Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Disciplinary field : SPS/04 (Political Science)

Number of credits (ECTS): 9

Language: English

Data inizio corso: Tuesday, 24 Settembre, 2019

Semester: first

Registration for the course: Open

COURSE CODE ON GOOGLE CLASSROOM: lq7gjg4

GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE COURSE - COMPARATIVE POLITICS (General class + project work)

Teachers:

Claudio Foliti (General class + project work)

Marco Morini (Trump's communication)

Learning goals

General Class - Prof. Claudio Foliti

The first module of the course aims to provide the basic concepts of comparative politics in an applied perspective. The first part of the module will focus on the essentials of comparative politics. The second part will be devoted to a deep analysis of the sustainable development policies. The general objective is to enhance the students' implementation and critical abilities, by participating in open discussions during the lectures and by developing an original idea and getting acquainted with methodology through a project work. 

Non-attending students have to contact the teacher at the following email address: claudio.foliti@uniroma1.it

Structure and content of the course

General Class - Prof. Claudio Foliti 

First part

1. Introduction to comparative politics

2. Basic concepts: state, regime, democracy, authoritarianism, regime change, revolution

3. Political economy of wealth and political economy of development

Second part

1. Introduction to sustainable development policy

2. Good governance

3. Methodology: concepts, dimensions, indicators, variables, indices

4. Project Cycle Management and Logical Framework

5. Making a project for international cooperation

(see more at this webpage)

Knowledge and competence 

General Class - Prof. Claudio Foliti

Consistent with the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area, students will have to demonstrate that:

1) their knowledge and understanding of basic concepts, processes, and theoretical frameworks are well structured and that they are able to apply these elements in order to develop and support original and personal ideas;

2) they can apply their knowledge and understanding to a wide variety of study cases, by using different approaches and methodologies and taking into account political and extra-political variables;

3) they have improved their critical ability, becoming aware of their own ethical and social responsability linked to the application of their knowledge and judgements;

4) they are able to communicate their conclusions (students will have to make a project on a specific intervention area and they will have to present their ideas and discuss these with their classmates);

5) they have acquired those learning skills which allow them to continue to study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous, especially with a view to a possible master's thesis.

Prerequisites to attend the course

Previous attendance of a course of politology or political science during the Bachelor's programme.

Form of examination

Three-steps evaluation (attending students)

1. Written exam (mid-term test: 15 multiple-choice questions and 3 open questions): Comparative Politics – general class (prof. Foliti). 1-11 points 

Date: Thursday 5th December 2019

2. Project: Sustainable Development - Good governance (prof. Foliti). 1-11 points 

Projects must be sent to claudio.foliti@uniroma1.it by Friday 10th January 2020

3. Written exam: (3 open questions): Trump’s Political Communication+Middle East politics (prof. Morini). 1-11 points

Date: Thursday 12th December 2019

Two-steps evaluation (non-attending students)

1. Written exam 2 open questions: Essentials of Comparative Politics and Sustainable Development Policy (prof. Foliti). 1-21 points 

2. Written exam: (3 open questions): Trump’s Political Communication+Middle East politics (prof. Morini). 1-11 points

Target students

The course is addressed to the first year students - Master's Programme in Development and International Cooperation Sciences (LM 81 Scienze dello Sviluppo e della Cooperazione Internazionale) - Curriculum Economics for Development

Educational methods

Traditional lectures, participatory lectures, public discussions, multimedia content, simulations, flipped classroom.

Attendance

Class attendance is not mandatory but strongly encouraged

Textbooks

1. Comparative Politics: Stephen Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus, Comparative Politics: The Essentials, Thousand Oaks, California : CQ Press, 2018 (Attending student have not to consider the following chapters: 7, 8, 9)

2. Sustainable Development: Michael von Hauff and Claudia Kuhnke (eds.), Sustainable Development Policy: A European Perspective, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017 (mandatory for non-attending students only)

3. Trump’s Political Communication: Materials to be distributed in class (mostly online resources). Please, contact prof. Marco Morini (mail to: marco.morini@uniroma1.it)