PSC380.21 Comparative Politics: Political Parties and Party Systems

Parties, party systems, and electoral politics have been studied extensively by political scientists, especially by those specializing in the field of comparative politics. The wide scholarly attention given to parties is due to the fact that they exist in most regions of the world and in both democratic and authoritarian systems. By the end of the course, students are expected to have a good understanding of the origins and development of parties and party systems, their roles in different types of political systems, the internal life of party organizations, the reasons for the success or failure of parties in electoral politics, and the causes of change and continuity in party systems. (POL 2024)

This course is a comprehensive survey of the foreign policies of the Turkish state with a historical background of the Ottoman Empire. The basic principles and priorities of the Turkish Foreign Policy, Turkey’s geo-political and geo-strategic characteristics in the international politics; the influential actors within the Turkish diplomatic history; the basic structure of the Turkish Foreign Policy decision-making; and Turkey’s search for an active foreign policy in the post-Cold War period are among the topics of the course. (POLS 3413)

The aim of this course is to probe the relationship between religion and politics with a view to understand the impact of modernization and industrialization on the relationship. The course is composed of three parts. Part I introduces the major analytical approaches in the sociology of religion. Part II examines manifestations of the resurgence of religion in politics in different regions of the world. Part III, finally, focuses on Islam and politics, including the case of Turkey. (POLS 4321)

The aim of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of the historical background, structure, actors, ideology and dynamics of Turkish politics. The course is composed of three parts. Part I reviews Ottoman-Turkish political history from early attempts at modernization at the end of 18th century until the elections of June 2011. Part II introduces the major analytical approaches to the study of Turkish politics, and Part III focuses on issues and problems related with consolidation of democracy in Turkey. For Syracuse IR majors, this course counts as a region course (Europe) or as an IR elective. (POL 3351)

The course will familiarize students with the basic debates and research areas in the field of political sociology. The course will examine theories of power, authority, and state from modern and postmodern perspectives and how power structures are manifested within various social institutions. The theoretical debates will be followed by examination of political parties, social movements, processes of globalization vs. the nation-state, civil-military relations, war conflicts, voting behavior, and the mass media. (SOC 3007)

The first part of the course is designed to provide students with a theoretical framework to critically think about major developments in world politics. The second part will focus on various contemporary political issues and problems at the international level, including, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, unilateralism vs multilateralism, use of force, international organizations and legitimacy, soft power vs hard power, civil wars and peacekeeping operations. Meets with IRP 380.14. (POL 4412)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to theoretical debates about the nature, significance and measurement of public opinion with specific focus on foreign policy decision-making. It aims to provide you with the background knowledge and theoretical and practical skills needed to study and understand public opinion and post­ Cold War era foreign policy connection. Given the theoretical and practical importance of studying public opinion in democratic systems, students learn the logic of inquiry on public opinion and foreign policy, including case-specific and variable-oriented analyses. The main geographical focus is on American and ‘European’ (at national and supranational levels) public opinion. The main foreign policy issues explored are military interventions and post-Cold War era security concerns. (POL 4428)

As a major sub-field of political science, comparative politics seeks to offer a better understanding of the world we live in through an examination of the key aspects of political systems such as the nature of their regimes, governmental institutions, and party systems. As its name suggests, comparative politics also involves the systematic comparisons of politics in various countries around the world. The comparative method is an important means to analyze a variety of critical issues and questions in politics. How are democratic systems established and maintained? What are the major differences between democratic and authoritarian regimes? What are the sources of political conflicts? What types of political institutions are best suited to meet the demand of citizens? How do economic and social factors influence political life? What are the main reasons for military interventions and breakdown of democracies? SU students cannot earn credit for both this course and PSC 123.(POL 2352)