Information Package
baskent.edu.tr

Program of Political Science and International Relations (English)

POLI307

COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Course Code
POLI307
Semester
Fifth Term (Fall)
Theory+Practice
3 + 0
ECTS
5
Course TypeCompulsory Course
Course LevelBachelor's Degree
Year of Study3
SemesterFifth Term (Fall)
ECTS5
Name of Lecturer(s)
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

  1. learn the field of comparative politics.
  2. have knowledge about different political systems.
  3. gain the capability to carry out comparative analysis in political science.
  4. develop the capacity to draw the links between historical processes and the current political systems.
Mode of DeliveryFace to face
PrerequisitesNo
Recommended Optional Programme ComponentsNo recommended optional programme components.
Course DescriptionThis course aims to introduce students to Comparative Politics, a sub-field of Political Science. The comparative method will be studied and adopted throughout the course, emphasizing its importance for political science. Having this in mind, the course is structured into three parts: In the first part, basic principles of comparative method will be introduced and discussed. In the rest of the course, comparative method is employed to understand democracies and non-democracies. The overall goal is to understand how political regimes are compared within and across each other. As well as investigating various dimensions of comparison, the course will also use specific case studies in order to concretize both various regime types and to operationalize comparative method across various units of analysis. Therefore, countries are selected from the categories of established democracies, mixed regimes and non-democratic countries. The similarities and differences of these countries will be emphasized. At the end of the semester, students will have information about how to employ comparative method, what is its importance for political science, and a select group of countries and the political processes in these countries. **OYS password: 3072023**
Course Contents
WEEK TOPICS
1st Week Introduction to the course
2nd Week Basics of comparative politics and comparative method
3rd Week The Modern State: Concept, Origins and Development
4th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Critical junctures and dynamics of state development
5th Week Political Regimes: Democratic Regimes and Models of Democracy
6th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Historical Roots and Features of Democracies
7th Week Midterm Exam
8th Week Party Systems
9th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Historical Roots of Party Systems and their Contemporary Dynamics (US, Britain, France)
10th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Historical Roots of Party Systems and their Contemporary Dynamics (Germany, Japan, and India)
11th Week Government Systems (The Executive and Legislative)
12th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Government System Types and Variation in Executive and Legislative Relationships (US, France, and Britain)
13th Week Elections and Electoral Systems
14th Week Comparative Case Study Exercise: Outcomes of different electoral systems (US, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan)
Recommended or Required ReadingM. Kesselman, J. Krieger, and W.A. Joseph (Eds.) Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas, Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Daniele Caramani (ed.) Comparative Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Schmitter, P. and Karl, T. L. (1991) `What Democracy is ? and is Not?, Journal of Democracy, vol. 2, no. 3, 75-87.
Recommended Books:
S. Sayarı and Hasret Dikici Bilgin (2016) Karşılaştırmalı Siyaset: Temel Konular ve Yaklaşımlar, İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları
Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
  • Lecture
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Quantity Percentage (%)
Mid-term 1 40
Quiz 1 15
Total(%) 55
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 55
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 45
Total(%) 100
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration (Hour) Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam 1 1.25 1.25
Preparation for Quiz 2 4 8
Individual or group work 14 4 56
Preparation for Final exam 1 24 24
Course hours 14 3 42
Preparation for Midterm exam 1 18 18
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam 1 1.5 1.5
Homework
Total Work Load150.75
Total Work Load / 30 (h)5.02
ECTS Credit of the Course5
Language of InstructionEnglish
Work Placement(s)No

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

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K8 X X X X
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K11 X X
K12 X X
K13 X X