29614 - History of the European Political Institutions (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student will show an understanding of the intense interaction between the institutions and the political cultures developing within the Europe sphere, he or she will identify the processes of cultural transference and be able to assess them critically; he or she will acquire familiarity with the vocabulary of public law and know how to contextualize its expressions in the different historical eras. The student will be able to give a narrative form to the results of his/her own research, using the technical language of the discipline appropriately. By the end of the course the student will be able to analyze within a historical perspective the functioning of the European political and social institutions; he or she will be able to identify the complex mechanisms that weld institutions and the formation and reproduction of the elites. He or she can organize complex information coherently; he or she can use the juridical language appropriately and knowingly.

Course contents

The course, which will focus on The monarchies between old regime and modern time, will address the role and the legal prerogatives of the age-old institution of the monarchy from the old regime to the present society. A particular focus will be placed on its inherent structural qualities such as to justify its millennial duration, its adaptability, its polymorphism, and its dissemination through the centuries and civilizations.

Readings/Bibliography

Non attending students:

P. Burke, La fabbrica del Re Sole, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1993 or R. Bendix, Re o popolo: il potere e il mandato di governare, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1980

F. Mazzonis, La monarchia e il Risorgimento, Bologna, il Mulino, 2003

Sovrani a metà. Monarchia e legittimazione in Europa tra Otto e Novecento, a cura di G. Guazzaloca, Soveria Mannelli, Rubettino, 2009


Attending students have to agree the bibliography with the professor

Teaching methods

The course is based on lectures

Assessment methods

The assessment is designed to ascertain the in-depth knowledge of the particular laws and social practices of monarchies and the student's ability to analyze it historically.
For students not attending the test is oral and is based on the reading of the books listed in the "Texts".

The evaluation of the oral examination will depend on the correctness of contents, of the design and language used in answering the questions,

Students attending must instead prepare a dissertation (maximum 50,000 characters) on a topic related to the course or to the integrated course (in this case agreed with the two teachers), on the basis of sources and bibliography suggested by them.

The evaluation fo the paper will consider the student's capacity to make use of sources and bibliography related to the select topic. Students who demonstrate to have a global ooutlook and a good design of the selected topic and the capacity to use an appropriate language, will receive an excellent evaulation.

Students who write a paper only based on the existing bibliography will receive an adeqaue evaluation.

The evaluation in both cases is unique and results from the arithmetic average of the two partial votes. The oral exam must be supported with the two respective teachers on the same day

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Sofia