Ioannis Tzortzis

Department of Political Science and International Studies
Teaching Fellow

Contact details

Email
i.tzortzis@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Teaching Fellow in POLSIS. Taught a wide range of subjects (Political Theory, Political ideologies, International History, Post-WWII Diplomatic history, Democracy & Democratization, International Security, Comparative Politics, Russian Politics, US Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, Nationalism & Empire etc). 

  • Research fields: Greek Modern History & Politics, European Democratization in the 1970s & 1980s, Diplomatic History, South European Comparative Politics & History. 
  • Publications: two books (one translated in Greek) & numerous articles on peer-reviewed journals.
  • Currently researching on a book on Greek politics in the 1960s.
  •  Academia.edu profile
  • LinkedIn

Biography

Dr Tzortzis studied LLB in Athens National Kapodistrian University then switched to Political theory (Essex) and Political Science (Birmingham) for a PhD in Comparative democratization in Southern Europe (Spain, Greece, Turkey). This was completed in 2005 and produced two books (one monograph on Greece, which was translated in Greek, and a comparative book based on his PhD) as well as numerous articles.

Before the end of my PhD Dr Tzortzis started teaching, firstly as Teaching assistant, then as Teaching Fellow/PTVL in Birmingham. He has also taught at Leicester and Reading. He has taught a very wide range of subjects.

In 2010 Dr Tzortzis got funding for a MA in History, Film & Television in the Dept of American Studies in Birmingham, which allowed him  to obtain some knowledge on documentary film making too, as well as on using audio-visual sources for political and historical research.

Finally, between 2014-1019 Dr Tzortzis was receiving small research grants for research in the National Archives (Kew Gardens) which proved useful for his publications-both in terms of articles and of books-and broadened his research interests and horizons.

Dr Tzortzis is currently working on a book project in Athens on the Greek political elites in the 1960s and the road to the dictatorship of the colonels in 1967. As soon as the book is completed, he aims to translate it in English and have it published by an international publisher.

Teaching

In the previous academic year, Dr Tzortzis has taught the following modules at the Depi of Political Science & International Relations:

  • Comparative Politics
  • Russian Politics
  • Challenges to Liberal Democracy in Europe
  • Globalization, Welfare and Capitalism

In previous years, he also taught many different modules such as Modern Political Ideologies, Classical Political Thought, Modern  Political Thought,  Diplomatic History post-1945, and Foreign Policy Analysis.

Postgraduate supervision

 Dr Tzortzis has been supervising MA Dissertations in POLSIS since the academic year 2020-21.

Research

Research interests 

Dr Tzortzis’ research interests include Democratization, Southern European History and Politics, Modern Greek History and Politics, Turkish History and Politics, International History and Cold war. 

Current projects

Dr Tzortzis is currently researching on a book project on Greek political elites and the crisis and collapse 

Publications

Dr Tzortzis’ selected publications in peer-reviewed journals:

Tzortzis, I. (2022), Corrective Intervention’ vs ‘Unfinished Revolution’: Democratic Transitions and the Military in Turkey and Greece’, in Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol. 70, 1: 1-23

Tzortzis, I. (2019), ‘International Influence in Democratic Transitions: A Case Comparison of Spain and Greece', in European Security Vol. 28, 2, 2019, 212-229

Tzortzis, I. (2019), 'Praxicopematics’ and Reforma Pactada: The Greek and Spanish Military Reaction to Democratization by Regime Transformation', in Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Vol. 46, 2, 2019, 362-387.

Tzortzis, I. (2017), Absolute Politics and Judicious Pragmatism: Political Culture in Democratization by Reforma, in Democratization, Vol. 24, 3, 2017, 389-404.

Tzortzis, I. (2017), ‘Blame it on Kissinger? The American Factor and the Failure of the Markezinis Experiment of 1973’ in Mediterranean Historical Revue, Vol. 32, 1, 2017, 65-82.

Tzortzis, I. (2016), ‘Mirror Images: The Greek and Spanish Democratic Transitions in a Comparative Perspective’, in Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Vol. 24, 1, 2016, 101-116.

Tzortzis, I. (2016), ‘Parallel Lives? The Greek and Turkish Dictatorships’ Self-Transformation Stories’, in Turkish Studies, Vol. 17, 2, 2016, 317-335

Tzortzis, I. (2016), ‘Democracy out of Tyranny: Comparative Lessons from a Failed “Experiment”, in Mediterranean Quarterly, Vol. 27, 3, 2016, 53-71

Dr Tzortzis’ books:

  • Tzortzis, I. (2022), Elites and Democratic Transitions by Regime Transformation in Southern Europe, London: Palgrave/Macmillan 
  • Tzortzis, I. (2020), Greek Democracy and the Junta: Regime Crisis and Failed Transition of 1973, London: I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury

Dr Tzortzis’ books in Greek:

Greek translation of Tzortzis, I. Greek Democracy and the Junta: Regime Crisis and Failed Transition of 1973, Athens: Pedio Publishers, 2023

View all publications in research portal