COURSE PROPOSAL

  1. Course Number and Title:

ADM 3105304 Comparative Political Behaviour

METU Credit & ECTS Credit:

  1. Catalogue Description:

This course aims to handle the study of political participation by covering the phenomena’s both electoral and non-electoral dimensions. Hence the subject matter of the course includes issues like electoral turnout, membership in political groups, political activism, civil society, campaigningand protestpolitics and their linkage with democratic functioning.The course will explore the meaning of political participation first, and then shift its focus on micro and macro-level explanations of citizen behaviour with special emphasis on cross-national variation in political participation. Moreover, we will study the new forms of activism such as politicalconsumption and politics on the Net.

  1. Justification for the Course Proposal:

The proposed course aims to contribute to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in political scienceby focusing on the existing need for an advanced course on political behaviour at the graduate level. The course will begin with a discussion on the theories of political participation. Then it will focus on topics related to the sub area of the phenomena, such as the voter turnout, participation in non-electoral activities, and the debate over the role of “social capital”. Following that the course will cover different subjects like civil society and democratization link, social movements, protest politics, new modes of political campaigning and new perspectives on political participation.

  1. Textbooks:

There is no single textbook for the class. The reading materials consist of a collection of various articles from a number of sources.

  1. Reference Material:

Armingeon. 2007. “Political Participation and Associational Involvement”. In: van Deth, J., J.R. Montero and A. Westholm (eds.) Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies. London: Routledge. p 358-384

Ayala, L.J., 2000. “Trained for Democracy: The Differening Effects of Voluntary and Involuntary Organizations on Political Participation.” Political Research Quarterly 53: 99-115

Blais, André. 2006. "What affects voter turnout?" Annual Review of Political Science no. 9 (1):111-125. doi: doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.9.070204.105121

Brady, H.E., S. Verba, and K.L. Schlozman. 1995. “Beyond SES: a Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89: 271-294.

Campbell, David E. 2013. "Social Networks and Political Participation." Annual Review of Political Science no. 16 (1):33-48. doi: doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-033011-201728.

Cox, Gary W. 2015. "Electoral Rules, Mobilization, and Turnout." Annual Review of Political Science no. 18 (1):49-68. doi: 10.1146/annurev-polisci-060414-035915

Dekker, P. R. Koopmans and A. van den Broek 1997. “Voluntary associations, social movements and individual political behaviour in Western Europe”. In: van Deth, J.W. (ed.). Private Groups and Public Life. Social Participation, Voluntary Associations and Political Involvement in Representative Democracies. London: Routledge.

Gilens, Martin. 2005. “Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness.” Public Opinion Quarterly 69:778-796.

Huysseune, M. 2003. “Institutions and Their Impact on Social Capital and Civic Culture: The Case of Italy.” In: Hooghe, M. and D. Stolle (eds.) Generating Social Capital. Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Jackman, Robert W., and Ross A. Miller. 1998. "Social Capital and Politics." Annual Review of Political Science no. 1:47-73

Jennings, M.K. and Zeitner, V. 2003 “Internet use and civic engagement: a longitudinal analysis.” Public Opinion Quarterly 67: 311-334

Kaase, M. 2007. “Perspectives on Political Participation”. In Dalton, R. and Klingemann, H.D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press

Koopmans, R. 2007. “Social Movements”. In Dalton, R. and Klingemann, H.D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press

Leighley, J.E. 1995. “Attitudes, opportunities and incentives: a field essay on Political Participation” Political Research Quarterly 48/1: 181-209.

Norris, P., S. Walgrave, S., and p. van Aelst. 2005. “Antistate Rebels, Conventional Participants, or Everyone?”. Comparative Politics 37: 189-205.

Robert D. Putnam (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twentyfirst Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture, Scandinavian Political Studies 30 (2), 137–174

Rothstein, B. and D. Stolle. 2003. “Social Capital, Impartiality and the Welfare State: an Institutional Approach.” In: Hooghe, M. and D. Stolle (eds.) Generating Social Capital. Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Schmitt-Beck, R. 2007. “New Modes of Campaigning”. In Dalton, R. and Klingemann, H.D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press

Sommerfeldt, Erich J. 2013. "The civility of social capital: Public relations in the public sphere, civil society, and democracy." Public Relations Review no. 39 (4):280-289

Stolle, D. 2007. “Social Capital”. In Dalton, R. and Klingemann, H.D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stolle, D., M. Hooghe, and M. Micheletti. 2005 “Politics in the Supermarket: Political Consumerism as a Form of Political Participation.” International Political Science Review 26/3: 245- 269.

Teorell, J., M.Torcal and J.R. Montero. 2007. “Political participation. Mapping the terrain”. In: van Deth, J., J.R. Montero and A. Westholm (eds.) Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies. London: Routledge. p 334-358.

Teorell, Jan. 2006. “Political Participation and three theories of democracy: a research inventory and agenda.” European Journal of Political Research 45: 787-810.

Toros, Emre. 2007. "Understanding the Role of Civil Society as an Agent for Democratic Consolidation: The Turkish Case." Turkish Studies no. 8 (3):395-415.

Toros, Emre. 2015. "Negative Campaigning in Turkish Elections." Turkish Studiesforthcoming

Uslaner, E. 2003. “Trust, Democracy and Governance: Can Government Policies Influence Generalized Trust?.” In: Hooghe, M. and D. Stolle (eds.) Generating Social Capital. Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

van Aelst, P. and S. Walgrave. 2001. “Who is that (wo)man in the street? From the normalisation of protest to the normalisation of the protester.” European Journal of Political Research 39: 461-486

Wnuk-Lipinski E. 2007. “Civil Society and Democratization”. In Dalton, R. and Klingemann, H.D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press

  1. Course Objectives:

The objective of this course is for students to be able to understand what political participationmeans. At the end of the course, it is expected that the students will havesolid knowledge on basic concepts of political participation and its sub headings. It is also expected that at the end of the class students will have theability to formulate research questions on the subject and write a research papers. In particular, some capacities and abilities are crucial in this course.

  1. Course Outline (14 weeks):
  2. Weekly Schedule

Week / Topics / Readings
1 / Introduction / No readings, I will present some basic concepts and methodological issues
2 / Political participation and its dimensions. / 1.Teorell, J., M.Torcal and J.R. Montero. “Political participation. Mapping the terrain”
2. Teorell, Jan. “Political Participation and three theories of democracy
3. Campbell, David"Social Networks and Political Participation."
3 / Membership to organizations and mobilization / 1.Dekker, P. R. Koopmans and A. van den Broek “Voluntary associations, social movements and”
2. Ayala, L.J., “Trained for Democracy”
3. Armingeon. “Political Participation and Associational Involvement”
4 / Individualistic explanations of political participation / 1. Brady, H.E., S. Verba, and K.L. Schlozman. “Beyond SES”
2. Leighley, J.E. “Attitudes, opportunities”
5 / Social capital I / 1. Stolle, D. “Social Capital”
2.Jackman, Robert W., and Ross A. Miller. 1998. "Social Capital and Politics.
6 / Social capital II / 1. Rothstein, B. and D. Stolle. “Social Capital, Impartiality and the Welfare State
2. Uslaner, E. “Trust, Democracy and Governance
3. Huysseune, M. “Institutions and Their Impact
7 / Social movements / 1. Koopmans R. “Social Movements”
2. Norris, P., S. Walgrave, S., and p. van Aelst. “Antistate Rebels”
3. van Aelst, P. and S. Walgrave. “Who is that (wo)man in the street?
8 / Civil Society / 1. Wnuk-Lipinski E.“Civil Society and Democratization”.
2. Toros, E "Understanding the Role of Civil
3. Sommerfeldt, Erich J. "The civility of social capital
9 / New forms of political activism / 1. Jennings, M.K. and Zeitner, V. “Internet use and civic engagement”
2. Stolle, D., M. Hooghe, and M. Micheletti. “Politics in the Supermarket:
10 / Turnout / 1. Blais, André. "What affects voter turnout?"
2. Cox, Gary W. "Electoral Rules, Mobilization, and Turnout.
11 / Campaigning / 1. Schmitt-Beck, R. 2007. “New Modes of Campaigning”
2. Toros, E."Negative Campaigning in Turkish Elections."
12 / Consequences of Political Participation / 1. Robert D. P. E Pluribus Unum
2. Gilens, M.“Inequality and Democratic
13 / Tutorial Session / A group discussion on literature reviews and final projects
14 / Conclusion / 1. Kaase, M. 2007. “Perspectives on Political Participation”
  1. Lectures and Classes:

Students should attend the lectures every week. There are two required papers. One will be a literature review dealing with one of the substantive areas on the syllabus or on a special topic that the students are interested in. The review will involve reading and synthesizing a collection of articles relevant to the given area, tying them together into coherent themes, and identifying gaps in the literature where future research should concentrate.

The second and final paper will be a research proposal that will outline of a piece of research which could fill one of those gaps, i.e., that could extend our knowledge of that subfield in an interesting and potentially important way. It will include why you think the research is important, how it extends previous research, and how you would go about addressing the problem.

In addition, once or twice (depending on the size of the class) each student will be assigned to present the arguments and findings of the articles belonging to that particular week. This short presentation is meant to stimulate discussion on the current state of a given subfield, and where are particularly promising avenues for future research.

  1. Assessment:

Assessment in this course will involve the following:

Literature Review 30%

Final paper 50%

Presentations 10%

Participation 10%

  1. This Course Proposal is Prepared by:Dr. Emre Toros
  1. Overlapping and Complementing Courses: None
  1. Prerequisite Courses: None
  1. Effective Date:

Fall 2015-2016

  1. Frequency:

Once per term, three hours per week

  1. Possible lecturers for this course:
  1. Opinion of the Departmental Academic Board: