Course Detail
Course Description
| Course | Code | Semester | T+P (Hour) | Credit | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTORAL SYSTEMS and PARLIMENTARY POLITICS | - | Fall Semester | 3+0 | 3 | 5 |
| Course Program |
| Prerequisites Courses | |
| Recommended Elective Courses |
| Language of Course | English |
| Course Level | First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree) |
| Course Type | Elective |
| Course Coordinator | Assoc.Prof. Hatice Deniz GENÇ |
| Name of Lecturer(s) | Assist.Prof. Okan AKMEHMET |
| Assistant(s) | |
| Aim | This course provides an introduction to the study of electoral systems and parliaments. The roles these two institutions play in conditioning the behaviors of the electorate and politicians will be examined in conjunction with theories of democracy and political representation. The relationships across modes of representation, types of electoral systems and party systems will receive focus. |
| Course Content | This course contains; Brief Introduction and Background,Theories of Representation, Representational Roles of Parliamentarians,Types of Electoral System,Relations between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches,How Electoral Rules determine the Party System: The Electoral Connection and Duverger's Law,Elections and Voter Turnout, Electoral Integrity and Misconduct,Midterm Exam,Intra-party Electoral Processes: Candidate Selection and Leadership Elections; Simulation I - Voting Systems,Legislative Organization,The European Parliament: Second-order Elections,Simulation II - Parliamentary Politics,Politics of Electoral Reform,Presentations,Presentations. |
| Dersin Öğrenme Kazanımları | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| The main aim is to confer the ability to distinguish between a large selection of electoral systems and their effects by means of examining the systems used in national, local, supranational (e.g., the EU), and intergovernmental (e.g., the UN, the IMF) contexts. By the end of the semester, students will have gained knowledge also on the intricacies of politics in local, national, supranational and sub-national parliamentary contexts. Two simulations will be conducted with the purpose of replicating real-life situations. The simulations are aimed at demonstrating how citizens' votes are translated into parliamentary seats and the way parliamentary arithmetic is translated into policy outputs. The paper and presentation assignment will offer the opportunity to conduct original research and/or to create innovative voting rules/system in a context-specific manner. | 10, 16, 6, 9 | A, G |
| Teaching Methods: | 10: Discussion Method, 16: Question - Answer Technique, 6: Experiential Learning, 9: Lecture Method |
| Assessment Methods: | A: Traditional Written Exam, G: Quiz |
Course Outline
| Order | Subjects | Preliminary Work |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brief Introduction and Background | |
| 2 | Theories of Representation, Representational Roles of Parliamentarians | |
| 3 | Types of Electoral System | Cox, chapters 1 and 3 Lijphart, chapters 1 and 8 |
| 4 | Relations between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches | Lijphart, chapters 6,7, and 12 |
| 5 | How Electoral Rules determine the Party System: The Electoral Connection and Duverger's Law | Cox, chapters 2 and 11 – Lijphart, chapter 5 |
| 6 | Elections and Voter Turnout | – Huber, J. D., & Gabel, M. (2000). Putting parties in their place: inferring party left-right ideological positions from manifestos data. American Journal of Political Science, 44(1), 94–103. – Cox, G. W., & Munger, M. C. (1989). Closeness, expenditures, and turnout in the 1982 US House elections. American Political Science Review, 83 (1), 217-231. – Jackman, R. W. (1987). Political institutions and voter turnout in the industrial democracies. American Political Science Review, 81, 405-424. |
| 7 | Electoral Integrity and Misconduct | – Birch, S. (2010). Perceptions of electoral fairness and voter turnout. Comparative Political Studies, 43 (12), 1601-1622. – Birch, S., & Muchlinski, D. (2018). Electoral violence prevention: What works? Democratization, 25(3), 385-403. – Ruiz-Rufino, R. (2018). When do electoral institutions trigger electoral misconduct? Democratization, 25(3), 331-350. |
| 8 | Midterm Exam | |
| 9 | Intra-party Electoral Processes: Candidate Selection and Leadership Elections; Simulation I - Voting Systems | – Hazan, R. Y., & Rahat, G. (2006). The influence of candidate selection methods on legislatures and legislators: Theoretical propositions, methodological suggestions and empirical evidence. Journal of Legislative Studies, 12(3-4), 366–385. – Katz, R. S. (2001). The problem of candidates selection and models of party democracy. Party Politics, 7(3), 277-296. |
| 10 | Legislative Organization | – Huber, J. D. (1992). Restrictive legislative procedures in France and the United States. American Political Science Review, 86(3), 675-687. – Lijphart, chapters 2, 3, 7 and 11. |
| 11 | The European Parliament: Second-order Elections | – Hix, S., & Marsh, M. (2011). Second-order effects plus pan-European political swings: An analysis of European Parliament elections across time. Electoral Studies, 30(1), 4-15. |
| 12 | Simulation II - Parliamentary Politics | |
| 13 | Politics of Electoral Reform | – Norris, P. (1995). The politics of electoral reform in Britain. International Political Science Review, 16(1), 65-78. – Blau, A. (2004). Fairness and electoral reform. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 6(2), 165-181. |
| 14 | Presentations | |
| 15 | Presentations |
| Resources |
| Cox, G. W. (1997). Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lijphart, A. (2012). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. 2nd edn. New Haven: Yale University Press. Selected articles |
Course Contribution to Program Qualifications
| Course Contribution to Program Qualifications | |||||||
| No | Program Qualification | Contribution Level | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | PC1. Students know the fundamental concepts, theories, research methods and analysis techniques used in the fields and sub-fields of Political Science and International relations. | ||||||
| 2 | PC2. Students understand the political, economic, social, and cultural relations among political systems, international actors, states and non-state actors; analyzes the reasons for the issues and problems in these fields, develop skills for systematic and critical thinking for alternative solutions. | ||||||
| 3 | PC3. Students of the program will be able to work at public and private institutions, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations. They will be able to involve in the foreign policy making, analysis, and implementation processes; manage project implementations, and shoulder responsibilities at different positions of decision-making processes. The multi-disciplinary perspective they have developed in the program facilitates following solution-oriented perspective at times of crisis, evaluating existing resolutions and developing new alternatives. | ||||||
| 4 | PC4. Students will be able to conduct scientific research in the fields and sub-fields of political science and international relations, analyze the results and report the findings to stakeholders. | ||||||
| 5 | PC5. Students will be able to conduct scientific research in the fields and sub-fields of political science and international relations, analyze the results and make scientific publications. | ||||||
| 6 | PC6. Students will be able to work as group leader in public and private institutions, plan and administer events and activities. | ||||||
| 7 | PC7. As a result of development of critical thinking, students stay open to change and development; adopt never-ending learning principle to their life. | ||||||
| 8 | PC8. Students use the appropriate oral and written language skills and adopt professional ethics in their communication while sharing results, analyses, and solution suggestions with colleagues and stakeholders | ||||||
| 9 | PC9. Students use English language skills in research and fields of expertise; easily follow international developments and communicates with international stakeholders. | ||||||
| 10 | PC10. Students use fundamental computer skills in communication with colleagues and stakeholders. | ||||||
| 11 | PC11. Students will be able to lead decision-making mechanisms, involve in policy making and analysis processes, and manage negotiation processes in public and private institutions. | ||||||
| 12 | PC12. Students will be able to develop original and scientific solutions and knowledge in their fields of expertise, create projects and act as a consultant to decision-making mechanisms. | ||||||
Assessment Methods
| Contribution Level | Absolute Evaluation | |
| Rate of Midterm Exam to Success | 40 | |
| Rate of Final Exam to Success | 60 | |
| Total | 100 | |
| ECTS / Workload Table | ||||||
| Activities | Number of | Duration(Hour) | Total Workload(Hour) | |||
| Course Hours | 14 | 3 | 42 | |||
| Guided Problem Solving | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Resolution of Homework Problems and Submission as a Report | 2 | 10 | 20 | |||
| Term Project | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Presentation of Project / Seminar | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Quiz | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Midterm Exam | 1 | 40 | 40 | |||
| General Exam | 1 | 50 | 50 | |||
| Performance Task, Maintenance Plan | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total Workload(Hour) | 152 | |||||
| Dersin AKTS Kredisi = Toplam İş Yükü (Saat)/30*=(152/30) | 5 | |||||
| ECTS of the course: 30 hours of work is counted as 1 ECTS credit. | ||||||
Detail Informations of the Course
Course Description
| Course | Code | Semester | T+P (Hour) | Credit | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTORAL SYSTEMS and PARLIMENTARY POLITICS | - | Fall Semester | 3+0 | 3 | 5 |
| Course Program |
| Prerequisites Courses | |
| Recommended Elective Courses |
| Language of Course | English |
| Course Level | First Cycle (Bachelor's Degree) |
| Course Type | Elective |
| Course Coordinator | Assoc.Prof. Hatice Deniz GENÇ |
| Name of Lecturer(s) | Assist.Prof. Okan AKMEHMET |
| Assistant(s) | |
| Aim | This course provides an introduction to the study of electoral systems and parliaments. The roles these two institutions play in conditioning the behaviors of the electorate and politicians will be examined in conjunction with theories of democracy and political representation. The relationships across modes of representation, types of electoral systems and party systems will receive focus. |
| Course Content | This course contains; Brief Introduction and Background,Theories of Representation, Representational Roles of Parliamentarians,Types of Electoral System,Relations between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches,How Electoral Rules determine the Party System: The Electoral Connection and Duverger's Law,Elections and Voter Turnout, Electoral Integrity and Misconduct,Midterm Exam,Intra-party Electoral Processes: Candidate Selection and Leadership Elections; Simulation I - Voting Systems,Legislative Organization,The European Parliament: Second-order Elections,Simulation II - Parliamentary Politics,Politics of Electoral Reform,Presentations,Presentations. |
| Dersin Öğrenme Kazanımları | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| The main aim is to confer the ability to distinguish between a large selection of electoral systems and their effects by means of examining the systems used in national, local, supranational (e.g., the EU), and intergovernmental (e.g., the UN, the IMF) contexts. By the end of the semester, students will have gained knowledge also on the intricacies of politics in local, national, supranational and sub-national parliamentary contexts. Two simulations will be conducted with the purpose of replicating real-life situations. The simulations are aimed at demonstrating how citizens' votes are translated into parliamentary seats and the way parliamentary arithmetic is translated into policy outputs. The paper and presentation assignment will offer the opportunity to conduct original research and/or to create innovative voting rules/system in a context-specific manner. | 10, 16, 6, 9 | A, G |
| Teaching Methods: | 10: Discussion Method, 16: Question - Answer Technique, 6: Experiential Learning, 9: Lecture Method |
| Assessment Methods: | A: Traditional Written Exam, G: Quiz |
Course Outline
| Order | Subjects | Preliminary Work |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brief Introduction and Background | |
| 2 | Theories of Representation, Representational Roles of Parliamentarians | |
| 3 | Types of Electoral System | Cox, chapters 1 and 3 Lijphart, chapters 1 and 8 |
| 4 | Relations between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches | Lijphart, chapters 6,7, and 12 |
| 5 | How Electoral Rules determine the Party System: The Electoral Connection and Duverger's Law | Cox, chapters 2 and 11 – Lijphart, chapter 5 |
| 6 | Elections and Voter Turnout | – Huber, J. D., & Gabel, M. (2000). Putting parties in their place: inferring party left-right ideological positions from manifestos data. American Journal of Political Science, 44(1), 94–103. – Cox, G. W., & Munger, M. C. (1989). Closeness, expenditures, and turnout in the 1982 US House elections. American Political Science Review, 83 (1), 217-231. – Jackman, R. W. (1987). Political institutions and voter turnout in the industrial democracies. American Political Science Review, 81, 405-424. |
| 7 | Electoral Integrity and Misconduct | – Birch, S. (2010). Perceptions of electoral fairness and voter turnout. Comparative Political Studies, 43 (12), 1601-1622. – Birch, S., & Muchlinski, D. (2018). Electoral violence prevention: What works? Democratization, 25(3), 385-403. – Ruiz-Rufino, R. (2018). When do electoral institutions trigger electoral misconduct? Democratization, 25(3), 331-350. |
| 8 | Midterm Exam | |
| 9 | Intra-party Electoral Processes: Candidate Selection and Leadership Elections; Simulation I - Voting Systems | – Hazan, R. Y., & Rahat, G. (2006). The influence of candidate selection methods on legislatures and legislators: Theoretical propositions, methodological suggestions and empirical evidence. Journal of Legislative Studies, 12(3-4), 366–385. – Katz, R. S. (2001). The problem of candidates selection and models of party democracy. Party Politics, 7(3), 277-296. |
| 10 | Legislative Organization | – Huber, J. D. (1992). Restrictive legislative procedures in France and the United States. American Political Science Review, 86(3), 675-687. – Lijphart, chapters 2, 3, 7 and 11. |
| 11 | The European Parliament: Second-order Elections | – Hix, S., & Marsh, M. (2011). Second-order effects plus pan-European political swings: An analysis of European Parliament elections across time. Electoral Studies, 30(1), 4-15. |
| 12 | Simulation II - Parliamentary Politics | |
| 13 | Politics of Electoral Reform | – Norris, P. (1995). The politics of electoral reform in Britain. International Political Science Review, 16(1), 65-78. – Blau, A. (2004). Fairness and electoral reform. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 6(2), 165-181. |
| 14 | Presentations | |
| 15 | Presentations |
| Resources |
| Cox, G. W. (1997). Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lijphart, A. (2012). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. 2nd edn. New Haven: Yale University Press. Selected articles |
Course Contribution to Program Qualifications
| Course Contribution to Program Qualifications | |||||||
| No | Program Qualification | Contribution Level | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | PC1. Students know the fundamental concepts, theories, research methods and analysis techniques used in the fields and sub-fields of Political Science and International relations. | ||||||
| 2 | PC2. Students understand the political, economic, social, and cultural relations among political systems, international actors, states and non-state actors; analyzes the reasons for the issues and problems in these fields, develop skills for systematic and critical thinking for alternative solutions. | ||||||
| 3 | PC3. Students of the program will be able to work at public and private institutions, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations. They will be able to involve in the foreign policy making, analysis, and implementation processes; manage project implementations, and shoulder responsibilities at different positions of decision-making processes. The multi-disciplinary perspective they have developed in the program facilitates following solution-oriented perspective at times of crisis, evaluating existing resolutions and developing new alternatives. | ||||||
| 4 | PC4. Students will be able to conduct scientific research in the fields and sub-fields of political science and international relations, analyze the results and report the findings to stakeholders. | ||||||
| 5 | PC5. Students will be able to conduct scientific research in the fields and sub-fields of political science and international relations, analyze the results and make scientific publications. | ||||||
| 6 | PC6. Students will be able to work as group leader in public and private institutions, plan and administer events and activities. | ||||||
| 7 | PC7. As a result of development of critical thinking, students stay open to change and development; adopt never-ending learning principle to their life. | ||||||
| 8 | PC8. Students use the appropriate oral and written language skills and adopt professional ethics in their communication while sharing results, analyses, and solution suggestions with colleagues and stakeholders | ||||||
| 9 | PC9. Students use English language skills in research and fields of expertise; easily follow international developments and communicates with international stakeholders. | ||||||
| 10 | PC10. Students use fundamental computer skills in communication with colleagues and stakeholders. | ||||||
| 11 | PC11. Students will be able to lead decision-making mechanisms, involve in policy making and analysis processes, and manage negotiation processes in public and private institutions. | ||||||
| 12 | PC12. Students will be able to develop original and scientific solutions and knowledge in their fields of expertise, create projects and act as a consultant to decision-making mechanisms. | ||||||
Assessment Methods
| Contribution Level | Absolute Evaluation | |
| Rate of Midterm Exam to Success | 40 | |
| Rate of Final Exam to Success | 60 | |
| Total | 100 | |