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Course Code: 
PSIR 450
Course Type: 
Area Elective
P: 
3
Application: 
0
Credits: 
3
ECTS: 
5
Course Language: 
İngilizce
Course Objectives: 

The aim of this course is to provide the students with an understanding of the functioning and the political system of democracy in the United States, to provide knowledge about the processes and the life of the past.

Course Content: 

In this course, the social and political life of the United States of America, examining the process of the independence of the United States until the end of the debate will be discussed. In order to better understand the present day of the USA, we will focus on the outlines of American history, the presidency system, the functioning of democracy and the effects of all these events on the society will be supported by various articles.

Course Methodology: 
1: Lecture, 2: Discussion based lecture, 3:Case study,
Course Evaluation Methods: 
A: Exam, B: Experiment, C: Homework

Vertical Tabs

Course Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes Program Learning Outcomes Teaching Methods Assessment Methods
Students will defines the basic concepts of political science and makes connections between them.  

       1

1,2 A
Students will distinguish the interconnected nature of the USA’s wide-ranging political and economic challenges and successes. 2 1,2 A
Students will relate major societal facts and patterns such as imbalanced distribution of income, economic crises to the social structure and history of the society of the USA. 2 1,2 A
Students will evaluate current developments better. 2 1,2 A,D
Students will evaluate key issues of the major case studies of the USA. 1 1,2 A,D
Students will construct a research question on a state as a case study. 3 1,2 A

 

Course Flow

COURSE CONTENT
Week Topics Study Materials
1           Introduction  
2
  • American Politics and Society David McKay John Wiley & Sons, 6 April 2009. 
  • Alexandra Oleson and John Voss, The Organization of Knowledge in Modern America, 1865–1920 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979).
  • T. J. Jackson Lears, Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877–1920 (Harper Perennial, 2010).
  
3
  • Richard Wightman Fox and T. J. Jackson Lears, eds., The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History (Pantheon, 1983).
  • Ellen Fitzpatrick, History’s Memory: Writing America’s Past, 1880–1920 (Harvard University Press, 2002). 
  
4
  • David Shi, Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture, 1850–1920 (Oxford University Press, 1995).
  • James Kloppenberg, Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870–1920 (Oxford University Press, 1988).

·       Fred W. Riggs, The Survival of Presidentialism in America:Para-constitutional Practices,International Political Science ReviewOctober 1988 vol. 9 no. 4 247-278.

 
5
  • Samuel Moyn, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History (Harvard University Press, 2010).
  • Elizabeth Borgwardt, chapter two in A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights (Harvard University Press, 2005).
  
6
  • Daniel T. Rodgers, “An Age of Social Politics,” in Thomas Bender, ed., Rethinking American History in a Global Age (University of California Press, 2002), pp. 250–273.
  
7
  • T. J. Jackson Lears, No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880–1920 (University of Chicago Press, 1994).
  • John Higham, “Multiculturalism and Universalism: A History and Critique,” in Hanging Together: Unity and Diversity in American Culture (Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 221–40.
  • Sarah Igo, The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public (Harvard University Press, 2008). 
  • Paul Boyer, By the Bomb’s Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age (University of North Carolina Press, 1985).
  
8 Midterm  
9
  • Robert Westbrook, John Dewey and American Democracy (Cornell University Press, 1991).
  • Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2002).
  
10
  • David Engerman, “American Knowledge and Global Power,” Diplomatic History 31, no. 4 (September 2007), pp. 599–622.
  
11
  • Elaine Tyler May, “Cold War—Warm Hearth: Politics and the Family in Postwar America,” in The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930–1980, ed. Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle (Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 150–81.
  • James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996)
  
12
  • Meg Jacobs and Julian Zelizer, Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981-1989: A Brief History with Documents (New York: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2011) 
  • Howard Brick, Transcending Capitalism: Visions of a New Society in Modern American Thought (Cornell University Press, 2006).
  
13
  • Bruce Schulman,The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics (New York: Da Capo Press, 2001)
  
14
  •  
  

 

Recommended Sources

RECOMMENDED SOURCES
Textbook  
Additional Resources  

 

Material Sharing

MATERIAL SHARING
Documents  
Assignments  
Exams  

 

Assessment

ASSESSMENT
IN-TERM STUDIES NUMBER PERCENTAGE
Mid-term/Final 2 65
Participation 1 15
Homework 1 20
Total   100
CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE   35
CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE   65
Total   100

 

Course’s Contribution to Program

COURSE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM
No Program Learning Outcomes Contribution
1 2 3 4 5  
1 Students will demonstrate their comprehensive knowledge of the basic concepts and theories of Political Science and International Relations as well as other related disciplines such as Law, Economics and Sociology.     X      
2 Students will interpret the structure, institutions and operation of national, international and supranational entities via utilization of the concepts and theories of Political Science and International relations and produce project reports that include possible solutions to problems of such institutions when necessary.        X    
3 Students will demonstrate that they have developed a comparative, analytical and interdisciplinary approach vis-à-vis human societies and political systems.            
4 Students will have improved their skills and awareness of personal responsibility and team membership through conducting group or independent research projects, doing internships and producing their graduation dissertations.       X    
5 Students will demonsrate proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data collections methods.       X    
6 Students will prove their understanding of  the rapidly-evolving dynamics of national and global environments requires  constant self-assessment, life-long learning, and the ability to formulate innovative solutions to maintain their personal and professional development.             
7 Students should be able to critically evaluate the body of knowledge in political science, assess self-competency and direct self-learning efforts accordingly.       X    
8 Students will implement written and oral communication skills in English and Turkish in both academic and professional settings.        X    
9 Students should be able to effectively demonstrate their knowledge of written,  oral and reading skills in English both in international institutional settings and follow and interpret the global dynamics of the International Relations discipline.        X    
10 Students will demonstrate their social skills and experience required by public or private institutions or in the academia.    X        
11 Students will show empathy and respect towards societies other than one’s own.   X        
12 Students should be able to effectively utilize computer and information technologies commonly-used in the social sciences.     X      
13 Students will interpret domestic and international developments and express opinions, having acquired advanced knowledge and proficiency in the via communication with international scholars and students.       X    
14 Students will respect personal, social and academic ethical norms.     X      
15 Students should understand the personal, social, and ecological dimensions of social responsibility, and show duties of active and global citizenship.   X        
16 Students should know that universality of social-political and legal rights and social justice are the principle components of contemporary society, and that scientific thinking is an essential prerequisite for maintaining social advancement and global competitiveness.       X    

 

ECTS

ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION
Activities Quantity Duration
(Hour) 		Total
Workload
(Hour)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) 15 3 45
Quizes 15 4 60
Mid-terms 1 2 2
Final 1 4 4
Homework 1 3 3
Total Work Load     114
Total Work Load / 25 (h)     4,56
ECTS Credit of the Course     5

 

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