Political Science
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The teaching integrates the multidisciplinary training of the degree course with the political science skills necessary to analyse and interpret the institutional processes and behaviour of political actors in Western representative democracies, autocracies and supranational entities in a multi-level perspective. In this perspective, it provides students with a set of analytical, methodological and interpretative skills for the knowledge, understanding and analysis of contemporary political phenomena and political systems, with particular reference to the main democratic regimes of the Western world (European democracies, North American democracy and the European Union as a new political and institutional model of composite democracy) and other forms of non-democratic regimes. The study will include the analysis of: a) the constitutive foundations of any political system, whether democratic or autocratic; b) the main institutions and the most important actors of contemporary representative democracies, with particular reference to the Italian case; c) the European Union as a supranational entity and composite democracy, with particular regard to its place in the global scenario and the context of international relations.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will have acquired a set of analytical, methodological and interpretative skills relating to the functioning of contemporary political systems, both democratic and non-democratic, as well as supranational institutions such as the European Union, will be familiar with the Italian political system also from a comparative point of view, and will be able to analyse political phenomena in their various manifestations at national level and in a multi-level perspective attentive to the different institutional contexts. Active participation in the lectures, together with the study of the materials, will also enable the student to develop the ability to proceed autonomously to the analysis of a political system, its main actors and its fundamental processes and to submit the results of his/her analyses in an accessible and at the same time rigorous form to interlocutors of various kinds, specialists and non-specialists alike.
Lesson period: Second trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
A-K
Responsible
Lesson period
Second trimester
Teaching will be held in the second quarter (January-March 2022) on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 12.30 to 14 in classroom 11.
Course syllabus
Targets
The course aims to provide the basic conceptual tools for the knowledge, analysis and interpretation of political phenomena and contemporary political systems. In particular, the course is structured in three linked teaching units:
- the first relates to the understanding of the constitutive foundations of every political system, through the analysis of concepts and keywords of political theory and political science, and the deepening of some classical contributions such as Max Weber's interpretation of science and politics as a profession;
- the second relates to the study of some central topics of political science, through the analysis of the main institutions of representative democracy, the interpretation of political phenomena, the relationship between the actors in the formulation of public policies and in the policy making process;
- the third relates to the study of the European Union, with regard to its current political-institutional structure, and to the analysis of the global dimension of contemporary political phenomena, with particular attention to the evolution of the nation-state and international relations.
Other information
INFORMATION for ATTENDANTS: halfway through the course there is a compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple-choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises).
Website
http://www.nicolapasini.it
Prerequisites and exams:
The exam will take place in written form (through multiple-choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises). Students achieving a score equal to at least 27/30, can ask to take the oral test, on all the topics covered in the course, to improve the overall outcome of the exam. The supplementary oral exam will not necessarily lead to an improvement in the final evaluation.
For ATTENDING STUDENTS: compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises) and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
Didactic unit: 1
Program
Concepts and keywords of political theory and political science. What is science? What is politics? Max Weber's lecture on science as a profession and on politics as a profession. Ethics of conviction and ethics of responsibility. The phenomenon of power.
The historical context: origin of the state between state of nature and political state, nation-state between evolution and transformation, rule of law and constitutions. Liberalism and democracy. Liberal democracies and democracies: definition, comparison, typologies, developments and transformation. Non-democratic regimes (authoritarianisms and totalitarianisms): definitions, comparison, typologies and empirical cases.
Reference material
1. M. Weber, Science as a vocation - Politics as a vocation.
2. D. Caramani (edited by), Comparative Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2020 (V edition); D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), Introduction, chapters 1-2-3.
Didactic unit: 2
Program
Didactic Unit 2 is divided into two parts (2a, 2b):
2a. Political Culture, Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation:
- Cultural differences in the world. The concept of political culture: historical roots. Loyalty model of democratic citizen. The mismatch between political party and citizens. A cultural theory of autocracy and democracy. The new populism.
- Participation and political representation between exit, voice and loyalty. Relationship between political supply and demand. Political culture and socio-political fractures. Trust, security and social capital. Political movements. Political participation: how (modality), why (determinants), when and where (explanation at the macro level), who (explanation at the micro level).
- Interest groups: analysis of the representation of organized interests in a multilevel perspective. Lobbying and focus on collective action by entrepreneurs and businesses: specific objectives in the political arena and in the market; the theory of stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Trade unions between the logic of belonging and the logic of influence. Interaction models between actors.
- Political parties: definitions, origins and historical evolution, functions, organizational models, parties and democracy.
- Party systems: genealogy, morphology and dynamics of party systems. Evolution of the concepts of right and left in countries with a democratic tradition. Analysis of political cultures and the structuring of the party system: the Italian case in a comparative key.
- Elections, electors and electoral behaviour, electoral systems and formulas. The referenda.
2b. Institutional structure and policymaking:
- Parliaments, legislative assemblies and territorial representation: definitions, role, structure and functions. Power of a legislative assembly;
- Governments and bureaucracies: types of government, functioning, autonomy and political capacity. Presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential systems; morphology of governments, constitutional models and party reality. Public administration systems: definitions, roles, functions, organizational models of bureaucracies; relationship between political and administrative classes in a complex society;
- Public policies and policy-making: what they are, public policy production models; types, phases and actors of policies. Conceptual models of policy making. International factors for domestic policy making.
Reference material
2a. D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 4-5-6-7-8-9;
2b. D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 10-11-12.
Didactic unit: 3
Program
European Union and global system, supporting democracy and autocracy:
- European Union: new political system, how? European integration. Vertical dimension (EU as a regulatory state) and horizontal (EU as a hyper-consensual system). European Union and democratic politics (which does not exist...);
- Globalization and the nation-state: ongoing debate between advanced, weak post-colonial and modernizing capitalist states.
- Supporting democracy and supporting autocracy. To explain the support of democracy. Different actors in the process. The new phase of supporting autocracy.
Reference material
D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 13-14-15.
The course aims to provide the basic conceptual tools for the knowledge, analysis and interpretation of political phenomena and contemporary political systems. In particular, the course is structured in three linked teaching units:
- the first relates to the understanding of the constitutive foundations of every political system, through the analysis of concepts and keywords of political theory and political science, and the deepening of some classical contributions such as Max Weber's interpretation of science and politics as a profession;
- the second relates to the study of some central topics of political science, through the analysis of the main institutions of representative democracy, the interpretation of political phenomena, the relationship between the actors in the formulation of public policies and in the policy making process;
- the third relates to the study of the European Union, with regard to its current political-institutional structure, and to the analysis of the global dimension of contemporary political phenomena, with particular attention to the evolution of the nation-state and international relations.
Other information
INFORMATION for ATTENDANTS: halfway through the course there is a compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple-choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises).
Website
http://www.nicolapasini.it
Prerequisites and exams:
The exam will take place in written form (through multiple-choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises). Students achieving a score equal to at least 27/30, can ask to take the oral test, on all the topics covered in the course, to improve the overall outcome of the exam. The supplementary oral exam will not necessarily lead to an improvement in the final evaluation.
For ATTENDING STUDENTS: compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises) and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
Didactic unit: 1
Program
Concepts and keywords of political theory and political science. What is science? What is politics? Max Weber's lecture on science as a profession and on politics as a profession. Ethics of conviction and ethics of responsibility. The phenomenon of power.
The historical context: origin of the state between state of nature and political state, nation-state between evolution and transformation, rule of law and constitutions. Liberalism and democracy. Liberal democracies and democracies: definition, comparison, typologies, developments and transformation. Non-democratic regimes (authoritarianisms and totalitarianisms): definitions, comparison, typologies and empirical cases.
Reference material
1. M. Weber, Science as a vocation - Politics as a vocation.
2. D. Caramani (edited by), Comparative Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2020 (V edition); D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), Introduction, chapters 1-2-3.
Didactic unit: 2
Program
Didactic Unit 2 is divided into two parts (2a, 2b):
2a. Political Culture, Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation:
- Cultural differences in the world. The concept of political culture: historical roots. Loyalty model of democratic citizen. The mismatch between political party and citizens. A cultural theory of autocracy and democracy. The new populism.
- Participation and political representation between exit, voice and loyalty. Relationship between political supply and demand. Political culture and socio-political fractures. Trust, security and social capital. Political movements. Political participation: how (modality), why (determinants), when and where (explanation at the macro level), who (explanation at the micro level).
- Interest groups: analysis of the representation of organized interests in a multilevel perspective. Lobbying and focus on collective action by entrepreneurs and businesses: specific objectives in the political arena and in the market; the theory of stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Trade unions between the logic of belonging and the logic of influence. Interaction models between actors.
- Political parties: definitions, origins and historical evolution, functions, organizational models, parties and democracy.
- Party systems: genealogy, morphology and dynamics of party systems. Evolution of the concepts of right and left in countries with a democratic tradition. Analysis of political cultures and the structuring of the party system: the Italian case in a comparative key.
- Elections, electors and electoral behaviour, electoral systems and formulas. The referenda.
2b. Institutional structure and policymaking:
- Parliaments, legislative assemblies and territorial representation: definitions, role, structure and functions. Power of a legislative assembly;
- Governments and bureaucracies: types of government, functioning, autonomy and political capacity. Presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential systems; morphology of governments, constitutional models and party reality. Public administration systems: definitions, roles, functions, organizational models of bureaucracies; relationship between political and administrative classes in a complex society;
- Public policies and policy-making: what they are, public policy production models; types, phases and actors of policies. Conceptual models of policy making. International factors for domestic policy making.
Reference material
2a. D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 4-5-6-7-8-9;
2b. D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 10-11-12.
Didactic unit: 3
Program
European Union and global system, supporting democracy and autocracy:
- European Union: new political system, how? European integration. Vertical dimension (EU as a regulatory state) and horizontal (EU as a hyper-consensual system). European Union and democratic politics (which does not exist...);
- Globalization and the nation-state: ongoing debate between advanced, weak post-colonial and modernizing capitalist states.
- Supporting democracy and supporting autocracy. To explain the support of democracy. Different actors in the process. The new phase of supporting autocracy.
Reference material
D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edition), chapters 13-14-15.
Prerequisites for admission
no.
Teaching methods
Frontal lesson.
Teaching Resources
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Comparative Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2020 (fifth edition); in italian language: Scienza Politica, Egea Bocconi, Milano 2022 (III edizione).
-M. Weber, Il lavoro intellettuale come professione (La scienza come professione. La politica come professione), Einaudi Editore (o altre case editrici), diverse edizioni.
-M. Weber, Il lavoro intellettuale come professione (La scienza come professione. La politica come professione), Einaudi Editore (o altre case editrici), diverse edizioni.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will take place in written form (through multiple-choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises). Students achieving a score equal to at least 27/30, can ask to take the oral test, on all the topics covered in the course, to improve the overall outcome of the exam. The supplementary oral exam will not necessarily lead to an improvement in the final evaluation.
For ATTENDING STUDENTS: compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises) and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
For ATTENDING STUDENTS: compulsory intermediate test in written form (through multiple choice questions, questions with semi-open and free answers, numerical exercises) and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
L-Z
Responsible
Lesson period
Second trimester
Delivery
The lessons will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and can be followed both synchronously, based on the ordinary lesson schedule, and asynchronously, as they will remain available to students on the same platform. Further teaching materials, to compensate the impossibility of holding lessons in person, will be available on the ARIEL platform.
Program and reference
The program and reference will not change.
Learning evaluation procedures and assessment criteria
The exam will take place in oral form, using the Microsoft Teams platform. if the contagion prevention rules allow it, the exam will be held face-to-face and in writing.
The lessons will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and can be followed both synchronously, based on the ordinary lesson schedule, and asynchronously, as they will remain available to students on the same platform. Further teaching materials, to compensate the impossibility of holding lessons in person, will be available on the ARIEL platform.
Program and reference
The program and reference will not change.
Learning evaluation procedures and assessment criteria
The exam will take place in oral form, using the Microsoft Teams platform. if the contagion prevention rules allow it, the exam will be held face-to-face and in writing.
Course syllabus
The program consists of three Teaching Units (1-2-3).
Teaching Program - Unit (1):
Concepts and keywords of Political theory and Political science (Comparative politics). What is science? What is politics? The historical context of modern politics: origin of the state between state of nature and political state, nation-state between evolution and transformation, rule of law and constitutions. Liberalism and democracy. Liberal democracies and democracies: definition, comparison, typologies, development and transformation. Non-democratic regimes (authoritarianisms and totalitarianisms): definitions, comparison, typologies and empirical cases.
Teaching Program - Unit (2):
Section 2a. Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation
- Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation: Participation and political representation between loyalty, defection and protest. Relationship between supply and demand politics. Political culture and socio-political cleavages. Trust, security and social capital. Political movements. Political participation: how (mode), why (determinants), when and where (macro level explanation), who (micro level explanation).
- Interest groups: analysis of interest representation in a multilevel perspective. Lobby and focus on the collective action of entrepreneurs and businesses: specific objectives in the political arena and in the market; stakeholder theory and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The unions between the logic of membership and the logic of influence. Interaction models between actors.
- Political parties: definitions, origins and historical evolution, functions, organizational models, parties and democracy.
- Party systems: genealogy, morphology and dynamics of party systems. Evolution of the concepts of right and left in countries with a democratic tradition. Analysis of political cultures and the structuring of the party system: the Italian case in a comparative key.
- Elections, voters and electoral behavior, electoral systems and formulas. Referendums.
Section 2b. Institutional structure and policy making
- Parliaments, legislative assemblies and territorial representation: definitions, role, structure and functions. Power of a legislative assembly;
- Governments and bureaucracies: types of government, functioning, autonomy and political capacity. Presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential regulations; government morphology, constitutional modeling and party reality. Administrative systems: definitions, role, functions, organizational models of bureaucracies; relationship between political and administrative classes in a complex society;
- Public policies and policy making: what they are, production models of public policies; policy types, phases and actors. Conceptual models of policy making. International factors for domestic policy making.
Section 2c. the Italian political system: origins, evolution, structures
- The Italian case from the perspective of studies on political development: a state without a nation;
- the construction of the nation-state
- the five political systems of recent Italian history: unitary state and limited monarchy, liberal state, republic of parties, Tangentopoli and the infinite transition, unstable tripolarization.
- the seven critical conjunctures: transformism, the advent of fascism, the Republic of parties, the center-left, Tangentopoli and the end of the Republic of parties, Berlusconi and the failure of the liberal democratic project, the failure of the 2016 constitutional reform.
Teaching Program - Unit (3):
European Union and global context: the new phase of globalization between democracies and autocracies
- European Union: new political system, how? European integration. Vertical dimension (EU as a regulatory state) and horizontal dimension (EU as a hyper-consensual system). European Union and democratic politics (which does not exist ...). The European Union facing with the challenges of the future: Next Generation EU; ecological transition and energy autonomy; digital transition.
- Globalization and the nation-state: ongoing debate between advanced capitalist, weak post-colonial and modernizing states; the new phase of globalization between the Great economic and financial recession, climate changes, pandemic emergency and the Ukrainian-Russian war.
- Democracies versus autocracies: what "support for democracy" means. Support for democracy and American imperialism: the failure of the "liberal leviathan" at the international level. Support for democracy and international capitalism: the theses of political development revisited. Democracies, autocracies, problems of international order and national security. Supply and demand for democracy support: actors, strategies and limits to intervention. The rise of autocracies and the Ukrainian-Russian conflict: challenges for the next future.
Teaching Program - Unit (1):
Concepts and keywords of Political theory and Political science (Comparative politics). What is science? What is politics? The historical context of modern politics: origin of the state between state of nature and political state, nation-state between evolution and transformation, rule of law and constitutions. Liberalism and democracy. Liberal democracies and democracies: definition, comparison, typologies, development and transformation. Non-democratic regimes (authoritarianisms and totalitarianisms): definitions, comparison, typologies and empirical cases.
Teaching Program - Unit (2):
Section 2a. Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation
- Socio-economic and socio-political participation and representation: Participation and political representation between loyalty, defection and protest. Relationship between supply and demand politics. Political culture and socio-political cleavages. Trust, security and social capital. Political movements. Political participation: how (mode), why (determinants), when and where (macro level explanation), who (micro level explanation).
- Interest groups: analysis of interest representation in a multilevel perspective. Lobby and focus on the collective action of entrepreneurs and businesses: specific objectives in the political arena and in the market; stakeholder theory and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The unions between the logic of membership and the logic of influence. Interaction models between actors.
- Political parties: definitions, origins and historical evolution, functions, organizational models, parties and democracy.
- Party systems: genealogy, morphology and dynamics of party systems. Evolution of the concepts of right and left in countries with a democratic tradition. Analysis of political cultures and the structuring of the party system: the Italian case in a comparative key.
- Elections, voters and electoral behavior, electoral systems and formulas. Referendums.
Section 2b. Institutional structure and policy making
- Parliaments, legislative assemblies and territorial representation: definitions, role, structure and functions. Power of a legislative assembly;
- Governments and bureaucracies: types of government, functioning, autonomy and political capacity. Presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential regulations; government morphology, constitutional modeling and party reality. Administrative systems: definitions, role, functions, organizational models of bureaucracies; relationship between political and administrative classes in a complex society;
- Public policies and policy making: what they are, production models of public policies; policy types, phases and actors. Conceptual models of policy making. International factors for domestic policy making.
Section 2c. the Italian political system: origins, evolution, structures
- The Italian case from the perspective of studies on political development: a state without a nation;
- the construction of the nation-state
- the five political systems of recent Italian history: unitary state and limited monarchy, liberal state, republic of parties, Tangentopoli and the infinite transition, unstable tripolarization.
- the seven critical conjunctures: transformism, the advent of fascism, the Republic of parties, the center-left, Tangentopoli and the end of the Republic of parties, Berlusconi and the failure of the liberal democratic project, the failure of the 2016 constitutional reform.
Teaching Program - Unit (3):
European Union and global context: the new phase of globalization between democracies and autocracies
- European Union: new political system, how? European integration. Vertical dimension (EU as a regulatory state) and horizontal dimension (EU as a hyper-consensual system). European Union and democratic politics (which does not exist ...). The European Union facing with the challenges of the future: Next Generation EU; ecological transition and energy autonomy; digital transition.
- Globalization and the nation-state: ongoing debate between advanced capitalist, weak post-colonial and modernizing states; the new phase of globalization between the Great economic and financial recession, climate changes, pandemic emergency and the Ukrainian-Russian war.
- Democracies versus autocracies: what "support for democracy" means. Support for democracy and American imperialism: the failure of the "liberal leviathan" at the international level. Support for democracy and international capitalism: the theses of political development revisited. Democracies, autocracies, problems of international order and national security. Supply and demand for democracy support: actors, strategies and limits to intervention. The rise of autocracies and the Ukrainian-Russian conflict: challenges for the next future.
Prerequisites for admission
None.
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons.
Teaching Resources
Unit (1):
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, Introduction, chapters 1-2-3.
Unit (2):
Section 2a.
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, chapters 4-5-6-7-8-9;
Section 2b.
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, chapters 10-11-12.
Section 2c.
- N.Addario e L.M.Fasano, Il sistema politico italiano. Origini, evoluzione e struttura, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2019.
Unit (3):
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, III° edizione, Milano 2022, chapters 13-14-15.
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, Introduction, chapters 1-2-3.
Unit (2):
Section 2a.
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, chapters 4-5-6-7-8-9;
Section 2b.
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, 3rd edition, Milano 2022, chapters 10-11-12.
Section 2c.
- N.Addario e L.M.Fasano, Il sistema politico italiano. Origini, evoluzione e struttura, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2019.
Unit (3):
- D. Caramani (a cura di), Scienza politica, Egea, Università Bocconi Editore, III° edizione, Milano 2022, chapters 13-14-15.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Written exam: multiple choice questions, questions with semi-open answers, numerical exercises.
Students who attend the course must take a mid-term written test and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
Students who attend the course with an evaluation of at least 27/30, can improve that evaluation by taking an oral supplementary exam, on all the teaching program of the course. This supplementary exam will not necessarily lead to an improvement in the final evaluation.
Students who attend the course must take a mid-term written test and a final test, always in written form, at the end of the course on the remaining part of the program.
Students who attend the course with an evaluation of at least 27/30, can improve that evaluation by taking an oral supplementary exam, on all the teaching program of the course. This supplementary exam will not necessarily lead to an improvement in the final evaluation.
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Modulo
SPS/04 - POLITICAL SCIENCE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Students can contact the teacher by e-mail or by chat on Microsoft Teams to arrange for day and reception hours on line. Please indicate as e-mail subject: "Student reception: MEETING REQUEST". Prefer Microsoft Teams chat if my undergraduates or students attending my courses.
Room 313 - SPS Department of Social and Political Science, 3rd Floor. During Covid-19 Emergency only for my undergraduates and by previous appointment.
Reception:
Wednesday 2.30-5.30 pm: send to me e-mail
Room 313, III° floor: before send to me e-mail