Modern Political Ideologies
bertuna@gsu.edu.tr
Content
Objective
The aim of this course is to enable students to develop a comparative understanding of the historical development, theoretical foundations, and key concepts of modern political ideologies. It seeks to enhance their ability to analyze how major ideological traditions, including liberalism, socialism, conservatism, nationalism, fascism, ecologism, feminism, and religious fundamentalism, shape political institutions, public policies, and societal debates. The course also aims to equip students with the analytical tools to approach ideologies not merely as historical currents of thought, but as frameworks for understanding and critically evaluating contemporary political developments, democratic transformations, and political discourses.
Course Content
This course examines the historical development, key concepts, and theoretical approaches of modern political ideologies. Major political ideologies, including liberalism, conservatism, socialism, Marxism, nationalism, fascism, feminism, and ecologism, are explored within the historical and social contexts in which they emerged. The course provides a comparative analysis of these ideologies’ approaches to fundamental political issues such as freedom, equality, justice, authority, the state, and society. It also examines the influence of political ideologies on contemporary political debates and transformations.
Course Learning Outcomes
Explain the key concepts, historical development, and theoretical approaches of modern political ideologies.
Compare the fundamental principles and internal variations of major political ideologies, including liberalism, socialism, conservatism, nationalism, fascism, ecologism, feminism, and religious fundamentalism.
Analyze the approaches of political ideologies to fundamental political concepts such as the state, freedom, equality, justice, authority, the individual, and society.
Evaluate the major contributions of classical and contemporary political thinkers to the study of ideologies and relate their ideas to theoretical debates.
Interpret contemporary political events, public policies, and political discourses from different ideological perspectives.
Discuss the similarities and differences between political ideologies, both orally and in writing, drawing on academic sources.
Apply theoretical knowledge of political ideologies to the critical and analytical examination of contemporary political issues.
Teaching and Learning Methods
Lectures, conceptual and theoretical analysis, comparative analysis of political ideologies and classroom discussions.
References
Freeden, M., Sargent, L. T. & Stears, M. (Eds.). (2013). *The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies*. Oxford University Press.
Faure, J., Humphrey, M. & Laycock, D. (Eds.). (2026). *The Routledge Handbook of Ideology Analysis*. Routledge.
Heywood, A. (2021). *Political Ideologies: An Introduction* (7th ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.
Freeden, M. (1996). *Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach*. Oxford University Press.
Weekly Contents
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Concept of Political Ideology: What is ideology? The emergence and functions of ideologies, major theoretical approaches, and contemporary debates on ideology |
| 2 | Liberalism I: Fundamental principles of liberalism, classical and modern liberalism, negative and positive liberty |
| 3 | Liberalism II: The rule of law, democracy, the welfare state, libertarianism, and critiques of liberalism |
| 4 | Socialism I: The emergence of socialism, the origins of Marxism, the critique of capitalism, class struggle, historical materialism, and debates between revolutionary and reformist approaches |
| 5 | Socialism II: Democratic socialism, ethical socialism, social democracy, socialist economics, and debates on the socialist state |
| 6 | Conservatism: Tradition, order, authority, and the critique of rationalism; different strands of conservative thought |
| 7 | Midterm Exam |
| 8 | Anarchism: Critiques of authority and the state, voluntary association, and decentralized political order |
| 9 | Nationalism: The emergence of nationalism as an ideology, its fundamental concepts, and different interpretations |
| 10 | Fascism: Origins, fundamental principles, and conceptions of political order |
| 11 | Ecologism: Rethinking the relationship between humans and nature, ecological democracy, and sustainable society |
| 12 | Feminism: The critique of patriarchy, feminist ideologies, and the redefinition of politics |
| 13 | Religious Fundamentalism: Secularization, modernity, and the politicization of religion |
| 14 | The Transformation of Ideologies: Continuity, fragmentation, and hybridization |
Assessment System
| Activities | Number | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution of in-term studies to overall grade | 1 | 50 |
| Contribution of final exam to overall grade | 1 | 50 |
| Total | 2 | 100 |
| Activities | Number | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 0 | 0 |
| Presentation | 0 | 0 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 0 | 0 |
| Project | 0 | 0 |
| Laboratory | 0 | 0 |
| Other Applications | 0 | 0 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 |
| Term Paper/ Project | 0 | 0 |
| Portfolio Study | 0 | 0 |
| Reports | 0 | 0 |
| Learning Diary | 0 | 0 |
| Thesis/ Project | 0 | 0 |
| Seminar | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
| Make-up | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 |
Relation of Proficiency
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | Understanding the major theories, concepts, foundations, and methodologies used in the study of politics. | X | ||||
| 2 | Identifying the structure and operation of the political system in Turkey and other political systems in the world. | |||||
| 3 | Identifying and gathering information from credible primary and secondary sources; analyzing and synthesizing the acquired knowledge. | X | ||||
| 4 | Generating and testing empirically hypotheses about political processes, institutions, mechanisms and relationships. | X | ||||
| 5 | Designing, conducting and interpreting the results of original research in accordance with the scientific and ethical principles by using basic research methods. | X | ||||
| 6 | Showing awareness and sensivity towards issues related to democracy, human rights and social peace. | X | ||||
| 7 | Appraising the sources of societal conflict and how they can be resolved by political means. | X | ||||
| 8 | Examining critically the nature of change in the global political community, and the complex character of processes such as globalization. | X | ||||
| 9 | Taking a role in a teamwork in political science and general fields of other related disciplines. | X | ||||
| 10 | Following publications in foreign languages and communicating with the colleagues in the international environment by using French which is the language of education in Galatasaray University and English, the compulsory foreign language. | X | ||||
| 11 | Using required level of information and communication technologies. | X | ||||
ECTS
| Activities | Number | Period | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Hours | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Working Hours out of Class | 4 | 12 | 48 |
| Assignments | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presentation | 2 | 10 | 20 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 18 | 18 |
| Project | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Laboratory | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Applications | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Final Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 22 | 22 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Term Paper/ Project | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Portfolio Study | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reports | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Learning Diary | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thesis/ Project | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seminar | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Make-up | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yıl Sonu | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hazırlık Yıl Sonu | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hazırlık Bütünleme | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Workload | 150 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 | 6.00 | ||
| Credits ECTS | 6 | ||