Course Details Language of Instruction English Level of Course Unit Bachelor's Degree Department / Program Law Type of Program Formal Education Type of Course Unit Compulsory Course Delivery Method Face To Face Objectives of the Course It is aimed to understand the modern state understanding by learning the nature, source, birth and elements of the state. Course Content This course examines the origins, emergence, and foundational elements of the state within the context of the historical development of political power. It explores the organization of power in pre-state societies, early forms of the state, the institutions of the Ancient Greek polis, and concepts of the state during the Hellenistic period and in Rome. The organization of political power in the Middle Ages is explained through the feudal system and the estate-based state. The emergence of the modern state is evaluated within the framework of Jean Bodin’s theory of sovereignty and Thomas Hobbes’s conception of the state. Course Methods and Techniques Lectures and question-and-answer sessions are supplemented by the analysis of political philosophy texts and in-class discussions. Students examine how thinkers in selected texts explain the source of political power and on what grounds they base their views. They compare the ancient Greek polis, the feudal system, and the modern state in terms of who holds the authority to govern and how that authority is exercised. Prerequisites and co-requisities None Course Coordinator None Name of Lecturers Prof.Dr. Hamdi Gökçe Zabunoğlu Assistants Research Assist. Cahit Baybars Kayhan Work Placement(s) No Recommended or Required Reading Resources Yahya Kazım ZABUNOĞLU, Abdurrahman SAYGILI, and Hamdi Gökçe ZABUNOĞLU, *An Introduction to the General Theory of the State*, Yetkin Publications, 2022. Christopher Pierson, The Modern State, Chiviyazıları Publishing House, Istanbul, 2011 Gianfranco Poggi, The Development of the Modern State, 7th Edition, Istanbul, 2017 Abdurrahman Saygılı, The Sacred Monster State, 4th Edition, Ankara, 2018 Cemal Bali Akal, The Three Faces of Power, Dost Kitabevi, Ankara 2016. Course Notes The lecture notes begin with conceptual explanations regarding the nature, origins, and elements of the state. The notes on the Ancient World focus on the democratic institutions of the polis, the views of the Sophists and Socrates, Plato’s theory of the state, and Aristotle’s conception of citizenship. The section devoted to the Middle Ages addresses feudal organization, Dante’s concept of universal monarchy, and the estate-based state (Ständestaat). The lecture notes on the modern state cover Bodin’s definition of sovereignty and Hobbes’s views on the establishment of the state. Course Category Social Sciences %100 Field %100