00895 - Political Science (A-E)

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 among political systems in a comparative perspective.

Course contents

The course is divided into two parts: the first one based on lectures, the second one organized as a seminar.

 

The first part is composed of frontal lectures of two hours each and aims at introducing students to the basic conceptual and methodological tools of the discipline.

 

The second part is organized as a seminar and is aimed at deepening the theme of populism. The students will be divided into three groups (of adequate numerosity) and will have one lesson per week for a total of seven lessons of two hours each. The seminar-related part expects students to be actively involved in the discussion.

 

A detailed syllabus will be handed out at the beginning of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

First part: Clark, William Roberts, Golder Matt; Golder Nadenichek Sona, Principles of Comparative Politics, Sage, third edition, 2017 [2009] (selected chapters).

 

Second part: some academic articles on populism, which will be distributed by the teacher before the beginning of the second part.

 

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

Teaching methods

The first part will take place through frontal lectures, each dedicated to a specific topic.

 

In the second part, classes will have a seminar format, mainly based on students' discussion on the basis of the proposed readings. Students are strongly encouraged to read the reference texts of each class in advance.

 

In the second part, the lessons will make use of the Perusall platform. Perusall is a collaborative reading tool. The readings assigned for each class will be uploaded to the platform, and students will be required to log in and complete the reading before the relevant class. Students will be able to annotate the texts, comment on them, report unclear points, ask for explanations and respond to requests or comments from colleagues. Further details on the use of this platform will be provided in due course.

 

Attendance is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.

 

The slides used by the teacher will be made available to students on the Virtuale platform.

Assessment methods

At the end of the first part of the course, there will be an intermediate test consisting of multiple-choice questions which will weigh 50/100 of the final mark.

 

The evaluation at the end of the second part will be based on two elements: first, the participation to the discussion on the readings assigned for each class and, second, a written test (a short open-book essay) on the topics covered in the second part. In this case, the aim of the evaluation will be not only to verify the understanding of the concepts presented in class, but also the ability to present and connect the different themes in a logical and coherent written text. The evaluation at the end of the second part will weigh 50/100 of the final mark.

 

Students who are unable to attend the lectures and/or seminars will have to take the exam in the ordinary sessions (appelli): such exam will be made by multiple-choice questions on the entire textbook by Clark, Golder and Golder (all chapters) (50/100 of the final mark) and a short open-book essay on the topics covered in the second part (50/100 of the final mark).

Teaching tools

Course materials on Virtuale, Perusall (online platform), Teams.

Office hours

See the website of Bruno Marino

See the website of