Political Science

The course provides students with the fundamental coordinates of modern political conceptuality (individual, the State, conflict, freedom, people, representation, etc.). The lessons focus on a series of classic authors of the history of political thought, addressed in their specific characters and supported by the reading and commentary of texts in the classroom. The course follows a monographic red thread - the birth and (presumed) end of modern political conceptuality - and does not claim to cover the entire history of political thought. Fundamental authors live in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, just as essential foundations are laid by ancient and medieval thought. The purpose of this monographic choice is to investigate those passages that best allow the questioning and exposition of the implicit assumptions of our contemporary political life. In particular, two key moments are analyzed: the birth of modern political conceptuality (16th-17th centuries), and the point of greatest tension of this conceptual apparatus in the XXth century. In outlining its fundamental passages, we constantly wonder about the persistence or the crisis of this conceptual apparatus in our contemporaneity: how modern is the implicit assumptions of our political action? What contemporary transformations have instead radically changed the scenario? How have the relationships between society, the State and market changed historically? Are there constants of human action and is it possible to study them?

At the end of the course, students: know the fundamental features of the modern and contemporary History of Political Thought; know the main forms of political communication and understand the complex relationships between ideas and facts; know the most important political doctrines and are able to critically analyze them in connection with the relevant cultural, institutional, historical and social context; are able to understand the most important political and institutional changes in Western history.

In this course, students analyze the dynamics between civil-military relations and the process of formulating security and defense policies in democratic states of law, with a focus on Latin America. In this way, at the end of the course, students are expected to understand, analyze and evaluate how the different levels of civil control over the military and structuring of the Armed Forces in a democracy impact the rationality and efficiency of national defense policies and strategies.

In the course, students will be able to answer the broad dilemma of how to understand Latin America today?, from an interdisciplinary analysis that emphasizes the connection between history, geography and political science in order to unravel and read the various dynamics and challenges of the region. Through methodologies such as lectures, case studies and debates, they will be able to understand the changes, continuities and cultural, social, economic and political projections of the region.

Over the past decades, the radical right has been on the rise worldwide, creating challenges to democratic governance. This seminar investigates the drivers of radical right support, the consequences of their success, as well as responses by civic society to foster democratic resilience. The focus is on quantitative research on Europe and North America. The seminar is split into four parts. The first part gives a brief overview of core concepts and definitions that guide students throughout the course. This involves a discussion of ideological features that characterize the radical right as well as the issues they campaign on. The second part covers the causes of far right success by examining demand-side explanations involving classic theories of voting behavior, as well as supply-side explanations with a focus on theories of political competition. This includes the strategies radical right parties employ and how mainstream party reaction affects their electoral fortunes. The third part gives an extensive overview of consequences of radical right success on democratic governance and civic society. Students analyze how these successes affect democratic governance, other parties’ positions, as well as public opinion. The fourth part engages with a growing literature on interventions that are aimed at bolstering democratic resilience. The seminar is designed to familiarize students with seminal contributions in the theoretical and empirical literature on voting behavior, political competition, and democratic governance that help understand the rise of the radical right.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. International Security (a.k.a Strategic Studies) is an established field within the International Relations discipline, focusing on the role and functions of military forces in international politics. More specifically, the course covers both theory and practice of war and warfare, with emphasis on the contemporary era. It is subdivided into two sections (of different lengths). The first part ("Strategic Theory", shorter) examines some of the principal "theories of war" (e.g. Sun Tzu & Clausewitz ). The first part provides the participants with the relevant analytics tools to attend the second part ("the Tools of Warfare"), which is devoted to the application of those theories to modern warfare as well as an examination of the principal military doctrines, the weapons of mass destructions and irregular warfare (insurgencies, guerrilla and terrorism).

By the end of the course, students are able to: 1) Appreciate variation in conceptions of international security theories. 2) Understand the origins and evolution of mainstream theories on military strategy. 3) Understand the significance of alternative conceptions of national security for states' policies. 4) Develop an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of modern warfare in strategic international events. 5) Develop analytical skills to be applied to international security issues.

The course examines the big questions about social welfare’s current developments and future prospects. The "state" in this case implies the economic conditions and the political and institutional environments in which welfare operates. It explores the relevance of key theoretical contributions to the understanding of welfare origins, trajectories, and futures. It examines the contributions of Marxism, Varieties of Capitalism, Social Reproduction Theory, and The New Political Economy of Welfare, with a particular focus on the contributions of Polanyi, Foucault, Thelen, and Schmidt. In looking at the current period it exams welfare in crisis and welfare retrenchment and resilience and considers recent debates about labor market change, social differentiation, and dualism. The institutional environment is examined in the decommodification and recommodification of welfare and a review of international experience explores the varieties of liberalization.

The seminar provides a deep dive into economic inequality as relates to political economy more broadly, delving into questions such as “what inequality is and how to measure it?”, “what causes inequality?”, “how can welfare and redistributive policies manage inequality?”, and “why are some countries more equal than others?”. The first purpose of the course is to explain what causes economic inequality and how—and to what extent—it can be reduced. The second goal is to provide students with the theoretical and methodological tools to conduct their own empirical study to address these questions. The seminar begins by delving into conceptualizations and measurements used for economic distributions and income inequality. The second part centers on theories explaining levels of economic inequality, including the work of Pareto, Kuznets, Piketty and Milanovic. The third part focuses on the role of the state and redistribution in managing economic inequality, including theories on welfare-state formation, optimal taxation and the impact of political institutions. Finally, the last part is about public opinion on inequality and redistribution, centering on studies and theories about when voters want redistribution. The interplaying dynamics between economic distributions, political institutions, and public opinion are a running theme of the seminar. Students explore and discuss these dynamics as they are articulated in the literature and also propose and test new theories.

This course explores the origins, contemporary manifestations, strategies, impacts, and responses to extremism in Europe and the Americas, with a focus on right-wing examples. It examines the political, social, and cultural dimensions of these movements. The course also distinguishes extremism from related phenomena such as populism and nationalism, explores the motivations and ideologies behind extremism, and assesses the consequences for democracy and social cohesion in these regions. The course begins with a brief introduction to the definitions and distinctions surrounding extremism. In Section II, it takes a closer look at how extremism has developed in contemporary European and American contexts. Section III focuses on analyzing extremist ideologies and discourses, including propaganda and online strategies, through various case studies. Finally, in Section IV, it reflects on the social and political impacts of extremism, as well as the responses from governments and civil society. In terms of methodology, the course is taught through lectures, cross-sectional analysis, group discussions, and the use of primary and secondary sources alongside case studies. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. The course is divided into 2 modules. Module 1 builds on empirical analysis from current diplomatic practices, and module 2 is a historiographic-based course. 

The program for module 1 is as follows:
1.  The evolution of the functions of the professional diplomat;
2.  Bilateral relations: construction of privileged partnerships;
3.  When a dispute freezes the bilateral relationship: the case of the Italian Marines;
4.  Multilateralism today;
5. Conflicts, prevention, the fragmented world in which we live;
6. The consular function: at the service of Italians abroad;
7.  Economic diplomacy: the new functions of public support for internationalization;
8. Economic diplomacy: the Farnesina as an "Agency" for the promotion of our Country. Nation Branding and integrated promotion;
9. Economic diplomacy: the path from export to internationalization that many companies still have to complete and some to consolidate;
10. A glance to the future: the role of the professional diplomat in the years to come.

Module 2 focuses on the interplay between diplomacy and international economic relations from a historiographic point of view. It covers a period that spans from the immediate aftermath of WWII to the early XXIst century. This module explores a set of case studies that pertain to the diplomatic, economic, and political transformations of the international system as it emerged since the start of the Cold War. Classes are organized as follows:
1. XX century diplomacy;
2. Bilateral relations.;
3. Diplomatic discords;
4. The origins of multilateralism;
5. Failed agreements;
6. Migrations and diplomacy;
7. The history of the European Economic Community (I);
8. The history of the European Economic Community (II);
9. The web of international economic organization between the Cold War and the early-post Cold War era;
10. Diplomatic and economic challenges in the early XXI century.

This course is part of the laurea magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. Students develop a critical approach to the diffusion and use of digital technologies. They are expected to acquire a preliminary knowledge of the historical context of these innovations to strengthen their understanding of the challenges posed by digitization. Students consider art as a field in which these technologies are both applied and criticized. By the end of the course, students are able to evaluate the variegated cultural and political imaginaries that are contributing to shaping digital innovations.

The course is articulated into the three parts. First, the course frames a political genealogy of the digital technologies, highlighting the philosophical issues they pose. For this reason, a brief history from the birth of internet to the success of platform capitalism and the expectations on artificial intelligence are presented. Then, the discussion focuses on some of the main cultural paradigms about technological innovations (Californian Ideology, Transhumanism, Accelerationism, etc.) to analyze the way they frame the relationship between the "digital" and the “human”. The last part is more collaborative and interactive with guest experts facilitating a workshop on art curatorship and digital technologies, and students presenting their response papers to course topics.