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 The course examines the emergence of the modern state within the framework of liberal thought, natural rights, and the social contract theory. The American Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen are compared in terms of their conceptions of freedom and equality. The development of the nation-state and the political meaning of citizenship are examined in the context of the 1789 and 1848 revolutions in France. The course concludes with an examination of the development of the rule of law in different countries, its relationship to democracy, and the role of civil society in modern democracies. Course Methods and Techniques Lectures and question-and-answer sessions are supplemented by a comparative analysis of political philosophy texts and historical documents. Students discuss how natural rights are grounded and on what the legitimacy of political power is based in selected passages from the American Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. They support their interpretations with examples from the texts. 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 Christopher Pierson, The Modern State, Chiviyazıları Publishing House, Istanbul, 2011 Abdurrahman Saygılı, The Sacred Monster State, 4th Edition, Ankara, 2018 Gianfranco Poggi, The Development of the Modern State, 7th Edition, Istanbul, 2017 Yahya Kazım ZABUNOĞLU, Abdurrahman SAYGILI, and Hamdi Gökçe ZABUNOĞLU, *An Introduction to the General Theory of the State*, Yetkin Publications, 2022. Cemal Bali Akal, The Three Faces of Power, Dost Kitabevi, Ankara 2016. Course Notes The lecture notes cover John Locke’s liberal conception of the state, Montesquieu’s relationship between law and freedom, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s theory of the social contract and the concept of the general will. The American Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen are examined in terms of natural rights and equality. The section on France focuses on the political consequences of the 1789 Revolution, the concepts of the nation-state and citizenship, the distinction between universal equality and civic equality, and the 1848 Revolution. The final section examines the development of the rule of law in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany; the relationship between the rule of law and democracy; and the role of civil society in modern democracies. Course Category Social Sciences %100 Field %100