İKÜ-ECTS

Undergraduate

Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences

International Relations

International Relations Main Page / Program Curriculum / Authoritarianism and Democratization in Middle East and North Africa

Authoritarianism and Democratization in Middle East and North Africa

Course Code	Semester	Course Name	LE/RC/LA	Course Type	Language of Instruction	ECTS
IRD9003		Authoritarianism and Democratization in Middle East and North Africa	3/0/0	DE	ENGLISH	4


Course Goals	The main objective of this course is to examine developments in the MENA countries from the 1980s to the present time, with a particular focus on political/regime change and through the prism of democratization theory. Grounded in current theoretical debates and an analysis of the preceding authoritarian era, the course examines the dramatic changes that shook numerous Arab countries in 2011/2012, asking the ultimate question of whether democracy will be able to take hold in a region little known for its democratic credentials.
Prerequisite(s)	Course Code Course Name…
Corequisite(s)	Course Code Course Name…
Special Requisite(s)	The minimum qualifications that are expected from the students who want to attend the course.(Examples: Foreign language level, attendance, known theoretical pre-qualifications, etc.)
Instructor(s)	Assist. Prof. Dr. Nazlı Çağın Bilgili
Course Assistant(s)
Schedule	Thursday 14:00-16:50; Z-02
Office Hour(s)	Tuesday 11:00-13:00, 6 -01
Teaching Methods and Techniques	-Participation, presentation, lecturing
Principle Sources	--Gandhi, Jennifer and Adam Przeworski. (2007). “Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats.” Comparative Political Studies, 40 (11): 1279-1301. Schmitter, P.C. & Karl, T.L. (1991). “What Democracy is...and Is Not”, Journal of Democracy, 2 (3): 75-88. Hinnebusch, Raymond. (2006) “Authoritarian persistence, democratization theory and the Middle East: An overview and critique”, Democratization, 13(3), 373 – 395. Bellin, Eva. (2004). “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East”, Comparative Politics, 36:139-57. Anderson, Lisa. (2006). “Searching Where the Light Shines: Studying Democratization in the Middle East”, Annual Review of Political Science, 9:189–214. Herb, M. (2004). Princes and Parliaments in the Arab World, Middle East Journal, 58(3): 367-384. Blaydes, Lisa. (2006). Who Votes in Authoritarian Elections and Why? Determinants of Voter Turnout in Contemporary Egypt. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Ellen Lust-Okar. (2006). “Elections under authoritarianism: Preliminary lessons from Jordan”, Democratization, 13:3, 456-471. Brumberg, Daniel. (2002). “Democratization in the Arab World? The Trap of Liberalized Autocracy”, Journal of Democracy, 13(4): 56–68. Kamrava, Mehran. (1998). Non-democratic states and political liberalization in the Middle East: A structural analysis”, Third World Quarterly, 19(1): 63-85. Sadiki, L. (2000). “Popular Uprisings and Arab Democratization”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 32(1): 71-95. Bayat, A. (2002). “Activism and Social Development in the Middle East”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 34(1), 1-28. Yom, S. L. (2005). “Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World”, Middle East Review of International Affairs, 9(4):14-33. Abdel Rahman, Maha. (2002). “The Politics of 'UnCivil' Society in Egypt”, Review of African Political Economy, 29(91): 21-35. Gause, F. (2011). “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability”, Foreign Affairs, 90(4): 81-90. Goodwin, Jeff. (2011). “Why We Were Surprised (Again) by the Arab Spring”, Swiss Political Science Review, 17(4): 452–56. Bayat, A. (2013). “The Arab Spring and its Surprises”. Development and Change, 44(3): 587-601. Ansani, Andrea and Daniele, Vittorio. (2012). “About a Revolution. The Economic Motivations of the Arab Spring”, International Journal of Development and Conflict, 3(3): 1-24. Kamal Eldin Osman Salih. (2013). “The Roots and Causes of the 2011 Arab Uprisings”, Arab Studies Quarterly, 35(2): 184-206. Lim, M. (2012). “Clicks, cabs, and coffee houses: Social media and oppositional movements in Egypt, 2004–2011”, Journal of Communication, 62: 231-248. Habibul Haque Khondker. (2011). “Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring”, Globalizations, 8:5, 675-679. Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2011. “Nonviolent Resistance in the Arab Spring: The Critical Role of Military-Opposition Alliances”, Swiss Political Science Review, 17(4): 485–91. Goldstone, JA. (2011). “Cross-Class Coalitions and the Making of the Arab Revolts of 2011”, Swiss Political Science Review, 17(4): 457–462. Angrist, M. (2013). “Understanding the Success of Mass Civic Protest in Tunisia”, Middle East Journal, 67(4): 547-564. Anderson, L. (2011). “Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the differences between Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya”, Foreign Affairs, 90(3): 2-7. Beissinger, Mark R., Jamal, Amaney A., and Mazur, Kevin. (2013). “Who Participated in the Arab Spring? A Comparison of Egyptian and Tunisian Revolutions”, Working Paper. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University. Gabsi, Zouhir. (2019). “Tunisia’s youth: awakened identity and challenges post-Arab Spring”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 46:1: 68-87. Joya, Angela. (2017). “Neoliberalism, the State and Economic Policy Outcomes in the Post-Arab Uprisings: The Case of Egypt”, Mediterranean Politics, 22:3: 339-361.
Other Sources	-


Course Schedules
Week	Contents	Learning Methods
1. Week	Introduction to the course
2. Week	Theories of authoritarianism, democracy and democratization	Lecturing
3. Week	Authoritarianism and Democratization in the MENA	Lecturing
4. Week	Electoral Authoritarianism in the MENA	Lecturing, participation
5. Week	Political Liberalization in the MENA	Lecturing, participation
6. Week	Political Participation in the MENA	Lecturing, participation
7. Week	Civil Society in the MENA	Lecturing, participation
8. Week	Midterm
9. Week	Midterm
10. Week	Arab Uprisings – A surprise?	Lecturing, participation
11. Week	Causes of the Arab Uprisings	Lecturing, participation
12. Week	Examples of Egypt and Tunisia	Lecturing, participation
13. Week	What about the post-revolutionary period?	Lecturing, participation
14. Week	Student presentations	Presentations
15. Week	Final exam
16. Week	Final exam
17. Week	Final exam


Assessments
Evaluation tools	Quantity	Weight(%)
Homework / Term Projects / Presentations	2	50
Final Exam	1	50

Program Outcomes
PO-1 To identify and use theoretical and practical knowledge in International Relations.
PO-2 To express ideas and assessments about contemporary debates in International Relations.
PO-3 To acknowledge ethical and scientific responsibilities of data collection, evaluation and publication.
PO-4 To monitor and interpret published studies in International Relations.
PO-5 To use a second language at an intermediate level.
PO-6 To analyze, compare and relate different local, regional and global developments in International Relations.
PO-7 To analyze, compare and relate International Relations with theories and practices of different associate departments and their sub-fields and to offer suggestions by combining these fields.
PO-8 To present substantial knowledge for various public, private and academic career positions.
PO-9 To analyze the emergence and functions of prominent regional and local actors and to make future projections about their actions.
PO-10 To theoretically and practically examine different events and facts in International Relations and Foreign Policy and to interpret their past, present, and future through a scientific perspective.

Learning Outcomes
LO-1 To evaluate the major reasons behind 2010-2011 Arab uprisings
LO-2 To identify the problems being faced in the region in the post-uprisings period
LO-3 To analyze the impact of political participation on the political systems in MENA
LO-4 To evaluate the civil society, its impact and the problems it encounters in the MENA
LO-5 To define different types of authoritarian systems and the teories of democratization

Course Assessment Matrix:

Program Outcomes - Learning Outcomes Matrix
PO 1 PO 2 PO 3 PO 4 PO 5 PO 6 PO 7 PO 8 PO 9 PO 10
LO 1
LO 2
LO 3
LO 4
LO 5