HUK105

School of Law \ Law

4

6

Compulsory

Turkish

-

Bachelor of Law

The course deals with the basic concepts of constitutional law, types of constitutions, constitution making and amendment processes, political power and state concepts. The hierarchical structure of the legal order, the principle of supremacy of the constitution, political systems and democracy models are examined in detail. In addition, the basic principles of constitutional law in the context of government systems, the principle of separation of powers, electoral systems and elections as well as political parties are discussed in a comparative perspective.

Kemal Gözler, Anayasa Hukukunun Genel Esasları, Ekin Basım Yayın, 16. Baskı, 2024.
Kemal Gözler, Türk Anayasa Hukuku Dersleri, Ekin Basım Yayın, 29. Baskı, 2024.
Erdoğan Teziç, Anayasa Hukuku, Beta, 27. Baskı, 2024.
Ergun Özbudun, Türk Anayasa Hukuku, Yetkin, 24. Baskı, 2024.
Münci Kapani, Politika Bilimine Giriş, Serbest Akademi, 59. Baskı, 2020.

The aim of the course is to help students comprehend the basic principles of constitutional law, types of constitutions and constitutional processes. The course aims to develop students' ability to evaluate constitutional systems comparatively through topics such as the supremacy of the constitution, the hierarchical structure of law, democratic systems and models of government. It also enables students to understand the impact of constitutional law on social and political structures through topics such as political power, state structures and electoral systems. The course is also an introduction to public law and prepares students for second-year course administrative law.

1. Defines the basic concepts of constitutional law, types of constitutions and constitutional processes.
2. Has a command of the hierarchical structure of the legal order and the principle of supremacy of the constitution.
3. Compare and analyze the concept of political power, forms of state and systems of government.
4. Defines the theories of democracy and typologies of contemporary political systems, masters authoritarian and totalitarian systems and intermediate typologies.
5. Recognizes and compares electoral systems.
6. Recognizes and compares state forms.
7. Defines the principle of separation of powers and its relationship with government systems, compares different government systems.
8. Defines the making and changing of constitutions, democratic constitution-making methods, and has a command of the process of constitutional change in Turkey.

Week 1: Introduction to Constitutional Law: The concept of law. The concept of constitution. Subjects of constitutional law.
Week 2: Types of constitutions: Written constitution - unwritten (customary) constitution. Detailed constitution - Abstract constitutions. Rigid Constitution - Flexible Constitution. Rigidity tools in the 1982 Constitution. Constitutionalism movements.
Week 3: Hierarchical structure of the legal order and the principle of supremacy of the Constitution: Review of the constitutionality of laws, constitutional review modals.
Week 4: Making and amending constitutions: Principal and Secondary Constituent Power. Democratic constitution making method. In the 1982 Constitution, the problem of amending the Constitution.
Week 5: Political power and types of legitimacy of political power (authority): Definition of political power and its differences from power in the social (general) sense. The concept of authority and types of legitimacy of political power.
Week 6: The concept of state: Definition and elements of the state: Sovereignty, country and nation concepts. Organs of the state: Legislative, executive and judicial organs and their functions.
Week 7: Forms of state: Simple structured states (Unitary and decentralized unitary states). Compound structured states (Confederations and federations). Autonomous territorial and regional states. According to the 1982 Constitution, administrative organization and state form.
Week 8: Political systems and democracy: Definition of political system and classical typologies. Contemporary political system typologies on the axis of political participation and political pluralism. Totalitarian and authoritarian systems and new conceptualizations.
Week 9: Democracy: Democracy, definition and development, normative and empirical theories of democracy. Direct democracy, semi-direct democracy, tools of semi-direct democracy. Majoritarian and consensual democracy models.
Week 10: Political parties and elections: Functions of political parties and their importance for democracy. According to the 1982 Constitution, political party bans. Principles regarding elections and the right to vote. Election systems. Electoral systems applied in Turkey.
Week 11: The principle of separation of powers and government systems: The meaning of the principle of separation of powers and its importance for constitutionalism. Government systems based on unity of powers. Government systems based on the separation of powers, triple and quintuple typology.
Week 12: Comparative government systems and government systems in Turkey: Parliamentary, presidential and semi-presidential government systems. Presidential parliamentary and super-presidential government systems. Government system according to the Turkish Constitution: past, present and future.

• Midterm 30%
• Final 70%