Sabancı University

POLS 250 Comparative Politics

Spring 2021
Class hours: W 9:40 – 10:30, F 10:40 – 12: 30

Instructor: Ersin Kalaycıoğlu

(FASS 1048)
Office hours (F 9:40 – 10:30 or by appointment)

Comparative politics is one of the six fundamental fields of political science, which
studies political institutions, values, belief, and attitudes that comprise political culture,
political processes and affairs of different political regimes, the development of the
political self, and political behavior of individuals, groups, organizations, and the state in
our world. Comparative politics focuses on such questions as the development and
sustenance of state, different types of authoritarian, totalitarian, and democratic regimes
states possess, and the characteristics of authority, legitimacy, and obedience to political
rule across different regimes. Comparative politics also focuses on political economy of
change, governance, power struggles of interest groups that deeply influence the
distribution wealth and resources, and the politics of policy-making are also examined by
students of comparative politics.

This course is designed to serve the following purposes: (1) To teach students to think
about political systems in comparative terms; (2) to enable students to develop a more
sophisticated understanding of their own political system vis-à-vis the others; (3) to help
students to comprehend the political developments, institutions, and processes that occur
in political systems other than their own; and (4) to analyze how major human concerns
with freedom, social justice, human rights, democracy, etc., take shape and influence the
emergence and structure of political institutions, processes, and practices in different
polities.

Requirements for the course include one mid-term and one final examination. The former
will be given on Friday April 9, 2021. Class attendance and meaningful participation
will be measured by means of the pop-quizzes that will be given throughout the term.
Lectures will be synchronously administered on Zoom.

Course grades will be determined as follows:

Participation (Pop Quizzes) : 25%

Mid-term : 35%
Final Exam : 40%

There is a book assigned for this course and it is: Daniele Caramani (ed.) Comparative Politics
(Fourth Ed.), (New York, N. Y: Oxford University Press, 2017).

All of the readings for this course will be available in PDF format on the SUCourse+ Shared
Google Drive for this course.

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 Reading Assignments

Introduction to the Course: Why do we Study Politics Comparatively? (Week 1)

Gregory S. Mahler, Comparative Politics, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000): pp. 1 – 24.

Daniele Caramani, “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.),

Comparative Politics,…, pp.1 – 17.

Major Topics of Comparative Politics (Week 1)

Steven Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus, “Introduction,” Introducing Comparative Politics:
The Essentials, (Thousand Oaks, California and London, U. K.: CQ Press and
Sage, 2019): pp. 2 - 33.

B. Guy Peters, “Approaches in Comparative Politics,” in D. Caramani (ed.), Comparative

Politics,…, pp. 35 – 48.

State, Nation, and Government (Week 2)

Gianfranco Poggi, “The nation-state,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative

Politics,…, pp. 68 – 82.

Andreas Wimmer, “Why Nationalism Works and Why It Isn’t Going Away?” Foreign
Affairs, March/April 2019 Issue, Politics & Society.

Wolfgang C. Müller, “Governments and Bureaucracies” in D. Caramani (ed.),

Comparative Politics, …pp. 136 – 154.

Amie Kreppel, “Legislatures,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics,… : pp.

118 – 135.

Andrew Heywood, Politics, (New York, N.Y: Macmillan, 1997): pp. 83 – 99, pp. 273 –337.

Political Ideologies, Regimes, and Constitutions (Weeks 3 - 4)

Andrew Heywood, Politics,…: pp. 23 – 63.

Alec Stone Sweet, “Constitutions and judicial power,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.),
Comparative Politics,… pp. 156 - 172.

Michael J. Sodaro, Comparative Politics: pp. 312 - 341.

The Economist, August 7, 1999 “Judicial Review: The Gavel and the Robe,” in O. Fiona
Yap (ed.) Comparative Politics 10 / 11 (28th Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill,
2011): pp. 135 – 137.

Eyal Benvenisti, “Reclaiming Democracy: The Strategic Uses of Foreign and

International Law by National Courts,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.)

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 Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp.
161 – 166.
Kathyrn Hendley, “Rule of Law, Russian-Style,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.)
Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp.
167 – 168.

Political Culture (Week 5)

Michael J. Sodaro, Comparative Politics: pp. 293 - 311.

Christian Welzel and Ronald Inglehart, “Political Culture,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.),
Comparative Politics,… pp. 291 – 309.

Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, “The True Clash of Civilizations,” in in O. Fiona Yap and
Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill,
2011): pp. 181 – 187.

The Economist, “Bleak Chic,” (Dec 21st 2013),

http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21591749-bleak- chic.

Authoritarianism (Week 6)

Patrick O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative Politics (2010): pp. 141 - 166.

Paul Brooker, “Authoritarian Regimes,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative

Politics,… : pp. 99 - 113.

Steven Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus, “Authoritarian Institutions,” Introducing

Comparative Politics: The Essentials, (Thousand Oaks, California and London,
U. K.: CQ Press and Sage, 2019): pp. 252 - 276.

Moises Naim, “Mafia State: Organized Crime Takes Office,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan
Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw
Hill, 2011): pp. 203 – 206.

Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, “Why Democracy Needs a Level Playing Field,” in O.
Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.),
(Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 193 – 198.

F. Gregory Gause III, “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of
Authoritarian Stability,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative
Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 48 - 52.

Democracy (Week 7)

Andrew Heywood, Politics…: pp. 65 – 82.

Aníbal Pérez Liñán, “Democracies,” in D. Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics…: pp.

83 – 98.

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 Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl, “What Democracy Is … and Is Not,” in O.
Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.),
(Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 34 - 40.

Philippe C. Schmitter, “Twenty-five Years, Fifteen Findings,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan
Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw
Hill, 2011): pp. 41 - 47.

Russell J. Dalton, Susan E. Scarrow, and Bruce E. Cain, “Advanced Democracies and
the New Politics,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics
(13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 53 - 60.

Robert A. Dahl, “What Political Institutions Does Large-Scale Democracy Require?” in

O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.),
(Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 74 - 79.

“Are Western democracies becoming ungovernable?”

https://www.economist.com/international/2019/08/01/are-western-democracies-becoming-
ungovernable?frsc=dg%7Ce

“The corrupting of democracy: Cynicism is gnawing at Western democracies”

(https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/08/29/the-corrupting-of-democracy?frsc=dg%7Ce).

“How Viktor Orban hollowed out Hungary’s democracy”:

(https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/29/ how-viktor-orban-hollowed-out-
hungarys-democracy?frsc=dg%7Ce).

Mid-Term Week 7 (on April 9, 2021 during the class hours)

Presidential vs. Parliamentary Systems (Week 8 - 9)

Michael J. Sodaro, Comparative Politics: pp. 194 - 205

Juan J. Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism,” in Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner.(eds.),
The Global Resurgence of Democracy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1996): pp. 124-142.

Arend Lijphart, “Constitutional Choices for New Democracies,” in Patrick H. O’Neil and
Ronald Rogowski (eds.) Essential Readings in Comparative Politics, (Third Ed.)
(London and New York: W. W. Norton, 2010): pp. 161 – 170.

Martin Dimitrov, “The Resilient Authoritarians,” in O. Fiona Yap (ed.) Comparative

Politics 12 / 13…: 113 – 117.

The Economist “Tangled Webs: Institutions,” in O. Fiona Yap (ed.) Comparative Politics
12 / 13…: 104 – 105.

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Federal and Unitary Forms of Government (Week 10)

Andrew Heywood, Politics…: pp. 121 – 137.

John Loughlin, “Federal and Local Government institutions,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.),
Comparative Politics,…, pp. 188 - 204.

Alfred Stepan, “Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model,” Journal of
Democracy (October 1999): pp. 19 - 33.

Representation, Elections, and Voting (Weeks 10 - 11)

Andrew Heywood, Politics…: pp. 205 - 228.

Patrick O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative Politics (2010) : pp. 128 – 139.

Michael Gallagher, “Elections and Referendums,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.),

Comparative Politics,…: pp. 173 – 187.

The Economist, August 14, 1999 “Referendums: The People’s Voice,” in O. Fiona Yap
(ed..) Comparative Politics 10 / 11 …: pp. 23 – 25.

Kees Aarts and Jacques Thomassen, “Satisfaction with Democracy: Do Institutions

Matter?” in in O. Fiona Yap (ed.) Comparative Politics 12 / 13…: 121 – 134.

Interests, Parties, and Power Struggle (Weeks 12 - 13)

Andrew Heywood, Politics…: pp. 229 – 269.

Richard S. Katz, “Political Parties,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics,…:

pp. 207 – 223.

Daniele Caramani, “Party Systems,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics,…:

pp. 224 - 244.

Roland Erne, “Interest Groups,” in Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics,…: pp.
245 – 259.

The Economist, August 21, 1999, “Interest Groups: Ex Uno, Plures” in O. Fiona Yap
(ed.) Comparative Politics 10 / 11 (28th Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill,
2011): pp. 45 - 47.

Taras Kuzio, “Civil Society, Youth and Social Mobilization in Democratic Revolutions,”
in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.),
(Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2013): pp. 82 - 92.

Guobin Yang, “Online Activism,” in O. Fiona Yap and Ryan Gibb (ed.) Comparative
Politics (13/14), (31st Ed.), (Boston, U.S.: Mc Graw Hill, 2011): pp. 93 – 95.

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Political Development and Political Economy (Weeks 13 - 14)

Patrick O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative Politics … : pp. 82 – 118.

Michael J. Sodaro, Comparative Politics: pp. 342 – 391.

Andrew Heywood, Politics…: pp. 165 – 184.

Steven Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus, “Political Economy of Development,” Introducing
Comparative Politics: The Essentials, (Thousand Oaks, California and London, U. K.:
CQ Press and Sage, 2019): pp. 350 - 378.

Final Examination will be offered on May 28, 2021

during the class hours.