2015-2016/Fall (2015 Kasım)

POLİTİCAL ECONOMY

1) Please write an essay problematizing the historical reasons for the turn towards institutionalism in global political economy since the mid-1990s.

2) Please write an essay critically reflecting upon different perspectives that define the current state of the Turkish state such as “authoritarian statism”, “fascism”, “Neoliberal Sultanate”, and/or “constitutional dictatorship” by taking into account the characteristics of the Turkish political economy in the current period.

3) Discusswhetherthefinancialcrises since the 1990s haveimplied a change in theneoliberaldiscourse/agendabytakingintoaccountthedevelopments in theEurozonecountries.

POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY

There has been a new wave of social movements from Tunisia and Egypt to Spain (Indignados) and Turkey (Gezi) through the last five years or so. These movements erupted unexpectedly in the form of insurgencies, mobilised people who had hitherto remained politically inactive and defied established institutions and organizations. Choose two of the following three questions to discuss certain aspects of these movements while questioning the generic theories in the field concerned.

1)Discuss the relevance and limits of the distinction between “old” and “new” social movements in political sociology to understand and explain these contemporary experiences. Do we need to go beyond these theories? Why?

2)These movements express a dissatisfaction with the current models of democracy and/or demand democratisation. Discuss their criticism and aspiration of democracy withreferenceto, at least, twotheories on publicsphere/space.

3)Do these contemporary movements represent the dynamics of social change today? What are their limitations for changing or transforming social structures? Are there conservative “elements” or “tendencies” within those movements? Are they vulnerable to conservative reactions or backlash? Discuss.

TURKISH POLITICS

  1. Pleasewrite an essaythatcomparesandcontraststheways in which “Kemalism” has beenappropriated, articulatedorsignifiedbytheleft-wingpoliticaldiscourses (includingsocialdemocracyandsocialism) since the 1960s.
  1. Justiceand Development Party has been in Powerforover 13 years in Turkey. Discussthisparty in terms of itsvotingsupportandpowerbase, ideology, implementation of economicpolicies as well as democraticprocedures. Ifyouthinktheperiod is not monolithic, thenanalysethedifferentstages of AKP rule as well as differentfactionswithintheparty.
  1. Pleaseexplainthe foundations, determinants andthechangingdynamics of thepolitical andinstitutionalautonomy of theTurkishmilitaryfrom a historicalperspective. Then, discussthesignificance and theimplications of thecivilianizationreformspassedduringthe EU accession processandthe post-2007 initiatives of thegovernmentwhichchallengedthelong-standing impunity of the TSK forthedemocratization of themilitary-civilianrelations (and of theTurkishpoliticalsystem in general) bycontextualizingtheseprocesses.

PUBLİC ADMİNİSTRATİON

1)Write an essay in whichyouexplainanddiscusstheeffects of recentdevelopments in organizationaltheoryandpracticeupon a betterandefficient ‘public service’.

2)It has beenclaimedthatcontemporaryapproaches/theories of publicadministrationarecomonlyorientedtowards ‘de-bureaucratization’.

Write an essay in whichyouexplain, evaluate andcriticizethisclaim.

3)It has beenclaimedthatcontemporaryapproachesandpractices of publicadministrationapproachandtreatpublicservants (officials) withtheireconomicneedsthustakestheattentionawayfromtheir ‘non-economic’ needs. Thus;

“Professionalization, oftencreatesdistancebetweenpublicemployeesandtheirclientsandbetweenemployeesthemselves.”

Write an essay in whichyouexplain, evaluateandcriticizethisargument.

STUDIES IN MASS COMMUNICATION, IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE

  1. What is “new” in thenewmedia?
  1. (How) doesideologysucceed in interpellatingindividuals as subjects?
  1. Write an essay on the role of the media in the formation of “public sphere” and/or “hegemony” in Turkey in the context of a particular set of media representations (for instance, a particular television program or news coverage about a specific issue).

CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THOUGHT

1- Whiletheconcept of ‘recognition’ (problem of identity-basedinjustice) has been a popular part of therecentdiscussions in politicaltheory, anotherconcept, ‘redistribution’ (the problem of economicinjustice) seemstoloseitsearlierdominancewithinthesamefield. What is yourassessment of thedebates on recognition vs. redistribution? Do youagreethattheconcepts of recognitionandredistributionstand as antithesistoeachother? Ifyes, discussyourreasons. If not, discuss how this ‘falseantithesis’ could be overcome.

2- ClaudeLefort had arguedthatdemocraticsociety is constituted as thesociety in whichPower, Lawand Knowledge areexposedtoradicalindetermination. Whatdoes it mean? Explain. Whatarethereflectionsandresponsesconcerningthisstatement in thepoliticaltheories of Arendt, MouffeandRanciere? Discuss in a comparativeperspective.

3- Write an essay on how andwhythosewhoseepolitics as a disruptive /subversivepracticeor as a contestation of valuescould be contributingto an understanding of politics as activecitizenship, civicengagementandcollectivedeliberation. Inyouranswerdiscussandevaluate at leastthreethinkerswhointentionallyorunintentionallycontributestosuchandunderstanding of democraticpolitics.

COMPARATIVE POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

1)Do you think that the discipline of Comparative Government is essential in understanding political system and/or regimes? In answering the question, please make sure that you refer to different political contexts and/or different time periods in a comparative way.

2)Write an essay that analyses the potential switch of Turkey to a presidential executive. In answering the question, make sure that you describe the main characteristics of presidential systems by giving actual examples and then discuss the issue from the perspective of Turkey.

3)Whatarethealternativeways of engagingcomparativestudy? Compareandcontrast at leasttwoapproachestocomparativeanalysisbyprovidingreasonsandexamples as to how youpreferonetotheother.