Middle East Technical University

Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences

Department of Political Science & Public Administration

ADM.3102
Comparative Political Analysis
Instructor: Aylin Topal
taylin@metu.edu.tr

This course attempts to deal with the question of how to analyze state-society relations within a
comparative perspective. It will specifically focus on the (ways in which different approaches study)
dynamics of change and forms of representation in both developed and peripheral, capitalist social
formations. There is a mid-term and a final examination, and 5 reaction papers on selected weeks.

Organization of the Course and the Reading List

I. The State Debate of the Third World: Changing Paradigms or Changing Reality

a. From Modernization School to Institutionalist Analysis

Huntington, S. (1968) Political Order in Changing Societies, Yale UP, pp. 8-32.
Leys, C. (1996) “S. Huntington and the End of Classical Modernization Theory”, in The Rise & Fall
of Development Theory, Indiana University Press, pp.64-79.
Martinussen, J. (1997) Society, State & Market: A Guide to Competing Theories of Development,
Zed Books pp.165-181.
Remmer, K. (1997) “The Resurgence of Institutionalist Analysis” World Politics 50 (1), pp. 34-61.
Skocpol, T. and E. Trimberger (1978) “Revolutions and the World Historical Development of
Capitalism”, in B. Kaplan (ed.) Social Change in the Capitalist World Economy, Sage, pp. 121-
138.

b. Rediscovering Civil Society as the Missing Link

Bromley, S. (1994) Rethinking Middle East Politics, Polity Press, pp. 6-45.
Mardin, Ş. (1969) “Power, Civil Society and Culture in the Ottoman Empire”, Comparative
Studies in Society and History, 11(3), pp. 258-281.
Turner, B. (1994) Orientalism, Postmodernism & Globalism, Routledge, pp. 20-35.

c. Post-Colonial State and/or Peripheral/Dependent State

Cardoso, F.H. & E. Faletto (1979) Dependency and Development in Latin America,
University of California Press, pp. 1-7, 8-28, 176-216.
Frank, A.G. (1970) “Development of Underdevelopment” in A.G.Frank, Latin America:
Underdevelopment or Revolution, MR Press, pp.3-17.
Leys, C. (1981) “The ‘Overdeveloped’ Post-Colonial State: A Re-Evaluation”, Review of African
Political Economy, vol. 3, no.5, pp. 39-48.
Leys, C. (1996) The Rise & Fall of Development Theory, Indiana UP, pp.45-63.
Gülalp, H. (1998) “The Eurocentrism of Dependency Theory and the Question of Authenticity”, Third
World Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 951-961.

d. Developmental vs. Predatory State

Castels, M. (2000) The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwell, p. 198.

Chibber,V. (2003) “Late Development and State-Building” in Locked in Place, Princeton, pp. 13-47.
Clarkson, S. (1979) “The Political Economy of State Capitalism”, in The Soviet Theory of
Development: India and the Third World in Marxist-Leninist Scholarship, Macmillan, pp.33-
50.
Evans, P. (1999) “Transferable Lessons? Re-examining the Institutional Prerequisites of East Asian
Economic Policies”, in Y. Akyüz (ed.) East Asian Development: New Perspectives, Frank
Cass, pp. 66-83.
Grindle, M. (1991) “The New Political Economy: Positive Economics and Negative Politics”, in G.
Meier (ed.) Politics and Policy Making in Developing Countries, ICS Press, pp. 41-67.
Halpern, S. (1997) “The Development of Industrial Capitalism and Democracy in Europe and the
Contemporary Third World” in S.Halpern, In the Mirror of the Third World, Cornell UP, pp.1-
25.
Leftwich, A. (1995) “Bringing Politics Back in: Towards a Model of Developmental State”, Journal of
Development Studies, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 400-421.

II. Types of States, Forms of State and Political Regimes

Jessop, B. (2008) State Power, Polity, pp.101-139.

Leys, C. (1996) The Rise & Fall of Development Theory, Indiana UP, pp.164-187.
Poulantzas, N. (1973) Political Power and Social Classes, London: NLB, pp.142-156, pp. 229-252.
Poulantzas, N. (1975) Fascism and Dictatorship, London: NLB, pp.299-335.
Thomas, P. (2002) “Bringing Poulantzas Back In”, in S. Aronowitz & P. Bratsis (eds.) Paradigm
Lost: State Theory Reconsidered, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 73-85.
Yalman, G. (1985) “Popülizm, Bürokratik-Otoriter Devlet ve Türkiye”, Onbirinci Tez, 1, pp. 16-69.

a. Corporatism

O’Donnell, G. (1977) “Corporatism and the Question of the State” in J. Malloy (ed.),Authoritarianism
and Corporatism in Latin America, University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 47-87.
Williamson, P. (1989) Corporatism in Perspective: An Introductory Guide to Corporatist Theory,
London: Sage, pp.203-224.

b. Populism

Cammack, P. (1997) “Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America, 1930-1980”, in D. Potter et al.
(eds.) Democratization, Cambridge: Polity, pp. 152-173.
Cammack, P. (2000) “The Resurgence of Populism in Latin America”, Bulletin of Latin American
Research, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 149-161.
Hall, S. (1980) “Popular Democratic vs. Authoritarian Populism: Two Ways of Taking Democracy
Seriously’”, in A. Hunt (ed.) Marxism and Democracy, pp. 157-185.
Laclau, E. (1977) Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory, Verso, pp.143-198.
Laclau, E. 2004) “Populism: What’s in a Name?” in F. Panizza (ed.), Populism as the Mirror of
Democracy,Verso, London.

c. Question of Regime Change

Cammack, P. (1985) “The Political Economy of Contemporary Military Regimes in Latin America:
From Bureaucratic Authoritarianism to Restructuring”, in P. O’Brien & P. Cammack (eds.)
Generals in Retreat: The Crisis of Military Rule in Latin America, Manchester UP, pp. 1-36.
Potter, D. (1997): “Explaining Democratisation” in D. Potter et al. (eds), Democratisation, Polity,
pp.1-36

d. State-Society Relations in the Neoliberal Era

Cammack, P. (2004) “‘Signs of the times’: Capitalism, Competitiveness, and the New Face of
Empire in Latin America”, Socialist Register 2005.
Castorina, E. (2007) “‘Democratic’ Neoliberalism in Argentina”, Socialist Register 2008, pp.265-281.
Haggard, S. and R. Kaufman (1997) “The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions”,
Comparative Politics, vol. 29, no.3, pp. 263-283.
Jessop, B. (2002) “Trends in the State” in B. Jessop, The Future of Capitalist State, pp.193-204.
Oszlak, O. (1986) “Public Policies and Political Regimes in Latin America” International
Social Science Journal, no.108, pp. 219-235.
Robinson, W. (2003) “Towards a New Conceptualisation of Development”, in W.Robinson,
Transnational Conflicts, Verso, pp. 28-62.
Tsoukalas, C. (2002) “Relative Autonomy and Its Changing Forms”, in S. Aronowitz & P. Bratsis
(eds.) Paradigm Lost: State Theory Reconsidered, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 221-244.