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Introduction to Politics MT-1

Politics is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the
general rules under which they live.

Politics is linked to conflict and cooperation.

The word politics comes from polis meaning literally city
Politics = the affair of the polis

Decisions are taken collectively in families
Mistakes minimized, blame shared

The roots of politics (conducting the affair of the city)

600 thousand years ago homosaphiens
150 thousand years ago biological Eve
90 thousand years ago biological Adam

Slavery: lack of freedom

Tribe: a group of distant families
Inter-marriages

Hunting gathering passive consuming
Nomad
Everybody works (primal equality)
30-35 years life expectancy
Chiefs emerged

The most important activity of a tribe is finding food.
Passive consumers
2 major consequences
Moving on
Division of labor

BC 12000 End of Ice Age
Human population increased
More places explored

First intervention in nature Agriculture
Storage and building started
Division of labor changed
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Private property started
Land - the most important turning point
Inheritance laws
Disputes and eventually laws, courts, justice

We still depend on agriculture (and nature)
Wars happen because of it.
Politics / because of it.

Summerians Hammurabi laws (first)

Aristotales Politics how to manage the affairs of the state

City (Old French, Latin civi totem)
-The condition of the citizen
-Community of citizen
-Resident of the city (civil)

civil civilize - civilization Latin
medine - medeniyet Arabic
seyit (man managing one horse) - siyaset
medeni x bedevi
Barbarian bar, bar
Barbarian yabani (savage) yabanc (foreigner)

bn-i Haldun

We need methods to make generalizations.
Generalization theories (make assumption) explanation


State (most important determinant is the human society) is a manmade
entity.

Plato Man is a political animal.
Political Theory
What is a state?
Why there is a state?
Comparative Politics
Forms of governments
International Relations
Number of states, which interacts with another

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Power
Security Threat Basic need (air, water, food, shelter)
Enforcement

Sanction
There is no sanction for whatever you do in the forest.

State of nature
There are no rules. Not desirable
Needs
No sanctions
Absolute freedom (no security)

In order to make sure we have security and basic needs, we limit freedom.
(Social contract)

Power is the legitimate use of force.
Lege = Law

Legitimate use of power = authority

Law is normative.

Legality - legal law
Legitimacy legitimate

Legal=lawful
Legitimate = just

Codification = writing of a law codified laws

Legitimacy is not normative.
It has to be proceeded by people.

Justice
Fair
Reasonable
Common sense

All human beings are endowed with the same amount of common sense.
-Descartes


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Legitimate use of force Power
You cant reach legitimacy by force.

Webers definition of state
The monopoly of use of legitimate force in a given territory.

Failed state: State that cant provide security, justice, basic needs to its
citizens.

Government taxes security justice

Sine qua non without which none (olmazsa olmaz)

Iustitia fundamentum regnum Adalet mlkn temelidir

Mlk- melik
Memleket memalik melik

Functions of government
Execution of decision
Legislation
Adjudication

Execution executive (administration) government
Legislation Legislative parliament
Adjudication judiciary court

Sovereign Jean Badin sovereignty is the highest form of authority
Gives legitimacy to the whole functions of government

Zillullah- fil alem = the shadow of God on the Earth


Primus inter pares = primary among equals

No Ottoman sultan ever married, to not lose power to in- laws
Fratricide to keep power

Agricultural Revolution (private property)
Aristocrats Landowners
Peasants Work in the land
Later
Bourgs Bourgeois
&

Candarl Halil

Raison detat hikmet-i hkmet
Done for the goods of the state

Ottoman Empire was a classical empire.
Not a theocratic
Secular

Who should rule and why?

Divine Right to Rule
God

If one has the authority (legitimate use of power), what happens if he abuses
his power?

Controlling the power

Constitution

Plato
He assumed -in the realm of what should be- the most
knowledgeable/virtuous should rule. (Philosopher kings)
Republic

Unit to be ruled determines the nature of the ruler.
Characteristics of the unit have impact.

Democracy is the norm in 21
st
century, even the least democratic state is
apologetic about it.

Nature of the philosophical roots of the right to rule
Eastern empires (including India, Persia, Hellenistic Empire of the
Alexander the Great, Ottoman)

If the state doesnt deliver justice, you dont need it.

14
th
century / Ibn-I Haldun, Mukaddime The king rules by the army (money-
taxes).
The state rules by the army
The army is fed by taxes
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Value is created in a just environment
Justice comes from righteous government, honest officials

Produce-Taxes-Army-Burocracy

If there is no justice = Law of jungle

Justice comes from good governors / righteous

Cycle of justice = Daire-I Adliye

Knalzade Ali Ahlak- Alayi, 1564
Summarizes the idea of cycle of justice
Justice is the path of reason.
ADL is the requirement for the Salah- Cihan
art=eriat (in this case Laws)
Sovereign (Melik)
Army (Leker, Asker)
Wealth (Mal)
Subjects (Raiyet, Millet)














Collapsing feudalism Absolute monarchy
14
th
Louis I am the state.

Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes - John Locke (17
th
century)
Human nature - as a justification of ruling-
In the state of nature
Absolute freedom
ADL-JUSTICE
SALAH-I CHAN
WORLD PEACE
DEVLET
STATE
ERAT
LAWS
RAYET
SUBJECTS
MAL
WEALTH
LEKER
ARMY
MELK
SOVEREIGN
(
Killing one another
Limit our freedom
Leaving absolute freedom
Accept limitation of freedom
Benefit of the society
Conduct life

Thomas Hobbes (founding philosopher of the absolute monarchy,
conservative politics) Leviathan (a mythical monster) Human beings are
selfish, violent even obey worst monarch accept the legitimacy
assumption: homo homini lupus state: necessary evil
Father of conservative politics

J.J. Rousseau - romanticized the state of nature, morality is innate, social
contract is undesirable but necessary, general will-the basis of his social
contract theory (a priory existence of a notion of general will, general
interest of the society, individuals dont know, there has to be sth above),
assumes general will existed a priori, Individual wills has to submit to the
general will (differ john lock)
Ultimate general will - preservation
Gave rise to Republicanism (a community is assumed to be come
together on their own will)


Meritocracy= a group of people chosen by certain criteria (merits) ruling
An elected monarch is a tyrant.
Freedom of thought is not equal to freedom of expression
Equality and freedom are the basis of democracy.
The early Greek democracy was not for slaves, women and foreigners.
Democracy is a work in progress.
The Weimar Republic was a perfect democracy before Hitler-1932

Evolution of democracy isnt always progressive.
Voting can be used for malicious purposes.
To prevent that, we must have freedom of expression and transparent
discussion before a vote.


John Locke (founder of political liberalism) Essentially human nature is
good and cooperative.
Living together
If social contract is violated, you have the right to rebel.
Father of liberalism
)

Liberalism
Individual rights
Pluralism

Political pluralism multi-party democracies

Jeremy Bentham the purpose of the state, social contract is there to
achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number (utilitarian
conception)

Debate of natural rights vs. positive rights
Natural right (we assume - comes from our nature - freedom, living,
equality)
Positive right (we know, given by law right of property)

Max Webers considered to be the founder of political sociology.
Idea of state (monopoly of use of legitimate force)
Categorize using history and time and space
Authority (legitimate right of use of power..)
Traditional (tribal structures)
Patriachcial
Patrimonialism (the elder is the authority)
Feudalism
Charismatic
Extraordinary character, authority figure without
questioning, dangerous, whatever he does society is
ready to accept. Napoleon, Hitler
Legal Domination
Legal-rational authority, not because of traditional
requirements (family of the ruler),
Rational
Rational legitimation
Rule of law

Legal Rational Burocracy
Defining the nature of the modern state
Nianc - Reis-l Kttap - Hariciye Nazr

Application of authority
Weberian Civil Service

Hegel (philosophy of state, desire to exist as a community)
*


Democracy = peoples rule

The right to vote is relatively new. (late 19
th
early 20
th
century)

Pluralism is also required by democracy.
Goes hand-in-hand with freedom of expression

Democracy is not a regime where everybody thinks the same. Its a regime
where people think differently and choose not to turn to violence.

2 types of democracy
Direct: only in small societies
Representative

Republic & Democracy
Republic is about the legitimacy of the succession
Democracy is about the legitimacy of application of the power to rule

Republic is a system
Democracy is a process/method

Republic means non-monarchy
Democracy is opposed to all regimes or methods of ruling in which people
does not have a say in the decisions.

Constitutional monarchy / If it is a democratic constitution, democratic
Democracy require election

An election doesnt mean democracy.
Democratic election = free, fair and regular

Monarchy, Aristocracy x Democracy
Tyranny
Despotism
Oligarchy

Democracy = ask a number of question
Who has a share making a decision?
Are those people accountable?
Are the people chosen (pm)

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Accountablity of the ruler
Are they chosen?

Kanun-I Esasi // the constitution we have today
President = Sultan
Mostly symbolic powers
Head of state, not head of government
Executive powers belong to PM

How are they chosen?
Free, fair, regular
Single party Candidates of one party, no other political party
present..

Institutions of democracy
Depends on if you have a constitution that defines ins. Democratic..

Democratic regime
Democratic regime depends on whether democracy is being applied.

Democratic structure
Sine qua non of democracy
Necessary but not sufficient

Protection of the rights of the minorities.

Minority
1) Numerically fever people in any voting
2) Categorical minorities, which is defined by belonging to a certain
group. Religious, ethnic, national

Preventing the tyranny of majority

Existence of an opposition
All regimes have governments, only democracies have opposition.
-Sleyman Demirel
Should be a blessing for a regime, not a menace

Participation to elections
Who will have the right to participate?
Linear evolution / restrictive to elusive
Ancient Greek = male citizens
British system year 1215
""
Ottoman 1808 Senedi ittifak

1215 / No taxation without representation

Even now the most important job of the parliament is passing the budget.

How many people should participate?
As many as possible
Land owners Tax payers Universal right to vote (every
citizen has a power to vote)

Democracy is a work in progress.

Populism vs. Elitism
Who should decide?
Fake debate
Democracy dont guarantee to select the best ruler.
Democracy guarantee the replace of the government through
non violent ways.
People protect democracy.
Democracy isnt a regime that bring the best government but its the
only one where incompetent ones can be replaced.
Multiparty pluralistic democracy
We dont necessarily have the best government but we can replace
them until we get better ones.
Nobody should have the right to protect democracy from people.
(Iran, military dictatorships in Turkey)
Democracy is not a regime type, its a method.

1952-2012
Egypt = 3 Rulers
Turkey = 20 PM

Velayet-i fakir
Religious elitism

Freedom
Negative freedoms
Nothing prevents you from doing
Positive freedom
When somebody gives you the power to do sth.


"#
Utilitarians
Harm principle
You are free to do anything as long as you dont harm others.


Ideologies
Age of enlightenment
French revolution
Left & Right emerged
French revolutionary parliament
Conservatives gathered around one side
Progressives gathered around one side
Ottoman Parliament 1876 / Leftists & Rightists
Majority & Minority emerged as a result of similar thinking people
grouping together.
Conservatives
Against radical change
Change should come gradually
Support reforms
Progressives
Drastically change in scope and time

Difference between ideologies and theories
Theory
Thought
Open to discussion
Based on falsifiability
Explanation
Ideology
Not discussed anymore.
Applied
Normative
Implementing the project

A hypothesis that doesnt include the possibility of being wrong is not
falsifiable.
Proportional representation would result in multi party systems.
Falsifiable
Coalitions are bad. Difficult to falsify

Regimes based on ideologies
Represent the ultimate truth
Someone opposed to the regime might be persecuted.
"$
Associated with human right violations.

French Revolution is a result of developments.

Liberalism & Socialism
Political Liberalism = Freedom
Not necessarily about economy


Liberalism
Economic liberals & Political liberals
Political liberalism: individual is the most important unit in the society.
Limited state intervention
State should protect freedoms
Protecting freedom can destroy freedom

Socialism
Puts importance on the community and equality
Enforcing equality can destroy freedom

Political theories must be thought in place and time.

2 very important turning points in history
Agricultural Revolution
Industrial Revolution
Traditional classes(peasants-townfolk-aristocracy) changed

It was the crusaders who shaked up the serfdom system.
First large-scale population movement.
Leaders of city states perished
More workers, more goods, more sale, more capital
Advent of capitalism


Socialism = after Industrial revolution
Industrial revolution
Shake traditional classes
Peasants, landowners
Burgois (people living in cities), proletariat (neither have land nor
capital, propertyless class) In the beginning burgois and proletariat were
together against aristocracy.
Proletariat class emerged after that.
Propertyless class
"%
They did production without having the means.
They started to challenge the bourgeois.

Pre Marxist Socialist Idealists / Moral & Ethics

Marx
This has nothing to do with good or bad. Thats how history
Reintroduced historical materialism (Hegels idea)
Slave feudal capitalist - communist

Evolutionists & Revolutionists
Social democracy: Evolutionist

Socialism
Communism: Ultimate goal, no classes, state will disappear
Welll eventually reach a point where the state will disappear
because its a method of oppression. If everybody is equal, the state
wont be needed. Ideal goal, classless society
Utopian communists
Revolutionist communists
Ideological communists

Equity = fairness
Equality = numeric

Conservatives & Radicals
Conservatism is an ideology when people who benefit from the status
quo oppose change.
Radicals = change
AKP come to power challenging the status quo, now they are the
status quo.

Bourgeois
Liberal
Feudalism = decentralization
Centralization

French Revolution
Definitively ended feudalism in Western and Central Europe
Feudalism was also a ruling and economic policy and thus was
replaced by centralized regimes.
Centralized states also made trade easier.
Republicanism emerged
"&
The concept of nation emerged
Citizenship emerged
Whoever lives in the French territory is of the French nation,
and will decide on wholl rule.
1876 Constitution
Territorial definition of the nation

Political / Constitutional citizen based
Populist / Ethnic

Marxism considers religion/tradition as unnecessary at best and tool of
oppression at worst. (opium of the masses)

German and Italian unifications: 1860-70s a decade after the French
Revolution
These instead had to refer to language and ethnicity as the definition
of nation, as they had no previous kingdom.
Populist, still causes wars


Yugoslavia was divided according to religious lines.
Same with Germany (protestant) and Austria (catholic)

Nowadays a cabinet decision is required to use the name Turk to prevent
the use of Turk ethnically.

Ne mutlu Trkm diyene!

The caliphate was associated with the Ottomans. Thus the new regime
couldnt use religion or the caliphate.
Also the change of the language.

Enver Paa = 2
nd
definition / Panturkism / Ethnic identity
Mustafa Kemal = 1
st
definition / Territorial identity

National socialism = Nazism

Protestantism was very decentralized and couldnt help Hitler. So, he used
Germanness and blood.

Hitlers plan was ridding Europe of Jews and he even had ideas to move Jews
in European Turkey to Asian Turkey.

"'
Fascism and Nazism emerged as the third solution to unchecked capitalism in
20
th
century Europe.

The Ottomans embraced capitalism very late.

Anarchism was another offered solution.
Authority is the ultimate method of oppression and for freedom we
must destroy all mechanisms leading to oppression.


Comparative Politics
Compare and contrast political systems

What is a system?
Structure
Order & Purpose
Function
A structure with a function, ordered to serve a purpose.
It is more than the sum of its parts

What is a states structure?
The structure of a state is defined in the constitution.

Main purposes of government
Justice
Security
Taxation

Westphalia Treaty 1648
Modern states = Post-Westphalian State
Ended 30 years war
Started as a religious war between catholic and protestant princes
Involved every European country (Not Ottoman, Persian Wars &
Celali)
Rules of Western Europe came together in Westphalia
One major principle
Cuius region eius religio
Who owns the land, the religion of his applies over the
land.
Sovereignty emerges.
Rulers applying sovereignty individually co-existing
small states
Sovereign equality = co-existing sovereignties
"(

UN - 193 members
Article 2 of UN charter
The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign
equality of all its Members.
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from
the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or
political independence of any state, or in any other manner
inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

American & French Revolutions
Concept of sovereignty
American constitution
French constitution

Initial motto of the first TBMM
Hkimiyet, bil kayd art milletindir.
Oppose to divine right to rule

Impact of the French Revolution
Not the initiator of the idea of sovereignty but the result of the idea.
1748 Montesquieu
On the spirit of laws (Kanunlarn Ruhu)
The idea of separation of powers argued for the first
time.
Introduced the powers of government into legislative,
executive, judiciary
Principal of separation of powers
Nationalism
Change in the nature of the armies
Before armies of the king
After national army: wars become more destructive

Napoleonic wars spread the republican ideas


Universal Conscription
Everybody serves in the army

Duty of the kings soldiers = Protect the king and his possessions
Citizen army = Protect nations sovereignty and territorial integrity

Absolute power to rule over the nation is authorized by the nation itself.
")

Absolute power has to be limited.
Minimization of corruption of power
Separation of powers
Legislative
Executive
Executive decisions fulfill the function.
Judiciary
Judicial review: dare yasaya dayanmayan hibir
yetki kullanamaz. Yetki kullanm kiisel deildir.
Arbitrariness (Keyfilik): Judicial review prevents.
Dantay is the upper court of the administrative
courts.

Checking the power of majority
Human rights: Signed by states
Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

Article 1 & 2 of UN Charter
Main characteristics of nation-states
Sovereignty
Territorial integrity

States are functionally equal, structurally different.

Different structures
Failed state: When a state unable to serve its functions.
What system of law
Law (hukuk)
3 kinds of legal systems
Common law: Courts refer to the decisions of the
other courts previous similar cases. Primitive.
Anglo-Saxon. British system. Precedent basis.

Positive (Continental) law: Positive law. According
to a general rule. Roman law to Hammurabi Laws
(need to codify to basic rules of justice emerged).
Ottoman = Mecelle (civil code) // Roman law
Article 25 / Zararla telafi olunmaz.

Religious law

"*
Rule by law (kanun devleti) is not the same think the rule of law (hukuk
devleti).
Rule by law = Legal
About power
Rule of law = Legitimacy
About justice
Law is an instrument of justice
Justice preserves the right of weak.

What is law?
General : Made for everyone, applied to everyone
Public : Accessible, everyone should reach, official
gazette (bill to law)
Prospective : Laws are about people and they make a
connection between an act and legality.
If not prohibited an act does not constitute a
crime. (Kanunsuz su olmaz.)
Time point by which we are going to judge an act
is crime or not.
Laws cannot be retrospective.
Exception = Extending rights can be retroactive.
Clear
Consistent : Contradictory laws damages the justice
Enforceable
Conformable : It should be possible to conform the law, act
according to law.

Basic structure of government
Monarchy (44 UN Member)
Constitutional : UK, Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Spain,
Sweden, Netherland
Bhutan, Japan
Swaziland
Absolute : Liechtenstein, Monaco
Religious : Bahrain, Brunei, Malaysia, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia

To be democratic requires non-rejection of democracy.

The constitutional structure of the state
Unitary & Federal States
Federal
2 levels of government
#+
Central
Federal unit: May take different names.
Argentina (23 provinces)
Australia (6 state)
Belgium
Bosnia & Her (2 entities)
Brazil (26 states)
Canada (10 provinces)
Germany (16 lander)
India (28 states)
Malaysia (13 states)
Mexico (31 states)
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan (4 provinces)
Russia (83 federal subjects, 21 republic, 46 oblast
different groups of federated units with different
amount of power)
South Africa (9 provinces)
Spain (17 autonomous communities)
Switzerland (26 cantons, CH, used to be a confederation)
United Arab Emirates (7 emirates, president of the
Emirates = Emir of the Abu Dhabi, comes closer to the
confederation)
United States of America (50 states)
Venezuela (23 states)

Confederation
Requires treaty
Confederation government has the power over
the units, not citizens.
Swiss Confederacy
German Confederation
Sweden & Norway 1840-1905
Egypt Syria
Egypt Syria Iraq
Serbia & Montenegro

Unitary
Only the government has power over individual citizens.



#"
The constitutional structure of the government

Parliamentary
The head of state is different from the head of government
All executive power = Prime minister
President = symbolic
Unicameral (Tek meclisli )
1920 - 1960 & 1980 - Today
Population based
Bicameral ( ki meclisli )
1960 - 1980 = Meclis & Senato
UK - House of Commons & House of Lords
Federal systems

Presidential
The head of the state is the head of the government.
All executive power = President
Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Cyprus, Dominican Republic,
Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Korea, US

Semi Presidential
A head of state, which has certain executive powers, the head
of government has another executive powers.
France, Finland, Russia (hybrid, between presidential and semi
presidential)