Ateneo - UPO

The course offers the basic knowledge and conceptual tools necessary to understand the functioning of political and administrative systems. The teaching is structured into three interconnected teaching units:
- the first relates to the understanding of the constitutive foundations of every political system, through the analysis of some concepts, theories and analytical frameworks of political science;
- the second relates to the analysis - in a comparative perspective - of the political and administrative systems of the main contemporary Western democracies: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United States;
- the third relates to the study of public administrations in contemporary democracies and their relationship with the political class, as well as the analysis of the general characteristics of the administrative reform process that has affected the main countries with a democratic tradition in the last twenty years.

Gianfranco Pasquino e Marco Valbruzzi, Sistemi democratici comparati, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2025
Giliberto Capano e Elisabetta Gualmini (a cura di), Le pubbliche amministrazioni in Italia, Il Mulino, Bologna 2011 (II edizione): capitoli 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

The aim of the course is to provide fundamental knowledge regarding the functioning of contemporary democracies, with reference to institutions, parties and party systems, electoral systems, representative assemblies, governments, bureaucracies and forms of state and their mutual relationships. The course also aims to develop the ability to use this knowledge to critically frame political facts and phenomena linked to the functioning of contemporary democracies.

No formal requirements.

The course is divided into 12 lectures. In each lecture a reference framework of the topics covered is provided. Attendance and active participation are 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 debated by the teacher.

The teacher could add further material during the course. Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

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.

Teaching unit 1:
1. Comparative analysis of political systems: comparative method and case studies
Teaching unit 2:
1. Democracies: forms of government and their functioning, electoral systems and their effects, parliaments and their structures
2. Parties and party systems: morphology and methods of functioning
Teaching unit 3:
1. Public administration: the role of the public sector in contemporary democracies
2. Politics and bureaucracy: models and variables compared

At the end of the course students can describe and interpret 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.