04871 - Italian Political System

Learning outcomes

Students acquire a good knowldege of how the political systems works today, in comparison with previous phases of recent Italian history. Both the main institutions and the role of political parties are interpreted in the light of the most recent and qualified literature in the field

Course contents

The course is taught in Italian.

It consists of two main parts. The first part (taught online, 28 hours) analysed the devolopment of the political system since the foundation of Italy as a State (1861).

An intermediate exam will take place at the end of week 5.

Attending students will then be diveded in two groups for 2 seminars which focused respectively on euroscepticism and on the peculiar interaction of populism and technocracy. 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students will have to read the following books for part 1 of the class (more info available during the classes)

M. Cotta e L. Verzichelli, Il sistema politico italiano, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020 (4 ed.).

M.L. Salvadori, Storia d'Italia. Crisi di regime e crisi di sistema 1861-2013, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013.

For seminar 2 (held in class, if sanitary conditions will allow it):

Conti N., Marangoni F. and Verzichelli L. (2020), “Euroscepticism in Italy from the Onset of the Crisis: Tired of Europe?”, in South European Society and Politics, published online, doi:10.1080/13608746.2020.1757885

Hooghe L. and Marks G. (2009), “A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus”, in British Journal of Political Science, 39(1), pp. 1-23

Moschella M. (2017), “Italy and the Fiscal Compact: Why does a country commit to permanent austerity?”, in Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, 47(2), pp. 205–225

Taggart P. and Szczerbiak A. (2018), “Putting Brexit into perspective: the effect of the Eurozone and migration crises and Brexit on Euroscepticism in European states", in Journal of European Public Policy, 25(8), pp. 1194-1214.

 

Seminars on populism & euroscepticism:

Bickerton C. and Invernizzi Accetti C. (2017), “Populism and technocracy: opposites or complements?”, in Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 20(2), pp. 186-206

Caramani D. (2017), “Will vs. Reason: The Populist and Technocratic Forms of Political Representation and Their Critique to Party Government”, in American Political Science Review, 111(1), pp. 54-67

Tarchi M. (2015), “Italy: The promised land of populism?”, in Contemporary Italian Politics, 7(3), pp. 273-285

Verzichelli L. and Cotta M. (2017), “Shades of Technocracy: The Variable Use of Non-partisan Ministers in Italy”, in Costa Pinto A., Cotta M. and Tavares de Almeida P., Technocratic Ministers and Political Leadership in European Democracies, Basingstoke, Palgrave, pp. 77-110

Non-attending students will have to read an additional book (beside the two indicated above), among the following:

M. Almagisti, L. Lanzalaco, L. Verzichelli (acd), La transizione politica italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2014

R. Biorcio, P. Natale, Il movimento 5 stelle: Dalla protesta al governo, Mimesis, Milano, 2018

M. Calise, Il partito personale, Bari, Laterza, 2010 (2° ed.)

S. Cassese, Governare gli italiani. Storia dello Stato, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014

A. Chiaramonte L. De Sio (acd), Il voto del cambiamento. Le elezioni politiche del 2018, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019

M. Cotta, F. Marangoni, Il governo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015

P. Ignazi, I partiti in Italia dal 1945 al 2018, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018.

Itanes, Voto amaro. Disincanto e crisi economica nelle elezioni del 2013, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013

L. Morlino, D. Piana, F. Raniolo (acd), La qualità della democrazia in Italia, 1992-2012, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013

F. Musella, Il governo in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019

G. Orsina, Il berlusconismo nella storia d'Italia, Venezia, Marsilio, 2013

G. Orsina, La democrazia del narcisismo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018

D. Piccio (acd), Il finanziamento alla politica in Italia, Roma, Carocci, 2018

A. Pritoni, M. Valbruzzi, R. Vignati (acd), La prova del No. Il sistema politico italiano dopo il referendum costituzionale, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2017

F. Russo, Gli onorevoli. Cosa fanno e come ci rappresentano i nostri parlamentari, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013

S. Vassallo (acd), Il divario incolmabile. Rappresentanza politica e rendimento istituzionale nelle regioni italiane, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013

L. Verzichelli, Vivere di politica. Come (non) cambiano le carriere politiche in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2010

Or:

- one volume of the POLITICA IN ITALIA series (from year 2013 onwards), edizioni il Mulino/Istituto Cattaneo

- five entries included in: E. Jones, G. Pasquino (eds) Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics, Oxford 2015; https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199669745.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199669745

Teaching methods

See Italian version for specific content of classes

Assessment methods

Online exam with multiple choice questions for attending students, who will then have to present one paper in the seminars.

 

Non-attending students will also have one additional oral examination on the entire programme, plus the additional book of their choice 

Teaching tools

Power-point slides, additional resources (including short videos)

Office hours

See the website of Gianfranco Baldini

See the website of Andrea Pareschi