From
November 2002 on, the Department of Political Science and Public Administration
has altered its rules governing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exams. According to the
new rules, Ph.D. candidates are required to take exams in three of the fields
designated below: (Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Kasým 2002
itbariyle Doktora Yeterlik Sýnavlarýna iliþkin kurallarýnda deðiþiklik
yapmýþtýr. Yeni kurallara göre Ph.D. adaylarýnýn aþaðýda belirtilen alanlarýn
üçünden sýnava girmeleri gerekmektedir.)
Field 1: Theory of
Public Administration
Field 2: Public
Policy
Field 3: Local
Government and Urban Politics
Field 4: Political
Thought
a)
Classical
b)
Modern
Field 5:
Comparative Politics and Government
Field 6: Studies in
Mass Communication, Ideology and Culture
Field 7: Political
Sociology
Field 8: Turkish
Politics
Some
examples of the questions previously asked by the Department of Political
Science and Public Administration are presented below. (Siyaset Bilimi ve
Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü tarafýndan daha önce sorulmuþ sorulara iliþkin örnekler
aþaðýda sunulmuþtur.)
Please click on the field name below in order to see the
relevant questions.
Fields 1 and 2: Theory of Public Administration and
Public Policy
Field 3: Local Government and Urban Politics
Field 5: Comparative Politics and Government
Field 6: Studies in Mass Communication, Ideology and
Culture
§
"The debate between scientific management and human
relations is a continuing one. It may be tempting to regard the theories of
Taylor and Mayo as mutually exclusive-at one time one theory is pre-eminent
while at other time the other is- but this would be misleading". Discuss;
particularly refer whether this is still a viable argument in public
administration theory?
§
In the evolution of public administration as a discipline
there have been important "turning points" which have seriously
affected the course of development in the ensuing years. Discuss, referring to
some of these turning points and elaborate how they have had repercussions in
discipline's evolution.
§
There seems to be a consensus from the right and the left of
the political spectrum that public bureaucracies play a significant role in
public policy making process. Discuss.
§
“Public Administration contains three relatively distinct
approaches that grow out of different perspectives on its functions. Some have
viewed it as a managerial endeavor, similar to practices in the private sector.
Others, stressing the publicness of the public administration, have empnhasized
its political aspects. Still others, noting the importance of sovereignty,
constitutions, and regulation in public administration, have viewed it as a
distinctly legal matter”. Can these approaches be considered as asset and/or
liability –at the same time- for the discipline? Discuss.
§
It is claimed that the governance school of administration
brings back the political back to the core of public bureaucracies whereas the
history of the discipline remarks to efforts towards politics-administration
seperation. Write an essay in which you critically discuss the implications of
governance school upon the issue of politics-administration dichotomy.
§
What is the role and significance of bureaucracy in public
policy-making process? Elaborate.
§
Give a brief account of the evolution of the discipline Public
Administration in general and in
§
Select a prominent name in the field of Public
Administration, and discuss where this prominence comes from.
§
Please critically analyse public administration system in
this country from a structural-functional perspective; single out major issue
areas and argue remedies, ways and means to ameliorate the system and its
inadequacies.
§
Write an essay on how the issue of “public interest” is
treated by different approaches/theories of public administration.
§
Write an essay on the topic of “administrative praxis”
as treated by different approaches/theories of public administration.
§
“The ideal construct of bureaucracy set forth by Max Weber is
frequently used as a model for comparising administrative systems. Although
this model has received a great deal of praise, as well as criticism, it has
not always been useful for explaining reality, particularly in the developing
countries.” Please write an essay critically evaluating the above quotation.
§
Critically evaluate the contribution of Fred W. Riggs to the
development of the sub-field of comparative public administration.
§
Write an essay critically evaluating the relationship between
comparative public administration and comparative politics.
§
In elaborating the consequences of globalization it is argued
that "…public administration will continue to persist as both a
self-conscious enterprise and a professional field. Research and development in
public administration may be negatively affected by globalization to some
extent, but the continuity of the field of inquiry is intact; all states are
needed for globalizing capitalism, and all states have public administration
functions that can not and will not be dismantled". Within the above
framework, write an essay critically evaluating the implications for
comparative public administration.
§
Write an essay critically evaluating Ferrel Heady's
contribution to the development of the field of comparative public
administration.
§
It is generally claimed that a substantial paradigm shift
occurred in the discipline of public administration in recent decades, during
the restructuring of contemporary capitalism. One of the reflections of this
paradigm shift is the replacement of "Public Personnel
Administration" with "Human Resources Management". Critically
evaluate and comment on the statement.
§
It is argued that there has always been a built-in tension
between "merit system" and its implementation, and
"representative bureaucracy" in public administration systems.
Discuss this issue in general and in relation to Turkish personal
administration in particular.
§
Outline a workable-implementable public personnel system for
this country that would respond to some of the fundamental personnel issues
faced.
§
Politicization of the civil service has been considered as “a
dilemma”. Do you agree? Discuss.
§
What would be some repercussions of “new public management
movement” on public personnel practices? Critically discuss.
§
It is argued that “representative bureaucracy” – (civil
service) is a prerequisite for a sound democracy to exist. Elaborate.
§
Write an essay in which you explain and compare
philosophical, theoretical and practical foundations of the ‘pluralist’ and the
‘network’ models of public policy making process.
§
In order to grasp the intricacies of the public policy
process it is argued that it is necessary to relate it to a complex set of
variables, and actors such as power structure of the society as a whole,
functioning of the public “bureaucratic” organizations and role and significance
of administrator as an individual decision-maker, and the “street level
bureaucrat”.
§
The view that “public administration theory must be subject
to an unprecedented revision in this world of drastically changing and
transforming public service” has been increasingly getting acceptance among
scholars of this field. Write an essay in which you discuss and evaluate this
view. In your essay make a special emphasis on the issue of ‘novelty’ of
contemporary theories of public administration.
§
Select three ‘well-known’ names from the field of public
administration and explain why you think they should be considered
‘well-known’?
§
According to Castells, when squatter movements break their
relationship of dependency vis a vis the state, they may become potential
agents of social change. Please discuss this view with reference to the Turkish
case.
§
In the 1960s and the 1970s, the Turkish cities were studied
around a duality metaphor.
a. What were the limitiation of such a metaphor in understanding the
Turkish cities of that period.
b. Do you think such a metaphor would help us to understand the current
dynamics and structure of the Turkish cities.
§
There is widely held view that the strength of democratic
tradition in a society is measured against the degree of decentralisation of
power. According to this view, the more decision making bodies are
decentralised, the more a society becomes democratic. Please critically
evaluate this view with reference to Turkish case.
§
Discuss the centrality of gender and ethnicity to urban
conflict and change in the work of David Harvey.
§
It is a well-known argument that there is an intimate and
necessary relationship between decentralization ad democratisation. Please
discuss this argument with reference to the Turkish case.
§
Compare and contrast Castell’s positions with that of the
§
Dwell upon the assertion that ‘minimal state’ leads to
increased efficiency and enhanced individual liberties.
§
Please discuss the validity of the quotation below. “Local
government is an indispensible element of contemporary society both as a
service delivery instrument and as a channel of participation”.
§
Discuss the transition from urban managerialism to
entrepreneurialism in
§
It is one of the common assumption that local scale is the
scale of democratic governance. Discuss this statement in the light of the
quotation given below.
‘Different
societies not only produce space… but also produce scale. The production of
scale may be the most elemental differentiation of geographical space and it is
every bit a social process. There is nothing ontologically given out the
traditional division between home and locality, urban and regional, national
and global scales. The differentiation of geographical scales establishes and
is established through the geographic structure of social interactions. With a
concept of scale as produced, it is possible to avoid on the one hand the
relativism that treats spatial differentiation as a mosaic, and on the other to
avoid a reified and uncritical division of scales that repeats a fetishism of
space.’
§
It is widely argued that patron-client relations are one of
the dominant form of interest representation at the local level in
§
Please explain and discuss the approach to the individual in
the context of Renaissance-humanism in comparison with the metaphysical-organic
image of the world of the Middle-agean Christian thought.
§
Please explain and discuss Macchiavelli’s contribution to
contemporary political theory.
§
What are the main symptoms of the transition from premodern”
to “modern” thinking in the work of N. Machiavelli? Discuss.
§
Please explain and discuss the problem of the shift from
“pre-modern” to “modern” times/political thought in the work of N. Macchiavelli
with reference to the works of Plato and Aristotle.
§
Please discuss and evaluate early forms of secular thinking
in the context of the ideals of the Renaissance.
§
Please discuss the problem of morality in Macchiavelli.
§
To what extent Hobbes is a liberal thinker? Please discuss.
§
How are the concepts of legitimacy, rights, consent, and the
social contract linked together in classical liberal theory? Please discuss.
§
How are the concepts of freedom and sovereignty brought
together in the theory of Thomas Hobbes? Discuss.
§
Write an essay explorating different meanings attributed to
the conception of freedom in Kant, Hegel and Marx. Comment on their political
implications in a comparative perspective.
§
Compare and contrast Locke’s and Marx’s ideas on private
property and liberty. Do their conception on these issues have an influence on
their understanding of the modern state, and if so, how?
§
According to many writers Rousseau is evaluated as a critic
of liberalism. Is that true? In which respects are Rousseau’s ideas consistent
with classical liberalism and where do they depart?
§
Critically evaluate the evolution of the concept of consent
in modern political thought. What was the significance of this notion in
relation to political authority? Answer by reference to Hobbes, Locke and
Rousseau.
§
Please compare and contrast Rousseau’s and Marx’s
understanding of social inequality. Do their differences entail different
political projects?
§
Discuss and evaluate Hobbes’ interpretation of the natural
law teaching.
§
Write an essay explicating different meanings attributed to
the conception of freedom in Kant, Hegel and Marx. Comment on their political
implications in a comparative perspective.
§
Modernity involves a tension between the principle of
individuality and the primacy given to the necessity of the state. In what ways
this tension is dealt by Hobbes, Kant and Marx.
§
Explicate the views of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau concerning
human nature and discuss their political implications in each theorist in a
comparative perspective.
§
Discuss and evaluate the significance of John Rawl’s idea of
“justice as fairness” within the context of contemporary debates on freedom and
equality.
§
Explain and discuss the topics of the New Right. To
what extent and at what points do the New Right theorists diverge from
classical liberal ideas of freedom and equality?
§
Can Rawls’s contribution to political theory be seen as a
grand solution to the problem of legitimacy? Discuss by giving one example (of
a social-political situation) that affirms Rawlsian project, and another that
falsifies his basic assumptions.
§
Discuss the meaning of the civil society debate within the
context of the new global order.
§
Compare and contrast the significance of the concept of
hegemony within the theoretical frameworks of Gramsci and Poulantzas.
§
How is the relationship between law and polical power
portrayed in contemporary liberal tradition. Answer by reference to Rawls and
Habermas. How would Foucault criticize this tradition?
§
"What the state fear is not so much crime or brigandage,
even on the grand scale of the Mafia or heavy drug traffic, as long as they
transgress the law with an eye toward particular benefits, however important
they may be. The state is afraid of fundamental, founding violence, that is,
violence able to justify, to legitimate, or to transform the relations of law,
and so to present itself as having a right to law".
Do you agree with
the above statement. Answer by reference to the traditions of Political
Liberalism (Rawls), Critical Theory (Habermas), and Deconstruction (Derrida)
§
Please write an essay on the contribution of Antonio Gramsci
to contemporary political theory.
§
What are the characteristics of the teleological views of
nature and human action in ancient Greek political theory? What are the
implications of this view for ethical and political conduct? Answer by
reference to Plato and Aristotle.
§
I.
§
How are the concepts of freedom and equality brought together
in the theory of Thomas Hobbes?
§
Discuss and evaluate the process of monopolization of
violence in the foundation of the state in social contract theories by giving
reference to at least two thinkers in a comparative perspective.
§
Discuss the civil society concept in Gramsci and its
(possible) implications on current debates on this issue.
§
Foucault argues that more individualizing forms of power in
modern societies also imply the possibility of more totalizing interventions.
What does he mean? What is the significance of this argument from the angle of
criticizing contemporary liberalism?
§
What are the points of continuity and discontunity between
J.J. Rousseau's political theory and K. Marx's thought?
§
Comment on John Rawls's views in Political Liberalism in terms
of his position with respect to classical liberal ideals.
§
To what extent the conception of consent can be accepted as
the criterion for political legitimacy? Answer by reference to (at least) two
thinkers.
§
For many interpreters, J. J. Rousseau is a genuinely
anti-liberal thinker. Do you agree? Comment on the major themes of his work to
evaluate the extent which he does, or does not depart from the premises of
classical liberalism.
§
Explain and discuss the emergence of secularism in political
thought by reference to the works of three well-known thinkers.
§
How is the relationship between law and political power
portrayed in the theories of Rawls and Habermas? Compare and discuss. What are
the criticisms directed to the projects of these thinkers?
§
Please explain and discuss Machiavelli’s approach to religion
within the context of his “amoral” conceptualization of politics.
§
Please explain and discuss the problem of motion and
processuality in Hobbes’ thinking.
§
The Renaissance is often defined as a “shift away” from the
theocentrical thinking of the Middle Ages. Please explain and discuss.
§
Write an essay critically evaluating
§
Please write an essay which analyzes the history and trends
in Comparative Politics, focussing basically on the methodological shortcomings
of the field.
§
Please compare and contrast the disciplines of Comparative
Politics and Comparative Government. What are their defining characteristics
and to what extent are they related to each other?
§
Write an essay critically evaluating Karl Marx’s and Antonio
Gramsci’s conceptions of the relationship between ‘base and superstructure’ by
taking into account their implications for comparative study of state-society
relations.
§
Write an essay critically discussing the concepts such as
corporatism, populism, neo-patrimonialism in regards to the characterisation of
state-society relations in the
§
Please write an essay about the history and trends in
Comparative Politics, focusing basically on the methodological shortcomings of
the field.
§
"Following an analysis of how various models of party
can be located in terms of the relationship between civil society and the
state, we contend that the recent period has witnessed the emergence of a new
model of party, the cartel part, in which colluding parties become agents of
the state and employ the resources of the state (party state) to ensure their
own collective survival". Make an assessment on this statement referring
to party system change in Western European democracies.
§
Write an essay on the theories of development and
underdevelopment by focusing both on the mainstream and alternative/radical
approaches.
§
Karl Marx and Max Weber are sometimes considered the
precursors of social sciences. Their ideas have substantially shaped the field
of Comparative Politics, too. Write a comparative essay on some of the most
essential concepts in the thought of Marx and Weber that influenced the major
subfields of Comparative Politics.
§
What is Comparative Politics? In what types of studies does
the discipline engage in? How does it relate to Political Science in general
and Comparative Government in particular? What are some of the main turning
points and problems in the history of Comparative Politics?
§
Compare and contrast presidential, parliamentary and
semi-presidential systems by analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. In
answering the question, you are expected: 1) to provide examples (country
cases) for each system, 2) to comment on the Turkish case and discuss the
desirability of a presidential system in
§
Please write an essay on the applicability of presidential
system in
§
Compare and contrast modernisation and dependency approaches.
Do you consider them as providing relevant frameworks for the analysis of
state/society relations in the contemporary era? If so why, if not, why not?
§
Discuss the relationship between democracy and liberalism in
the context of globalisation.
§
“…state power is capitalist to the extent that it creates,
maintains, or restores the conditions required for capital accumulation in a
given situation and it is non-capitalist to the extent that these conditions
are not realised”.
§
Do you agree? If so, why? If not, why not? Please write an essay
explaining your answer.
§
What do we understand by the concept of “postmodern political
theory”? Discuss in a critical context by considering the works of Derrida,
Foucault and Lyotard.
§
Write an essay critically evaluating the compatibility of the
Statist-Institutionalist approach to the state-society relations and the
characteristics of Max Weber’s methodology.
§
Write an essay critically evaluating Karl Marx’s and Antonio
Gramsci’s conceptions of the relationship between ‘base’ and ‘superstructure’.
§
Postmodernity is claimed to have emerged from within
modernity and to contain all contradictions of modernity. Discuss.
§
What is the connection between democracy and liberalism?
§
What is the connection between “state”, “nation” and the
“nation state”? Give references to recent debates in globalization theory.
§
Elaborate on the concept of participation relating it to
different types of democracy.
§
To what extent can "civil society" help enrich
public life in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy and
unprecedented levels of contempt for politics?
§
To what extent can nation-state be considered as one of the
consequences of modernity? How can we explain racism, fascism and patriotism
and their relationships with the nation-state? Are they archaic forms of
"nation-ness", or the extremities of modern nationalism?
§
“There is no need to ‘bring the state back in’ to Marx’s
account of the making of modernity. It was in at the beginning”. Do you agree?
If so, why? If not, why not?
§
“The Enlightenment project is no longer a living force in
contemporary culture”. Do you agree? If so, why? If not, why not?