88015 - Politic science (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

he course provides notions about the method, concepts, categories, and key patterns of Political Science. At the end of the course the student is able to describe and interpret political phenomena and, in particular, the funtioning and transformations of democratic political systems. The course also provides students with intellectual tools for decoding the current political debate, as well as with logical and linguistic tools for communicating the results of their analysis to an audience of specialists and non-specialists.

Course contents

The course is divided into three modules, each of which concluded with a test.

The first two modules are introductory to the main themes and concepts of the subject, while the third will have a seminar character: some topics will be studied in depth and students will be required to actively participate in the discussion.

The division into lectures and seminars is specified in the following program.

The first part defines the basic concepts on which the course focuses (politics, political regimes, forms of political participation), the long-term processes at the origin of democratic political regimes and their peculiar characteristics are recalled, in comparison with the undemocratic regimes; democratic actors and institutions are presented in a comparative key (parties and party systems, electoral systems, parliaments, governments).

The second part provides a description of the political systems of the major European countries and the United States, with particular attention to the forms of political participation, electoral competition, the structure of parliament, the legislative process, the formation and stability of governments, territorial institutions, main characters of policy making and the role of the country on the international scene.

The third part of the course is dedicated to deepening the theme of "democratic backsliding" and the resurgence of autocracies as successful institutional models in the last decade, after the impetuous advance of the "third wave of democratization" of the 70-90s. We will explore to what extent the impression of a democratic backsliding corresponds to the truth, what are the causes and what are the long-term prospects for democracy. Some exemplary cases (e.g. Poland and Hungary) will be analyzed in detail. These classes will have a seminar nature (the class will be divided into subgroups of adequate numbers) and provide for an active participation of students in the discussion.

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

Readings/Bibliography

Salvatore Vassallo (ed), Sistemi politici comparati, Il Mulino, 2016 (second edition).

Additional readings on the US will be circulated at the beginning of classes.

Teaching methods

The first two modules will take place through lectures, each dedicated to a specific topic.

In the third module, classes will have a seminar format, mainly based on students' discussion on the basis of the proposed readings. Students are strongly encouraged (in the first two modules) and obliged (in the third module) to read the reference texts of each class in advance.

In the third module 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.

The diagrams and figures used by the teacher will be made available to students in the days following the relative lesson on the internet page with the course materials.

Assessment methods

The partial tests at the end of each of the first two modules will take place online via the EOL platform. They will mainly consist of closed-ended questions and will aim at verifying the learning of the information contained in the manual and discussed in class.

The evaluation of the third module will be based on two elements: participation in the discussion relating to the readings assigned for each lesson and a written test (a short essay in "open book" mode) on the topics covered in the module. In this case, the objective 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 final grade consists of the average of the scores reported in the three partial tests.

Teaching tools

Course materials on Virtuale. Online platforms: Perusall, Teams.

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Tronconi

See the website of Bruno Marino

See the website of