"As a
man is said to have a right to his property,
he may be equally said
to have a
property in his rights."
James Madison
In
my mind this academic subject contains three panels that examine the
subject matters of Politics from different perspectives. The three
panels are like a trilogy: though they can be seen as three
stand-alone courses, and so can be studied independently of whether
students have attended the preceding one, they
eventually connect to each other:
- Social Studies: Politics
- Introduction
to Political Theory
- Political
Philosophy
To
get a full picture about the wonerful but "complex world of Politics,"
it is worth attending the three courses altogether.
Course
Description
Academic
degree: Bachelor's
/Undergraduate/ degree
This course provides the understanding
of social studies and modern politics from a Rational Choice
perspective. This paradigm gives a
mainstream insight into key things we know about politics today
including
collective actions, hierarchies, political institutions, and
representation. In addition, it
serves an analytical coherence of discussions in line with the
objective that meets the requirements of “social studies.” We
first analyse the opportunities
of collective actions: the conditions under which cooperation among
individuals
for the common interest of a community can emerge and hold up. We then
investigate the existence of the different forms of hierarchy and
polity, the fundamental forms of a political community. We discuss the
phenomena of social loafing, vertical and horizontal hierarchies, and
how multiple levels of government, each with different
responsibilities, can be
an efficient way to provide public goods. Next, we speak about
government. Political institutions are the rules of the
game. Different political regimes combine different procedures to
select rulers
and different divisions of power and relationships between one-person
and
multiple-person institutions, whether of mutual dependency or autonomy.
Finally, we study how democratic
representation can be organized by means of political parties and
elections.
Outline
Below, I list the main
topics to be covered during the
semester.
I. Research Traditions in Socials
- Micro-level: Rational Choice Paradigm
- Macro-level: Holistic (Structural) Approaches
- Mezo-level: Constructive (Cultural) Approaches
- Links:
Video Lectures (
click
here to go to the
links):
1. Prelude:
Link
(via
METU Coospace)
2.
Lecture 01
-- Rational Choice
3.
Lecture
02 -- Structural Approach
4.
Lecture 03
-- Cultural Approach
II. Collective Actions
- Public Goods
- The Logic of Collective Actions
- Selective Incentives
- Voice and Exit
- Links:
2. Video Lecture (
click
here
to go to the link):
Lecture 04 -- Collective Actions
III. Coopearton and Conflit
- Theory of Actions and Game Theory
- Intertemporal Choices: The Horizon of Time
- Illustrative Examples
- Links:
1. Book:
link.
2. Video Lectures (
click
here
to go to the links):
- Lecture 05 -- Conflicts And Cooperations #1: Basics and the Prisoner's
Dilemma
- Lecture 06 -- Conflicts And Cooperations #2: Multi-Player Situations, The
Tragedy of the Commons
3. Symmetric dilemmas:
link.IV. Hierarchy in Socials
- The Phenomenon of Social Loafing
- The interpretation of Social Loafing in Game Theory
- Hierarchy: Horizontal and Vertical
- Public Choice and Hierarchy
- Why Democracy and not Autocracy?
- Links:
1. Article:
link.
2. Video Lectures (
click
here
to go to the links):
- Lecture 07 -- Hierarchy in Socials #1: Social Loafing and Hierarchies
- Lecture 08 -- Hierarchy in Socials
#2: Networks,
Public Choices, and Hierarchies
V. Political Community
- Understanding Polity
- The Territorial Dimension of Government
- Case Studies: Westphalian World Order and Megacity Clusters
- Polity as Specific Form of Government
- Links:
Video Lecture (
click
here
to go to the link):
Lecture 09 --
Political Community
VI. Political Institutions
- The Division of Powers
- Legislatures
- The Political Executive
- Links:
Lecture 10 -- Political
Institutions
VII. Essential Electoral Politics
- Understanding Political Participations and Elections
- Understanding Political Parties
- Links:
Lecture 10 -- Political
Institutions
Educational
Resources
Jozsef
Zoltan Malik: Social Studies: Politics.
Budapest: Metropolitan University, 2019. (in
pdf version)
- For Topic II: Collective
actions: link.
- For Topic III: Cooperation
and Conflicts: link.
- Andrew Heywood: Political Theory. Palgrave, 2004.
- Video Lectures:
- Prelude: Link
to the video(via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 01 -- Rational
Choice: Link
to the Video (via METU Coospace)
Link (via YouTube)
- Lecture 02 -- Structural Approach: Link to
the video (via
YouTube)
- Lecture 03 -- Cultural Approach: Link
to the video (via
YouTube)
- Lecture 04 -- Collective Actions: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 05 -- Conflicts and
Cooperations #1: Basics and the Prisoner's Dilemma: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 06 -- Conflicts and
Cooperations #2: Multi-Player Situations, The Tragedy of the Commons: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 07 -- Hierarchy in
Socials #1: Social Loafing and Hierarchies: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 08 -- Hierarchy in
Socials #2: Networks, Public Choices, and Hierarchies: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 09 -- Political
Community: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
- Lecture 10 -- Political
Institutions: Link
to the video (via METU Coospace)
Assessment (Social Studies: Politics)
There will be a written exam at
the exam period, which will contain some questions covering the whole
subject
of the course. At each written exam, whatever date of exam
the student picks out, four questions will be put. There will be a
- Fixed
Question (The question that is surely asked at exam):
Name your country that you are from and answer the questions:
a) What type of governmental system and what type of party system is there in your home
country?
b) Specify
the assembly (the structure of legislature, how many members are there
as
representatives in the institutions), name the President/Monarch/Prime
Minister of your
country, structure the cabinet (the main departures of the
cabinet –not necceassray a complete list, just the main
ones, indeed).
- Question
for Discussion (Here it goes a list containing time-consuming
complex questions, that's why they are given in advance. Think them over. However, only one of them will be chosen for the current
exam you will sit for):
1) Present
the Dilemma of Striker, and show that it is actually a Prisoner’s
Dilemma.
2) One
crucially important significance of Prisoner’s Dilemma as model is to
display
the conflict between individual and collective interests (goals) both
in collective
actions and in polities. Show this conflict by giving an example.
(Remark: You may choose
any example, however I myself refer to this problem many times in the
presentation of the 20 items of the course, see Items No. 10, 11, 16, 17
in the Guideline. So if
you have no other idea, choose one of these related issues).
3)
What
do we call ‘overfishing’? Why cannot be expected to be a spontaneous
resolution
to this economic-social trap?
4) Why
is there not a “best” electoral system?
5) "Smart
leadership" can work under a non-democratic political regime but
usually not for a long-run (by historic experiences). Why smart
leadership
does work more often and much better in democracy than in autocracy
(though it is not necessary)?
-
Two
other Smaller Questions inquring about a concept or a main idea (e.g. ‘What is
vertical
hierarchy?’ or 'Explain this statement: “Smaller economic or political
actors might exploit the
larger unit of the community.”'
)
