		% 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities	Number of Activities	Workload
Course Hours	13	39
Study Hours Out of Class	13	58
Midterms	1	1.5
Final	1	1.5
Total Workload		100

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)	Utilize the wealth of information stored in computer databases to answer basic biological questions and solve problems such as diagnosis and treatment of diseases.	3
2)	Acquire an ability to compile and analyze biological information, clearly present and discuss the conclusions, the inferred knowledge and the arguments behind them both in oral and written format.	4
3)	Develop critical, creative and analytical thinking skills.	5
4)	Develop effective communication skills and have competence in scientific speaking, reading and writing abilities in English and Turkish.	3
5)	Gain knowledge of different techniques and methods used in genetics and acquire the relevant laboratory skills.	4
6)	Detect biological problems, learn to make hypothesis and solve the hypothesis by using variety of experimental and observational methods.	4
7)	Gain knowledge of methods for collecting quantitative and qualitative data and obtain the related skills.	3
8)	Conduct research through paying attention to ethics, human values and rights. Pay special attention to confidentiality of information while working with human subjects.	5
9)	Obtain basic concepts used in theory and practices of molecular biology and genetics and establish associations between them.	4
10)	Search and use literature to improve himself/herself and follow recent developments in science and technology.	5
11)	Be aware of the national and international problems in the field and search for solutions.	4