Political Science

This course focuses on contemporary international institutions aimed at addressing matters of pressing global concern. It is, most of all, concerned with the practical policy challenges of governance: what should be done to reduce violence and promote peace, justice, and human rights, and how can these goals be achieved in a world of finite resources and competing interests? The course begins by introducing the range of actors in global governance. Students then reflect on major theoretical approaches concerning the origins and efficacy of global institutions, asking 'when do institutions matter, and how?' The second half of the module applies these analytic lenses to case studies including disarmament, humanitarian intervention, the International Criminal Court, and the human rights regime. 

This course explores the ways the two Koreas, North and South, have coped with the dictate of international politics since the national division. It examines this question by highlighting and explaining the defining characteristics of the both systems in the context of their respective political change, economic development, national security, human rights and response to globalization as results of their respective choices of national survival, political development and economic prosperity.

Prerequisite: Introductory course on Korean politics

Comparative Politics is a systematic introduction to an important branch of political science. This course uses the concept of universality and cross country comparisons to study the workings of a country’s political system. Course topics include research methodology of comparative politics, theoretical and practical issues of major concern, main conceptual and analytical frameworks, and the latest empirical research findings. Those who complete the course gain a basic understanding of the important literature of the comparative politics and are able to begin a high level course in comparative politics. 

The course is a combination of lecture and class discussion. Students are required to finish the assigned reading before each class. Students should complete three reading notes in one semester. There will be a closed-book examination in the middle and at the end of the term.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course deals with the analysis of the models of public intervention in the financing, commissioning and supply of welfare services–such as the health care and social care services–that are facing deep demographic, technological and socio-economic changes. The course follows a comparative perspective and focuses on the transformation from a setting in which financing, commissioning, and supply of services are all performed by vertically integrated public organizations, to a setting in which governmental bodies limit themselves to the financing, allowing other private or public bodies to manage the services under a regulatory framework. Using a case-study approach, students are led to investigate the distributive and allocative implications of adopting tools to imitate the working of markets (vouchers, auctions, contracting-out) or of other competitive frameworks (pay for performance schemes, incentives, information disclosure mechanisms). At the end of the course, students are able to critically evaluate the aforesaid mechanisms not only in terms of their distributive and allocative effects or their long term financial sustainability, but also with regards to the coherence of such effects with their institutional objectives. Course topics: the rationale for public intervention in the financing and supply of welfare services; classic models of financing and supply; recent problems of financial and political sustainability for the welfare services; new public management tools: public reporting, evaluation and incentives; private provision of publicly financed services: regulation of quasi markets, contestability, and freedom of choice.

This course deepens students’ knowledge of the “collective action dilemma” from a social science perspective and acquaints them with two interdependent global problems: climate change and energy.  It analyzes and discusses possible political solutions to the management of climate and energy issues as well as dilemmas over natural resources at the local, regional, and international levels.
 

This course introduces theoretical approaches and methodological tools to analyze the role of the European Union as a global actor across policy areas and over time. It investigates the legal, political, and economic determinants of European Union "actorness" in domains such as trade, environmental protection, promotion of human rights, and civilian and military assistance. Considering the current geopolitical context, the course discusses the extent to which the war in Ukraine shapes EU foreign policy. It identifies the main conceptualizations of the European Union as a power and the main actors involved in EU foreign policy, and covers the central features of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). The course includes an opportunity to analyze a case study concerning EU external action using the theoretical and methodological elements seen in class.