Ateneo - UPO

The course considers the current debate about democracy. On the one hand, it is collocated in the framework of the history of European and Western political thought, by highlighting the evolution of the democratic idea and the institutions to which it was connected during the modern and contemporary age. On the other hand, the course focuses on the development of the democratic movement in the global age between the 20th and 21st century, by stressing opportunities and risks emerging as a consequence of the connection between democracy and digital resources.

Part I: S. Petrucciani, Democrazia, Torino, Einaudi, 2014 Parte II: M. Calise e F. Musella, Il Principe digitale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2019; G. Balbi, L’ultima ideologia. Breve storia della rivoluzione digitale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2022; O. Pollicino e P. Dunn, Intelligenza artificiale e democrazia. Opportunità e rischi di disinformazione e discriminazione (Bup 2024). Kate Crawford, Nè intelligente, nè artificiale. Il lato oscuro dell'IA (Il Mulino 2024)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The course focuses on the crisis of the classical democratic model in the 21st century by analyzing the causes and dynamics, with particular attention to technological, information and digital development and its effects on political ideas and institutional systems. ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Students will be able to analyze the democratic class model in the 21st century in the light of the implications, which new information and digital technologies have on it; they will be able to identify the effects on political ideas and the challenges they pose to current institutional systems. . AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT Students will be able to develop a critical spirit towards the current political and social models and to acquire the cultural foundations to reason on the perspectives of democratic theory and on the practice in the global age. COMMUNICATION SKILLS Development of communication skills and synthetic presentation of the model of democracy, and analysis of the interaction between it and technological, IT and digital development, using appropriate terminology and methods of exposure. LEARNING SKILLS Students will have to acquire the basic conceptual tools necessary to follow the present debate and future updates on specific issues related to the democratic model, political ideas and institutional systems in relation to the implications given by digital technological developments and in particular to artificial intelligence developments and to its application in these fields.

General knowledge of the history of modern and contemporary age.

The course will be mainly organized on the basis of traditional lessons by the teacher, but it will also offer exercises and seminars. Attendance is suggested.

The teacher will discuss with the students the opportunity of programming an intermediate written test. 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 final exam will be oral.

The course considers the current debate about democracy. On the one hand, it is collocated in the framework of the history of European and Western political thought, by highlighting the evolution of the democratic idea and the institutions to which it was connected during the modern and contemporary age (with particular reference to the concepts of State, sovereignty, people, nation, citizenship, representation, constitution). On the other hand, the course focuses on the development of the democratic movement in the global age between the 20th and 21st century, by stressing opportunities and risks emerging as a consequence of the connection between democracy and digital resources. The course will reconstruct the origins of the so-called “digital revolution” and the political effects of Artificial Intelligence.

Knowledge - The students will be able to understand the fundamental principles of the democratic political thought, to reconstruct the origins and the features of the contemporary democracies, and to analyse the reasons of their crisis. Competences and Skills The students will acquire the competneces and the skills of realise critical discussion about the opportunities and the risks the digital revolution offers to the political sphere between 20th and 21st centuries. In particular, during the lessons and the oral exam the students will be asked to use the references and the material presented in class to elaborate rational arguments about the issue of digital democracy. Development of basic competence in the analysis of social interaction and the human-computer relationship, ability to identify hidden legal problems in the adoption of innovative technologies, improvement of the ability to communicate effectively in an interdisciplinary design and programming context with experts of knowledge different from one's own.