EUROPEAN UNION RELATIONS
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
POL3322	Electoral Behavior	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:	Departmental Elective
Course Level:	Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle)
Mode of Delivery:	Hybrid
Course Coordinator :	Assoc. Prof. ESRA ALBAYRAKOĞLU
Course Objectives:	This course is designed to familiarize students with basic approaches to explaining voting behavior. Students will be asked to read and understand representative scholars and literature starting with the early days of the subdiscipline of electoral behavior.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Grasp the history of electoral research and voting studies;
2. Explain basic approaches to voting behavior analysis; rational vs emotional voter;
3. Define economic, sociological, and psychological explanations and theories of voting and voters;
4. Explain the effects of political and emotional polarization on voting decisions;
5. Evaluate the Turkish voter behavior.

Course Content

This course aims at familiarizing the students with a brief history of voting studies and theories of voting from the most classical to the very recent. Students will be given examples of rational vs. emotional voter and then the theories will be applied to the Turkish voter.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Subject	Related Preparation
1)	Introduction
2)	A short history of voting studies	Required reading: • Evans, Jocelyn A. C., Voters and Voting: an introduction. Chapter 2, London: Sage Publications, 2004.
3)	Main approaches to the study of voting behavior	Required reading: • Lau, Richard R., and Redlawsk, David P., How Voters Decide. Chapter 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
4)	Rational vs emotional voter	Required reading: • Bartels, Larry M., “The Irrational Electorate” in The Wilson Quarterly, Autumn 2008, pp. 44-50.
5)	Economy as the main determinant of voting behavior	Required reading: • Brug, van der Wouter, Eijk, Cees van der and Franklin, Mark, The Economy and the Vote, Chapter 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
6)	MIDTERM EXAM
7)	Economy as the main determinant of voting behavior	Required reading: • Brug, van der Wouter, Eijk, Cees van der and Franklin, Mark, The Economy and the Vote, Chapter 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
8)	Sociological approaches to the study of voting behavior	Evans, Jocelyn A. C., Voters and Voting: an introduction. Chapter 3, London: Sage Publications, 2004.
9)	Socio-psychological approaches to the study of voting behavior	Required readings: • Harrop, Martin and Miller, William, L., Elections and Voters, Chapter 6, London: The MacMillan Press, 1987.
10)	Religion, religiosity and the voter	Required reading: • Esmer, Yılmaz and Pettersson, Thorleif “The Effects of Religion and Religiosity on Voting Behavior” in Dalton, Russell J. and Klingemann, Hans-Dieter, The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
11)	Experimental approaches to the study of voting behavior	Required reading: • Blais, Andre, et. al. eds., Voting Experiments, Introduction, Switzerland: Springer, 2016.
12)	Biology, neuroscience and voting	Required readings: • “Can Your Genes Predict Whether You’ll Be a Conservative or a Liberal?” Avi Tuschman, The Atlantic, October 24, 2013.
13)	The Turkish Voter	Required readings: • Esmer “At the ballot box: determinants of voting behavior” in Sayari and Esmer, ch.5 and Esmer, Karadon and Baykal “Urban myths versus realities” in Canan-Sokullu, pp. 43-62.
14)	Wrap Up and Q&A

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks:	Weekly readings will be uploaded on ItsLearning at the beginning of the semester.
References:

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements	Number of Activities	Level of Contribution
Homework Assignments	2	% 20
Midterms	1	% 30
Final	1	% 50
Total		% 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK		% 50
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK		% 50
Total		% 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities	Number of Activities	Workload
Course Hours	13	39
Study Hours Out of Class	13	99
Homework Assignments	2	6
Midterms	1	2
Final	1	2
Total Workload		148

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 be able to examine, interpret data and assess ideas with the scientific methods in the area of EU studies.
2)	To be able to inform authorities and institutions in the area of EU studies, to be able to transfer ideas and proposals supported by quantitative and qualitative data about the problems.
3)	To be introduced to and to get involved in other disciplines that EU studies are strongly related with (political science, international relations, law, economics, sociology, etc.) and to be able to conduct multi-disciplinary research and analysis on European politics.
4)	To be able to evaluate current news on European Union and Turkey-EU relations and identify, analyze current issues relating to the EU’s politics and policies.
5)	To be able to use English in written and oral communication in general and in the field of EU studies in particular.
6)	To have ethical, social and scientific values throughout the processes of collecting, interpreting, disseminating and implementing data related to EU studies.
7)	To be able to assess the historical development, functioning of the institutions and decision-making system and common policies of the European Union throughout its economic and political integration in a supranational framework.
8)	To be able to evaluate the current legal, financial and institutional changes that the EU is going through.
9)	To explain the dynamics of enlargement processes of the EU by identifying the main actors and institutions involved and compare previous enlargement processes and accession process of Turkey.
10)	To be able to analyze the influence of the EU on political, social and economic system of Turkey.
11)	To acquire insight in EU project culture and to build up project preparation skills in line with EU format and develop the ability to work in groups and cooperate with peers.
12)	To be able to recognize theories and concepts used by the discipline of international relations and relate them to the historical development of the EU as a unique post-War political project.