- Docente: Sofia Ventura
- Credits: 8
- SSD: SPS/04
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Forli
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Mass media and politics (cod. 8051)
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to analyse the different aspects of political leadership in contemporary democracies. At the end of the course students are supposed to be able to manage political science and political communication concepts and models in order to analyse the different case studies of government and party leaders in western democracies.
Course contents
The course is organized with a part of lectures taught in presence (20 hours) and another taught online on MS TEAMS
(20 hours). The number of students allowed in class is determined on the basis of class capacity and by the health and safety provisions that deal with the pandemic emergency. In case more students want to attend classes in presence than permitted by the rules, a system of shifts will be organized so to allow students to participate. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.
The leadership
- Leadership and power
- The leader: diagnosis, solutions, mobilisation
- The leader’s skills: the leader and his team
- The leader and the followers: the charismatic leadership
- The leader and the followers: soft power and transformative leadership
- The leader: personality and style
The personalisation of politics
- The concept
- The causes of personalisation
Celebrity politics
- Electronic media and the public
- Celebrity politicians
Storytelling
- The power of stories
- The collective action problem
- The political marketing
- Empirical examples
Storytelling and Populism
- The concept of populism
- The narrative of populist leaders
- Empirical examples
Crisis communication and coronavirus
- Crisis management e meaning-making
- Empirical examples
Readings/Bibliography
Mandatory readings:
- J. S. Nye, The Powers to Lead, New York, Oxford University Press, 2008.
- S. Ventura, I leader e le loro storie, Narrazione, comunicazione politica e crisi della democrazia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019.
- S. Obradovic, S. A Power and J. Sheehy-Skeffington, Understanding the psychological appeal of populism, in «Current Opinion in Psychology» , V. 35, October 2020, pages 125-131.
- C. Ansell, A. Boin, e P. 't Hart, Political Leadership in Times of Crisis, The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Other mandatory readings for those not attending the course:
Teaching methods
Teaching lessons and seminars.
Assessment methods
Oral exam, until the rules due to Covid-19 wil remain in place.
Teaching tools
Power point, illustration of audiovisual materials.
Office hours
See the website of Sofia Ventura