B1684 - Politics and Media (LM)

Learning outcomes

This course reconstructs and analyses the mediatisation process of politics in contemporary democracies and its consequences on political phenomena. To this end, many aspects are investigated: the political and social processes intertwined with the mediatisation process; the conceptualisation of the latter in the sociological and political literature; the forms it has taken in different democracies and through different media; its impact on the democratic competition and the representation of politics. At the end of the course, the students will: - master the necessary conceptual tools for analysing the mediatisation phenomenon and its relationship with the transformations of politics; - possess in-depth knowledge of the recent transformations of contemporary democracies and their connection with the integrated system of old and new media; - can analyse specific cases of media conditioning on phenomena such as leadership, political parties and party systems, democratic competition, public debate and public opinion; - is able to apply the knowledge acquired to the theoretical reflection and the empirical observation of a phenomenon which is constantly evolving.

Course contents

The course, divided into ten three-hour lectures, offers an introduction to the study of global political communication, understood as the set of communicative practices, strategies and conflicts through which states, international organisations, political leaders and other actors seek to influence public opinion, governments and multilateral arenas. After two introductory lectures devoted to the foundations of domestic and governmental political communication, and of international politics, the course introduces the main concepts relating to the global communication of governmental actors — including public diplomacy, digital public diplomacy, soft power, sharp power, strategic communication and nation branding — and tests them through a number of significant cases from the contemporary international landscape: the United States, China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Iran and the European Union.

The course consciously adopts a European and democratic standpoint, consistent both with the context in which it is taught and with the object of analysis. This choice does not imply an uncritical endorsement of the communication strategies of Western actors, which will also be subject to comparative examination and critical discussion.

Subjects:

Political Communication, Media and Leadership

International Politics

Global Political Communication by Governmental Actors: Public Diplomacy, Digital Public Diplomacy and Reputational Security

The United States: Soft Power, Public Diplomacy and Trumpian Disruption

Soft Power, Sharp Power and Authoritarianism: China and Iran

Russia I: Propaganda and Narrative Warfare

Russia II: Sharp Power and the Penetration of Foreign Societies

Ukraine: Public Diplomacy, Leadership and Reputational Security in Wartime

Israel and Palestine: The Struggle for Legitimacy in an Asymmetric Conflict

The European Union: A Supranational Actor, Values and Multilevel Public Diplomacy

Readings/Bibliography

Texts that the lecturer will refer to during the course and of which attending students will be expected to acquire a general knowledge. For non-attending students, these texts constitute the examination material.

Some of the texts will be made available by the lecturer; the remainder will be accessible through the University of Bologna’s library resources.

1. Klinger, U., Kreiss, D., & Mutsvairo, B. (2023). Platforms, power, and politics: An introduction to political communication in the digital age. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Chapters 2, 4, 7 and 10.
2. Chiaruzzi, M. (2022). Una trama del mondo. Le relazioni internazionali. Milan, Italy: Mondadori Università. Chapters to be confirmed.
3. Bjola, C., & Manor, I. (2024). Introduction: Understanding digital diplomacy—the grammar rules and patterns of digital disruption. In C. Bjola & I. Manor (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of digital diplomacy (pp. 3–28). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192859198.013.1
4. Cull, N. J. (2023). Reputational security: Refocusing public diplomacy for a dangerous world. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Chapters 1 and 8, and the Conclusions (concept, United States, Ukraine).
5. Kimmage, M. (2025). The world Trump wants: American power in the new age of nationalism. Foreign Affairs, March/April 2025.
6. Manfredi Sánchez, J. L. (2025). How disinformation ruins public diplomacy: Unfair competition. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781032650524. Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 (public diplomacy, disinformation, China, Russia).
7. Demir, V., & Richter, C. (Eds.). (2025). The public diplomacy of authoritarian regimes. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-97705-3. Chapters 1, 10 and 17 (public diplomacy and authoritarian regimes, Russia, China).
8. Wastnidge, E. (2015). The modalities of Iranian soft power: From cultural diplomacy to soft war. Politics, 35(3–4), 364–377. doi:10.1111/1467-9256.12084
9. Kargar, S. (2025). Iran’s Press TV in the foreign influence wilderness. Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), 6 February 2025. https://dfrlab.org/2025/02/06/press-tv-telegram-rumble/ [https://dfrlab.org/2025/02/06/press-tv-telegram-rumble/?utm_source=chatgpt.com]
10. Ventura, S. (2025). War and its imagery: The visual narrative of the Ukrainian State’s Instagram account Ukraine.ua as a tool of digital public diplomacy. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 19(3). doi:10.1080/1553118X.2024.2395407
11. Gilboa, E. (2006). Public diplomacy: The missing component in Israel’s foreign policy. Israel Affairs, 12(4), 715–747. doi:10.1080/13533310600890067
12. Yarchi, M. (2025). Strategic narratives as an image war tool. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. Advance online publication. doi:10.1057/s41254-025-00418-0
13. Hassan, Z. (2026). Palestinian activism in the West after October 7: Opportunities and challenges. In O. H. Rahman & M. Rabbani (Eds.), Rupture and representation: The Palestinian national movement after October 7. Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
14. Yarchi, M. (2025). Hamas’s hostage videos as a tool of strategic communication. Journalism and Media, 6(4), 180. doi:10.3390/journalmedia6040180
15. Fanoulis, E., & Revelas, K. (2023). The conceptual dimensions of EU public diplomacy. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 31(1), 50–62. doi:10.1080/14782804.2022.2043836
16. Chaban, N., & Elgström, O. (2023). Russia’s war in Ukraine and transformation of EU public diplomacy: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of European Integration, 45(3), 521–537. doi:10.1080/07036337.2023.2190107

Recommended Reading for the Historical Background to the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

Vercelli, C. (2025). Storia del conflitto israelo-palestinese. New edition. Rome–Bari, Italy: Laterza.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons and discussions on the topics covered and on the video material proposed by the teacher and analysed in class.

Assessment methods

Written examination. Attending students will have two hours to answer four questions on the topics covered in class and explored in greater depth in the assigned readings.

Non-attending students will likewise have two hours to answer four questions on the content of the assigned readings.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: AI can be a useful tool to support individual study through further exploration, summaries and self-assessment activities. With regard to assessment, however, the use of AI during the in-person examination is prohibited. Any use of AI constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) or temporary or permanent disabilities: students are advised to contact the relevant University office well in advance (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it ). The office will propose any appropriate adjustments for the students concerned. These must in any case be submitted to the lecturer for approval at least 15 days in advance. The lecturer will assess their suitability, also in relation to the learning outcomes of the course.

Teaching tools

Power Point, video projector and other audiovisual tools.

Office hours

See the website of Sofia Ventura