ID:
T006
Tipo Insegnamento:
Obbligatorio
Durata (ore):
60
CFU:
8
SSD:
SCIENZA POLITICA
Url:
POLITICS: PHILOSOPHY AND ECONOMICS/BASE Anno: 2
Anno:
2023
Dati Generali
Periodo di attività
Primo Semestre (11/09/2023 - 02/12/2023)
Syllabus
Obiettivi Formativi
The course aims at making students familiar with the key problems, concepts and tools of political science, as well as with the empirical results produced by the discipline through the application of its method in comparative perspective.
Prerequisiti
The course has no specific prerequisites
Metodi didattici
The course adopts a dynamic and interactive approach which attributes great importance to students' participation and involvement in teaching sessions. The more traditional teaching methods are accompanied by interactive methods and tools that require students to be constantly active not only in class sessions, but also on their own at home.
Verifica Apprendimento
1) Throughout the course:
All students are required to be part of a group that will offer one in-class presentation during the course. Each presentation group will be formed by 2 students. Presentations made by students will be performed in class from week 2 onwards and will be graded by the instructors on a 0-30 scale. The grade of the presentation will make 30% of the final grade.
2) Final written exam:
40 multiple choice questions;
Time: 40 minutes;
The correct answer is based on the required course readings;
IMPORTANT NOTE: the content of slides prepared by students for the presentations will NOT be part of the exam.
Each question counts equally.
The final written exam will make 70% of the final grade.
Therefore, the final grade is made up by 70% final written exam + 30% in class presentation
All students are required to be part of a group that will offer one in-class presentation during the course. Each presentation group will be formed by 2 students. Presentations made by students will be performed in class from week 2 onwards and will be graded by the instructors on a 0-30 scale. The grade of the presentation will make 30% of the final grade.
2) Final written exam:
40 multiple choice questions;
Time: 40 minutes;
The correct answer is based on the required course readings;
IMPORTANT NOTE: the content of slides prepared by students for the presentations will NOT be part of the exam.
Each question counts equally.
The final written exam will make 70% of the final grade.
Therefore, the final grade is made up by 70% final written exam + 30% in class presentation
Testi
Main reference handbook [required] : Caramani (ed.) 2023, Comparative Politics, Oxford, OUP.
Contenuti
Political science is the scientific analysis of political phenomena. As such, it analyzes, through the specific methods that guide empirical research in the social sciences, the processes and dynamics that govern politics, with specific regard to the behavior of political actors and how it is shaped by political institutions. As a result, each topic in the course will feature a review of the main theories and tools, as well as the presentation of recent empirical results.
After a short introduction, the course starts by introducing democratic regimes and their characteristics, comparing and contrasting them with non-democratic regimes, and discussing regime change and democratic change. It then proceeds by presenting the process of democratic representation in a democratic political system, in terms of: a) its key actors (citizens, parties, interest groups, social movements); b) the processes of interaction between such actors, in terms of both electoral and non-electoral accountability (elections; interest representation; other processes); c) how both processes are differently shaped by different political institutions. After a specific analysis of the characteristics and interaction processes of political institutions (parliaments, cabinets, public bureaucracies, courts), part of the course is dedicated to public policy, i.e. the actual decisional output of the political system, and how it affects the distribution of power within the system. A particular attention will be then devoted to different varieties of democracy. Finally, contemporary challenges to the very concept of "closed" political system are briefly discussed.
After a short introduction, the course starts by introducing democratic regimes and their characteristics, comparing and contrasting them with non-democratic regimes, and discussing regime change and democratic change. It then proceeds by presenting the process of democratic representation in a democratic political system, in terms of: a) its key actors (citizens, parties, interest groups, social movements); b) the processes of interaction between such actors, in terms of both electoral and non-electoral accountability (elections; interest representation; other processes); c) how both processes are differently shaped by different political institutions. After a specific analysis of the characteristics and interaction processes of political institutions (parliaments, cabinets, public bureaucracies, courts), part of the course is dedicated to public policy, i.e. the actual decisional output of the political system, and how it affects the distribution of power within the system. A particular attention will be then devoted to different varieties of democracy. Finally, contemporary challenges to the very concept of "closed" political system are briefly discussed.
Risultati di Apprendimento Attesi
Knowledge and understanding:
The course will make students familiar with the key conceptual and theoretical tools at the core of the discipline, as well as with the empirical results produced by the discipline through the application of its method in comparative perspective. This will be achieved not only by reviewing the classical approaches to the study of politics, but also by means of an in-depth analysis of the most recent approaches developed to study contemporary politics.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1) Critically review a scientific article;
2) Apply theoretical models to make sense of real politics;
3) Understand the processes and dynamics of contemporary politics;
4) Compare and assess contemporary political processes in comparative perspective;
Making judgements:
We expect students to be able to assess and understand real political processes in the light of the main theoretical tools and approaches developed by the discipline. Furthermore, they are expected to be able to discuss critical political issues in comparative perspective, as well as to understand why, how and where certain political processes occur and which are the main political actors involved in these processes
Communication Skills
Throughout the course all students are required to offer an in-class presentation, based on their own reading of a relevant contribution produced by the scientific literature. The presentation is intended not only to give the chance to students to read scientific contributions, but also to improve their critical reading of scientific literature as well as their public-speech skills by means of public presentations. At the end of the course, students will be therefore able to publicly discuss relevant issues at the core of the discipline.
Learning skills
Students will acquire the tools allowing them to make autonomous and independent evaluations of current political issues in their complexity and specific dynamics. In particular, they will acquire the ability to construct knowledge and arguments based on a variety of materials. These skills will be developed and stimulated by means of group discussions and presentations in class.
The course will make students familiar with the key conceptual and theoretical tools at the core of the discipline, as well as with the empirical results produced by the discipline through the application of its method in comparative perspective. This will be achieved not only by reviewing the classical approaches to the study of politics, but also by means of an in-depth analysis of the most recent approaches developed to study contemporary politics.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1) Critically review a scientific article;
2) Apply theoretical models to make sense of real politics;
3) Understand the processes and dynamics of contemporary politics;
4) Compare and assess contemporary political processes in comparative perspective;
Making judgements:
We expect students to be able to assess and understand real political processes in the light of the main theoretical tools and approaches developed by the discipline. Furthermore, they are expected to be able to discuss critical political issues in comparative perspective, as well as to understand why, how and where certain political processes occur and which are the main political actors involved in these processes
Communication Skills
Throughout the course all students are required to offer an in-class presentation, based on their own reading of a relevant contribution produced by the scientific literature. The presentation is intended not only to give the chance to students to read scientific contributions, but also to improve their critical reading of scientific literature as well as their public-speech skills by means of public presentations. At the end of the course, students will be therefore able to publicly discuss relevant issues at the core of the discipline.
Learning skills
Students will acquire the tools allowing them to make autonomous and independent evaluations of current political issues in their complexity and specific dynamics. In particular, they will acquire the ability to construct knowledge and arguments based on a variety of materials. These skills will be developed and stimulated by means of group discussions and presentations in class.
Criteri Necessari per l'Assegnazione del Lavoro Finale
Final theses are usually structured in terms of a research question (relationship between variables: explanation of a political outcome in terms of another phenomenon or characteristic), and should be structured as follows:
1) one or more case studies are presented;
2) the relevant literature on the more general relationship between variables is reviewed;
3) the particular case(s) are finally analysed by relying on such literature.
Unfortunately, we can only supervise a limited number of theses. As a result, in order to offer students equal opportunities, we employ the following procedure:
1) Criteria for accepting requests are: a) exam grade; b) quality of the proposed project.
2) Based on past experience, we suggest to only apply with an exam grade of 28-29 or higher. Requests with lower grades might still be considered, but they will definitely have lower chances of being accepted.
3) Early requests will not be accepted: rather, all requests will be considered at once, in a single round after all exam calls
4) Thesis requests should be presented in the form of a one-page project (with some initial bibliography) detailing the research question and the specific case studies considered. We will then publish a shortlist of potentially acceptable requests; shortlisted requests will then be discussed together in one-to-one meetings scheduled shortly after, and a decision will be made after these meetings.
1) one or more case studies are presented;
2) the relevant literature on the more general relationship between variables is reviewed;
3) the particular case(s) are finally analysed by relying on such literature.
Unfortunately, we can only supervise a limited number of theses. As a result, in order to offer students equal opportunities, we employ the following procedure:
1) Criteria for accepting requests are: a) exam grade; b) quality of the proposed project.
2) Based on past experience, we suggest to only apply with an exam grade of 28-29 or higher. Requests with lower grades might still be considered, but they will definitely have lower chances of being accepted.
3) Early requests will not be accepted: rather, all requests will be considered at once, in a single round after all exam calls
4) Thesis requests should be presented in the form of a one-page project (with some initial bibliography) detailing the research question and the specific case studies considered. We will then publish a shortlist of potentially acceptable requests; shortlisted requests will then be discussed together in one-to-one meetings scheduled shortly after, and a decision will be made after these meetings.
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