COURSE UNIT TITLE

: COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
UIR 2106 COMPARATIVE POLITICS COMPULSORY 3 0 0 4

Offered By

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (UOLP-SUNY ALBANY)

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

PROFESSOR DOCTOR GÜL MEHPARE KURTOĞLU ESKIŞAR

Offered to

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (UOLP-SUNY ALBANY)

Course Objective

This course is designed to provide undergraduate students with an introduction to the study of Comparative Politics. The focus of the course will be on different theoretical approaches of comparative politics such as democracy and democratization; authoritarianism and its variants such as power and state fomation and its institutions and other aspects of political sociology such as nationalism, political culture and political economy among others.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Identify and explain key theories in comparative politics to understand political realities in the countries all over the world
2   Distinguish actors and institutions in comparative politics to comprehend the domestic politics of countries by also taking international relations into consideration.
3   To be able to evaluate major comparative politics theories for the purpose of understanding their role in international relations and political science.
4   To be able to acquire adequate communication skills to demonstrate the ability to employ comparative politics terminology
5   To be able to acquire the ESL skills to demonstrate their ability to communicate.
6   To be able to relate comparative politics theories to one another to form a basis for analyzing international affairs and political science

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introduction
2 Major Topics and Research methods in Comparative Politics-I
3 Major Topics and Research methods in Comparative Politics-II
4 State and Society-I
5 State and Society-II
6 Neo-Institutionalism
7 Political Culture
8 Democracy
9 Democratic Transitions
10 Democratic Consolidation
11 Political Economy and Democratization
12 Democratic Consolidation and External Factors

Recomended or Required Reading

Samuel Huntington, Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Oklahoma, Oklahoma University Press, 1991.

Larry Diamond et.al., Consolidating Third Wave Democracies: Themes and Perspectives, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1997.

Other materials TBA.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1. Lecture
2. Participation

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MT Midterm
2 PRT Participation
3 FN Final
4 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE MT * 0.40 + PRT * 0.10 +FN * 0.50
5 RST RESIT
6 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MT * 0.40 +PRT * 0.10 + RST * 0.50


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

1. Will clearly explain general comparative politics theories and display general theoretical thinking in political science.
2. Will identify the actors and levels of analysis in comparative politics.
3. Will use comparative politics terminology and ESL skills in class discussions.
4. Will identify/recognize relevant concepts in comparative politics covered in the news media.
5. Will demonstrate his/her familiarity with current political developments in line with the main theories covered in lectures.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1. Attending at least 70% of lectures is mandatory.
2. Plagiarism of any type will result in disciplinary action.
3. Participation in class discussions is mandatory.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

gul.kurtoglu@deu.edu.tr

Office Hours

to be announced later.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 12 3 36
Preparation for midterm exam 1 8 8
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 11 4 44
Preparation for final exam 1 8 8
Preparing presentations 1 8 8
Midterm 1 1,5 2
Final 1 1,5 2
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 108

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13
LO.14
LO.24
LO.35
LO.45
LO.54
LO.65