Ateneo - UPO

The course offers an introduction to Political Science. It describes the specific features of the subject and focuses on four main issues: political regimes; the actors and dynamics of political systems; institutions and policies; the analysis of the major contemporary democracies and of the European Union.

Handbook:
Daniele Caramani (ed.), Comparative Politics, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023 (sixth edition): Introductin, chapters 1-14, online chapters "Political communication" and "Welfare State".
In addition, a monograph chosen from the following:
1) Almond, Gabriel A., and Sidney Verba (1963), The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
2) Dahl, Robert A. (1971), Polyarchy. Participation and Opposition (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
3) Downs, Anthony (1957), An Economic Theory of Democracy (New York: Harper & Collins)
4) Duverger, Maurice (1954), Political Parties (New York: John Wiley Sons).
5) Easton, David (1953), The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science (New York: Alfred A. Knopf).
6) Lijphart, Arend (2012), Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries (seconda edizione) (New Haven, Yale University Press).
7) Regalia, Marta (2021), Una democrazia dimezzata: autoselezione, selezione ed elezione nelle donne in Italia (Milano: Egea).
8) Sartori, Giovanni (1976), Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
9) Sartori, Giovanni (1994) Comparative Constitutional Engineering, (New York New York University Press).
10) Verba, Sidney, Norman H. Nie and Jae-on Kim, (1978), Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-Nation Comparison (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press).
The teacher is available to evaluate other texts if students’ interests should require it.

The aim of the course is to provide fundamental knowledge about the comparative method and its use in political science, the key concepts, models and theories for the analysis of contemporary democracies and their functioning, with particular reference to institutions, parties and party systems, electoral systems, representative assemblies, governments, forms of state and their mutual relations, as well as knowledge of the nature and functioning of specific political systems.

No formal requirements.

Given the large number of students, the course is divided into 24 lectures. In each lecture a reference framework of the topics covered is provided. Attendance is strongly encouraged.
Slides, if any, will be made available to students on the Uniupo Virtual platform (dir.uniupo.it).
Based on University provisions and subject to changes in the health situation and in the related safety protocols, lessons will be held in presence.
Questions, comments, observations are welcome at any time of the lecture. These interruptions do not cause disturbance, on the contrary, they allow to better "explain" what is treated by the teacher.

The teacher could add further material during the course.

The choice whether to attend the exam as attending or not attending student depends on the student him/herself. The teacher does not determine the "category" of attending or non-attending. The syllabus is the same.
At the end of the course there will then be an oral test of three-five questions aimed at verifying learning, correct exposure, and the ability to make connections between the topics covered.
Warning: It will in no way be possible to access the exam session without prior registration on the platform. Students are required to come to the exam with a university badge and an identification document. Non-registered students and students without a valid ID will not be admitted.

The course offers an introduction to Political Science. It describes the specific features of the subject and focuses on four main issues: a) political regimes (state, democracies, authoritarian regimes); b) the actors and dynamics of political systems (political cultures, political participation, political communication, interest groups, political parties, party systems); c) institutions and policies (legislatures, governments, electoral systems, policy-making, welfare state); d) the analysis of the major contemporary democracies (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, USA, UK) and of the European Union.

At the end of the course students can describe and interpret democratic and non-democratic regimes in their main aspects and their transformations. Students should be able to interpret political and social phenomena thanks to general theories and by means of a comparative methodology that underlines differences between the national cases and their historical evolution. They also possess the linguistic and logical tools to communicate the acquired knowledge.