POL4343 Comparative DemocratizationBahçeşehir UniversityDegree Programs PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITYGeneral Information For StudentsDiploma SupplementErasmus Policy StatementNational QualificationsBologna Commission
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY
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
POL4343 Comparative Democratization Spring 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: Hybrid
Course Coordinator : Assoc. Prof. ESRA ALBAYRAKOĞLU
Course Lecturer(s): Dr. Öğr. Üyesi YÜKSEL ALPER ECEVİT
Recommended Optional Program Components: None
Course Objectives: This course deals with the democratization literature in the comparative political studies which emerged in the 1960s and which has reached the present time with a particular focus on the effects of the rising right-wing populism over democratic backsliding. The first few weeks will revisit what democracy is and entails, a theme that is familiar to the students from their previous courses. Then the course will go further and examine the different conceptions of democracy based on the identification of various layers by prominent theorists. Types of dictatorships will be analysed afterwards since the term ‘democratization’ implies the existence of a prior regime which is not democratic. Then the different theories of democratization, namely the Modernization Theory, Historical Sociology, and Transition Theories will be examined. A relatively new phenomenon labelled “competitive authoritarianism”, “authoritarian populism”, “right-wing populism” and so on by many scholars, which is thought to be the consequence of the crisis of representative democracy in the harsh times of globalization, will be dealt with too. The four weeks that will precede the last lecture will be assigned to students’ presentations.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
The students who have succeeded in this course;
I. Understand political regime definitions, and distinguish various procedures, and principles of democratic regime types forwarded by different political scientists.
II. Identify main causes of democracy and distinguish main approaches to democratization such as modernization, cultural, structural and political transitions approaches.
III. Acquire the ability to critically engage with these conceptual frameworks (named above) that aim to explain democracy and democratization
IV. Attain competence to understand and analyze the workings of principal democratic institutions such as forms of democratic government (presidential-parliamentary), party systems and electoral systems
V. Compare the impact of these different democratic political institutional clusters to democratic regime maintenance, stability, and consolidation.

Course Content

Democracy: definitional issues; Single and multidimensional conceptions of democracy; Types of dictatorships; Theories of democratization; Globalization, Competitive Authoritarianism, Authoritarian Populism

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week Subject Related Preparation
1) Introduction to the course
2) Democracy: Definitional Issues I
3) Democracy: Definitional Issues II
4) Single- and multi-dimensional conceptions of democracy
5) Types of dictatorships   
6) Theories of Democratization I
7) WRAP UP & Q/A
8) Theories of Democratization II
9) Globalization, Competitive Authoritarianism, Authoritarian Populism
10) Presentations
11) Presentations
12) Presentations
13) Presentations
14) WRAP UP & Q/A

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks: Philip J. Adler and Randal Pouwels (2006) World Civilizations Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth
Andrew Heywood (2013) Politics 4th Edition New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Robert Dahl (1971) Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition Yale University Press
Samuel Huntington (1991) ‘Democracy’s Third Wave’, Journal of Democracy 2(2), pp. 12-34.
Philippe Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl (1994) ‘What Democracy Is… And Is Not’, Journal of Democracy 2(3), pp. 75-88.
Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan (1996) Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
S. Martin Lipset (1959) ‘Some Social Requisites of Democracy’, American Political Science Review 53(1), pp. 69-105.
Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba (1980) The Civic Culture Revisited Boston: Little Brown
Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi (1997) ‘Modernization: Theories and Facts’, World Politics 49(2), pp. 155-184
Barrington Moore (1993) Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy Beacon Press
Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens, John D. Stephens (1992) ‘Capitalist Development and Democracy’, Contemporary Sociology pp. 243-248.
Guillermo O’Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter (1986), ‘Opening (and Undermining) Authoritarian Regimes in Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions About Uncertain Democracies Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 15-36.
Ozan O. Varol (2012) ‘The Democratic Coup d’Etat’, Harvard International Law Journal 53(2), pp. 292-356.
Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way (2006) ‘Linkage versus Leverage: Rethinking the International Dimension of Regime Change’, Comparative Politics 38(4), pp. 379-400.
Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way (2002) ‘Elections Without Democracy: The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism’, Journal of Democracy 13(2), pp. 51-65.
Cas Mudde and C. R. Kaltwasser (2017) Populism: A Very Short Introduction New York: OUP
Jan-Werner Müller (2016) What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
References: Mevcut Değil

Evaluation System

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

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities Number of Activities Workload
Course Hours 10 30
Study Hours Out of Class 10 116.5
Presentations / Seminar 1 0.5
Midterms 1 1.5
Final 1 1.5
Total Workload 150

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 prepare the students to become communication professionals by focusing on strategic thinking, professional writing, ethical practice and innovative use of traditional and new media
2) To be able to create effective public relations plans using fundamental planning components that include situation analysis, public profile, objectives, strategies and tactics.
3) To be able to apply theoretical concepts related to mass communication, consumer behavior, psychology, persuasion,sociology, marketing, and other related fields to understand how public realtions works.
4) To be able to have the ability to explain and identify problems associated with the relationships between events and facts in the areas of public relations, persuasive communication, communication management, corporate communications.
5) To be able to analyze primary and secondary research data in the fields of perception and reputation management and corporate communication practices.
6) To be able to search, write, and design articles, newsletters, and fliers, brochures, and announcements, in styles and formats appropraite various audiences, mediums and settings.
7) To be able to apply the underlying theories of communication and the necessities of work safety to different types of public relations processes and campaigns.
8) To be able to develop creative and persuasive management skills in terms of reputation, employee relations, leadership and similar corporate practices.
9) To be able to take responsibility in an individual capacity or as a team in generating solutions to given scenarios which can occur in public relations processes.
10) To be able to understand how an organizational culture works and how employees and leaders create messages as a communication tool.
11) To be able to critically discuss and interpret theories, concepts, methods, tools and ideas in the field of public relations.
12) To be able to to use information, communication technologies and computer software with the required level of public relations, marketing communication, persuasive communication, communication management, corporate communications.
13) To be able to explain and describe business marketing activities, economics, business law and global business practices.
14) To be able to recognize national and international, social and cultural dimensions of public relations.