Political Science

This course introduces students to an approach to politics which emphasizes a global perspective. Postcolonial studies moves beyond both International Relations, which tends to discuss relations between states or great powers, and Third World Studies, which isolates certain parts of  the world and discusses them separately. In contrast to a view of the world as split into the industrialized, developed West and the underdeveloped or developing South, what this course explores is the relationships between these two areas, seeing them as mutually constitutive: they produce each other. It examines how they have come to be produced as distinct, and how these differences are perpetuated as well as resisted through practices of development, race, gender, and neocolonialism. 

This course dives into the complexity of globalization. It explores in-depth fundamental concepts such as multiculturalism, diversity, inter-culturalism, and superdiversity, highlighting their dynamic evolution and their profound impact on the business fabric. It offers a comprehensive analysis of disparities between countries, addressing crucial aspects such as political economy, country risks and diverse cultural and social heterogeneities. Class sessions introduce essential debates related to cultural construction, formal and informal institutions, economic development, and regional integrations.

This course is also referred to as International Dynamics and Cross-Cultural Negotiation: Global Environment.

Hannah Arendt's work has become a classic of modern political theory, drawing on themes of totalitarian rule, flight, and statelessness. In the context of current crises, such as the climate crisis and the global conflict between authoritarianism and liberal democracy, Arendt's concept of politics reemerges as relevant.  At the heart of this conflict is Russia's attack on Ukraine and Hamas's attack on Israel. Moscow has become the center of a new form of fascism. Russia's aggression against Ukraine is, alongside man-made climate change, the greatest catastrophe of our time. Why were we unable to recognize the signs of impending disaster? Everything is possible, even in this century. The elements and origins of totalitarian rule remain relevant. "The meaning of politics is freedom," wrote Hannah Arendt, a meaning that we have lost sight of in times of peace and prosperity. But what does the controversial term freedom actually mean? How is the distortion of freedom at the expense of people and nature connected to the destruction of a free society? Arendt's thoughts on freedom go beyond today's understanding of liberalism: individual freedom and community spirit are interdependent. Hannah Arendt allows us to rethink freedom.

This course investigates the economic and political causes and consequences of rising economic inequality. In doing so, it reviews and discusses both classic and recent work that seeks to provide answers to the questions: what is driving dramatic changes in economic inequality, and how does rising economic inequality affect democracy, politics, and political preferences? Specifically, the course discusses how the post-1980 era is different from the one that came before; how economic inequality affects the redistribution of income from the rich to the poor; how it transforms preferences for redistribution and taxation; whether rising inequality is a democratic problem; and whether it increases political inequality and the distribution of political power.

This course focuses on different ways of writing about politics through critical analysis. Topics include: the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns; power in suspense and the vertigo of democracy; the literary genres of political thought; philosophy of history and political philosophy; philosophy, politics, and religion in contemporary Spain; totalitarianism and democracy.

This course explores the normative dynamics of distributive justice. First, it explores the question of how much government ought to redistribute; then, it examines the currency and limits of distributive justice. Third, the course explores the question, "What does distributive justice look like across borders, and does tension exist between domestic and global distributive justice?"

Around the globe, right-wing populist and extremist movements and parties are on the rise. In some democracies, they have marginalized or even replaced mainstream conservative parties, in others – like in the US – they have radicalized them. In light of their typically ultranationalist (“America first”) and frequently isolationist and protectionist policy positions, it is somewhat counterintuitive that these actors would form cross-border alliances. And yet, the transnational networking of radicalized conservatives, right-wing populists and even extremists has increased in recent years. Gatherings such as the US-based Conservative Political Action Conferences (CPAC) have featured more and more international participants and high-level speakers. Common themes such as the “anti-woke agenda” can be observed across many different countries. In the seminar, we will explore the extent and relevance of these transnational networks, focusing on ideological exchanges and cross-border learning of strategies and tactics, including political communication.

How does government work? This course focuses on public policy and management, especially on their recent development and on changes in public service delivery under NPM (New Public Management) and NPG (New Public Governance). Through cases of various nation states and local governments, the course discusses main issues about public management, focusing on its historical and theoretical background. Special attention will be paid to centre-periphery relationship and possibility of devolved government. The course also discusses recent topics such as privatization, deregulation, decentralization, devolution and agencification. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course provides advanced knowledge of the different moments of international relations and the development in Latin America from the 19th century to the present. The course provides the ability to: a) identify and compare the different interpretations of the history of development and international relations in Latin America; b) detect and analyze the features of continuity and discontinuity in the dynamics of the western hemisphere, in relation to changes in the international system; c) discuss, from a global perspective, the development models in Latin America from the 19th century to the present. The course presents the principal issues in the history of development and international relations in Latin America from independence to the 21st century. Starting from the analysis of the consequences, for the Latin American area, of the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, the course analyzes the international dimension of the processes of state building and, subsequently, of nation building, the inclusion of Latin American countries in the dynamics of the first globalization, the consolidation of the export-led growth strategy model, the transition to mass democracies and, in some cases, the structuring of populist regimes, the definition of the ISI development model, the evolution of the Pan-American system and, then, the inter-American diffusion of the dynamics of the Cold War, the diffusion of the Washington Consensus, of forms of regional integration and, later, of nationalist movements.

This course examines the evolution of global internet governance. It focuses on the changing role of key actors and conflicts between them – the conflict between private or public oversight, the rise of multistakeholderism, and the attempts of democratic as well as authoritarian states to increase their regulatory grip. It also focuses on key issues of global internet governance such as privacy protection, content control, or cyber security. The course starts from the assumption that despite its dynamics, internet governance is politics like any other and can be understood with standard social science tools, particularly with concepts from international relations and political science.