COMPARATIVE POLITICAL PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS

PSIR530

Course Code: PSIR530
Semester: -
Theory+Practice: 3 + 0
ECTS: 10

Course Type

Elective Course

Course Level

Master's Degree With Thesis

Year of Study

Semester

ECTS

Name of Lecturer(s)

Associate Professor Hakan Yavuzyılmaz

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

Understand basic typologies of political party organizations
They gain knowledge of dynamics of change in political parties and party systems
Critically engage with the changing functions of political parties in democracies and authoritarian regimes.
Gain knowldege of political party and party system dynamics in different regions and Türkiye.

Mode of Delivery

Face to face

Prerequisites

Recommended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Description

Political parties are still considered to be the most important organisations for the stable functioning of democratic regimes. Although at some point the weakness of parties and the question of their legitimacy has influenced the debate around party politics, thanks to the critical and unique role that parties play in the functioning of democracy, modern democracy will continue to be unthinkable without political parties for the foreseeable future. Focusing on political parties and party systems, the main objective of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of political representation. In this framework, the organisational models of political parties, the main features of political party systems, and the relationship between political parties and party systems and democracy will be examined from a comparative perspective, with a focus on the case of Turkey.

Course Contents

WEEK	TOPICS
1^st Week	Introduction to the Course: Why Political Parties and Party Systems?
2^nd Week	Political Party Organizations and Models
3^rd Week	Ideology and Social Cleavages
4^th Week	Political Party Systems and Party System Typologies
5^th Week	Dynamics of Party and Party System Change
6^th Week	Party Systems in Developing Countries: Central and Eastern Europe
7^th Week	Party Systems in Developing Countries: Latin America
8^th Week	Party Systems in Developing Countries: Turkey
9^th Week	Political Parties and Democracy
10^th Week	Institutionalization of Political Parties/Party Systems and Dynamics of Systemic Collapse
11^th Week	Crisis/Decline of Political Parties and Democracy
12^th Week	Changing Functions of Political Parties in Authoritarian Regimes
13^th Week	Digitalization and Political Parties
14^th Week	The Future of Political Parties and Representative Democracy

Recommended or Required Reading

Bartolini, S., & Mair, P. (1990). Identity, competition, and electoral availability: The stabilisation of European electorates 1885?1985. Cambridge University Press.

Casal Bertoa, F., & Enyedi, Z. (2019). Party system institutionalization, party system volatility, and party system instability: Is there a difference? European Political Science Review, 11(4), 519?537. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773918000160
Casal?Bertoa, F. (2016). Political parties or party systems? Assessing the `myth? of institutionalisation and democracy. West European Politics, 40(2), 402?429. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2016.1216921
Casal Bertoa, F., & Lindberg, S. I. (2017). The pitfalls of political party institutionalization in new democracies. Party Politics, 23(6), 647?657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068815610106
Casal Bertoa, F., & Enyedi, Z. (2018). The institutionalization of party systems in East-Central Europe. In A. Mungiu-Pippidi & R. Nedelcheva (Eds.), Democracy in Eastern Europe: Resilience and Reconstruction (pp. 120?140). Routledge.
Dalton, R. J., & Wattenberg, M. P. (Eds.). (2000). Parties without partisans: Political change in advanced industrial democracies. Oxford University Press.
Duverger, M. (1954). Political parties: Their organization and activity in the modern state. Wiley.
Flanagan, S. C., & Dalton, R. J. (1984). Parties under stress: Realignment and dealignment in advanced industrial democracies. West European Politics, 7(1), 7?23. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402388408424415
Gallagher, M., & Mitchell, P. (Eds.). (2005). The politics of electoral systems. Oxford University Press.
Gerbaudo, P. (2019). The digital party: Political organisation and online democracy. Pluto Press.
Gümüşcü, Ş. (2013). The emerging predominant party system in Turkey. Government and Opposition, 48(2), 223?244. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2012.26
Harmel, R., & Svasand, L. G. (Eds.). (2019). Institutionalisation of political parties: Comparative cases. Rowman & Littlefield International.
Katz, R. S., & Mair, P. (1995). Changing models of party organization and party democracy: The emergence of the cartel party. Party Politics, 1(1), 5?28.
Katz, R. S., & Mair, P. (2018). Democracy and the cartelization of political parties. Oxford University Press.
Kitschelt, H. (2000). Linkages between citizens and politicians in democratic polities. Comparative Political Studies, 33(6?7), 845?879.
Levitsky, S., & Way, L. A. (2010). Competitive authoritarianism: Hybrid regimes after the Cold War. Cambridge University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1994). Electoral systems and party systems: A study of twenty-seven democracies, 1945?1990. Oxford University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1999). Patterns of democracy: Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. Yale University Press.
Lipset, S. M., & Stein Rokkan. (1967). Cleavage structures, party systems, and voter alignments: An introduction. In S. M. Lipset & S. Rokkan (Eds.), Party systems and voter alignments: Cross-national perspectives (pp. 1?64). Free Press.
Mainwaring, S., & Scully, T. R. (Eds.). (1995). Building democratic institutions: Party systems in Latin America. Stanford University Press.
Mainwaring, S (1998) `Party Systems in the Third Wave?, Journal of Democracy 9:3, pp.67-81
Mainwaring, S. (1999). Rethinking party systems in the third wave of democratization: The case of Brazil. Stanford University Press.
Mainwaring, S. (Ed.). (2018). Party Systems in Latin America: Institutionalization, Decay, and Collapse. Cambridge University Press.
Mair, P. (Ed.). (1990). The West European party system. Oxford University Press.
Mair, P. (1997). Party system change: Approaches and interpretations. Oxford University Press.
Mair, P. (1999). Party system change and party governance. In R. Gunther, J. R. Montero, & J. J. Linz (Eds.), Political parties: Old concepts and new challenges (pp. 113?136). Oxford University Press.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture
Discussion
Presentation

Assessment Methods and Criteria

	Quantity	Percentage (%)
Assignment	3	25
Project	1	50
Oral Exam	15	25
Total(%)		100
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%)		100
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%)		0
Total(%)		100

ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload

Activities	Quantity	Duration (Hour)	Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work	14	5	70
Preparation for Final exam
Course hours	14	3	42
Preparation for Midterm exam
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam
Homework	3	45	135
Project	1	55	55
Total Work Load			302
Total Work Load / 30 (h)			10.06
ECTS Credit of the Course			10

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Work Placement(s)

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

	LO1	LO2	LO3	LO4
K1	X	X		X
K2	X	X		X
K3		X
K4	X	X	X	X
K5	X	X	X	X
K6	X	X	X	X
K7				X
K8