84698 - Institutional Adaptation and Evolution

Learning outcomes

The course focuses on political institutions and their effects, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of their persistence and change. A special attention is devoted to democracy in the digital age. At the end of the course the students a) is capable of analyzing and interpreting trajectories and pace of institutional change b) has a deep knowledge of the main approaches to institutional change c) he is able to discuss the relationship among technology and democracy.

Course contents

The course will deal with the most important theoretical perspectives on institutions and institutional change, focusing on the rational choice approach to studying institutions. Four main topics will be addressed: collective action problems (coordination and cooperation); problems in group decision-making; the delegation problem; current challenges to representative democracy. Examples of the questions we will address are the following: how do institutions help solving collective action dilemmas? When do institutions persist and when do they change? Is there any optimal method for group decision-making? Why are democracies organized in a variety of institutional arrangements? What are the cost and benefits of delegation? Are participatory digital tools an effective way of regenerating democracy? What are the possibilities, challenges and pitfalls facing the transformation of democratic politics in our times? The course aims at providing theoretical tools to deal with this kind of questions.

Readings/Bibliography

A detailed syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

The course is organized in lectures and seminars. Lectures (16 hours remotely on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the course. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for students’ presentations and in-depth discussions of class materials. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups (depending on their number) according to their preferences and the rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (12 hours) and another group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (12 hours), for a total of 28 hours for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and actively participate in the seminar sessions. Regardless of health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to attend the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

NB: Any change in the organization of the course depending on the evolution of the health related conditions  will be communicated in due time.

Assessment methods

Class attendance: 25%

Oral presentation: 25%

Written paper: 50%

Teaching tools

Powerpoint slides, articles and other materials will be available on line at the following website https://IOL.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Daniela Giannetti