84698 - INSTITUTIONAL ADAPTATION AND EVOLUTION

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

Il corso si concentra sul tema della stabilità e del cambiamento istituzionale, con particolare riferimento alle istituzioni politiche e ai loro effetti . Un’attenzione specifica è riservata alle trasformazioni della democrazia nell’era digitale. Alla fine del corso lo studente a) b è in grado di analizzare e interpretare le traiettorie del cambiamento istituzionale b) è in grado di problematizzare il rapporto tra nuove tecnologie e democrazia.

Contenuti

The course will deal with the most important theoretical perspectives on institutions and institutional change, focusing on the rational choice approach to studying institutions. Four main topics will be addressed: collective action problems (coordination and cooperation); problems in group decision-making; the delegation problem; current challenges to representative democracy. Examples of the questions we will address are the following: how do institutions help solving collective action dilemmas? When do institutions persist and when do they change? Is there any optimal method for group decision-making? Why are  democracies organized in a variety of institutional arrangements?  What are the cost and benefits of delegation?  Are participatory digital tools an effective way of regenerating democracy? What are the possibilities, challenges and pitfalls facing the transformation of democratic politics in our times? The course aims at providing theoretical tools to deal with this kind of questions.

Testi/Bibliografia

A detailed syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Metodi didattici

The course is organized in lectures and seminars.  Lectures (16 hours remotely on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the course. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for students’ presentations and in-depth discussions of class materials. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups (depending on their number) according to their preferences and the rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (12 hours) and another group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (12 hours), for a total of 28 hours for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and actively participate in the seminar sessions. Regardless of health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to attend the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

NB: Any change in the organization of the course depending on the evolution of the health related conditions  will be communicated in due time.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Class attendance: 25%

Oral presentation: 25%

Written paper: 50%

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Powerpoint slides, articles and other materials will be available on line at the following website https://IOL.unibo.it

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Daniela Giannetti