00895 - Political Science (O-Z)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will gain a basic knowledge of the main approaches and methods developed within political science; will be able to analyze political actors, processes and institutions; will be able to understand similarities and differences between political systems in a comparative perspective.

Course contents

The course is an introduction to the main topics studied in Political Science, with a focus on the strategic and methodological aspects that have become central to the study of comparative politics.

The course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the main features of Political Science as a discipline. The first part also presents the main working methodologies of the political scientist, focusing in particular on the comparative method.

The second part explores topics such as the birth and formation of the modern state, processes of democratisation and the differences between democratic and authoritarian political regimes, paying particular attention to the economic and cultural determinants of democracy.

The third part of the course focuses on political actors, the mechanisms of representation and the institutional organisation of contemporary democracies. Central themes of this part of the course are: the role and characteristics of the main individual and collective political actors; the function of elections and the rules governing them; the functioning of internal political institutions.

After having explored the variety of formal and informal actors, rules and institutions that characterise contemporary democracies, the fourth part of the course aims to analyse whether this variety can be traced back to certain variants of democracy, assessing whether differences in performance exist in terms of the quality and effectiveness of decision-making.

A series of insights into the Italian political system will be offered during the course. A number of student presentations will be organised on the selected topics. Further details will be provided at the beginning of the lectures.

Readings/Bibliography

Foreign students are invited to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course to discuss about the programme.

Teaching methods

The course is structured in 30 lessons of two hours each, each devoted to a specific topic. Attendance is not compulsory, but recommended. Slides will be used to supplement frontal teaching.

Assessment methods

For attending students, there are two written tests, one in the middle of the course on the first part of the syllabus and one at the end of the course on the second part of the syllabus. Each test includes 10 multiple-choice questions, an exercise and an open question. The multiple-choice questions are worth 2 points each, with a penalty of 0.25 points for an incorrect answer. Both the exercise and the open question are worth up to a maximum of 5 points, for a total of 30 points. The test time is 45 minutes.

Attending students will also have the opportunity to deepen some of the course topics through a series of presentations. The marks from the presentations (max 2 points) will be added to those from the written tests. Further details will be provided at the beginning of the course.

The outcome of the two tests and the presentation will determine the overall mark. 

For non-attending students, the test is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the textbook and includes 10 multiple-choice questions, two exercises and two open questions. Multiple choice questions are worth 1 point each, without penalty. Exercises and open questions are worth up to 5 points, for a total of 30 points. The test time is 75 minutes. The second part includes a further open question on the additional text (test time 20 minutes). The question is marked in thirtieths and averaged with the mark obtained in the first part of the exam. In the calculation of the final grade, the first part is worth 80 per cent, the second 20 per cent.

Attendance will be monitored in class. Students who have attended at least 80% of the lectures are considered to be attending.

The grade can only be withheld once.

Teaching tools

The slides and other teaching materials will be available on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Pinto