Course teached as: B000094 - SOCIOLOGIA POLITICA 3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04) in POLITICAL SCIENCES Curriculum STUDI POLITICI
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The course aims to provide a basic understanding of political sociology. Following an introduction to the sociological approach to the study of politics, the principal traditional arguments of political sociology shall be presented. Lessons will refer extensively to the Italian case, both by situating it within the context of the broader panorama of Western democracies, and by discussing recent and contemporary Italian political affairs with students.
Luigi Ceccarini – Ilvo Diamanti, Tra politica e società. Fondamenti, trasformazioni e prospettive, il Mulino, 2018 (a complete reading of this work is recommended).
Learning Objectives
The main aims of the course are as follows: to provide students with an understanding of the key concepts of political sociology; to enable them to link the various topics dealt with; to enable them to take the interpretations discussed during the course and apply them to social reality and contemporary politics; and to have them develop the ability to critically analyse political phenomena. The presentation and discussion of tables and graphs concerning certain recent, important social-political scientific studies should also improve students’ ability to understand and interpret the results of a research project
Prerequisites
For non-native speakers, sufficient knowledge of Italian is required.
Attendance of lessons is strongly recommended, particularly for those with little or no prior knowledge of politics. Moreover, throughout the course students are advised to read at least one (non-sporting) daily newspaper each day; alternatively (or additionally), each morning students are recommended to listen to a radio broadcast presenting a review of the day’s newspapers.
Teaching Methods
Traditional lectures open to discussion and to the contribution of those students present. Exercises in pairs or small groups.
Further information
The class will participate in the “Newspapers at University” project offering the opportunity to receive copies of the main national daily newspapers to be used for teaching and learning purposes during lessons.
Type of Assessment
The final exam shall be in written form. Students will be given two hours to reply to four open questions on the main topics comprising the programme. A top mark (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) will be awarded to those students who reply in a direct, pertinent, reasoned manner to all four questions. A good mark (from 24/30 to 27/30) will be awarded to those students whose replies to the questions touch on the principal aspects thereof, but are to some extent imprecise or incomplete. An average mark (from 20/30 to 23/30) will be awarded to those students whose replies to the four questions are short, incomplete and imprecise, and use rather inappropriate terminology. A bare pass mark (from 18/30 to 20/30) shall be awarded when the replies to the four questions are lacking in terms of content and the appropriateness of the language used. A similar mark shall also be awarded if a student fails to answer one of the four questions (unless the replies to the other three questions are particularly outstanding). A fail mark shall be awarded if the replies that the student gives are extremely short and/or have nothing to do with the exam questions. A similar mark shall be given to those students who fail to reply in a satisfactory manner to at least two questions.
In general, those replies indicating that the student possesses a genuine understanding of the topics dealt with, rather than simply the fact that the student has learnt the answers by rote, shall be rewarded with positive marks. Thus account shall be taken of the student’s ability to reason, to make connections between diverse topics, and to discuss the topics in a critical manner from a current perspective
Course program
During the first part of the course, the professor will present the main topics and the outlook of the sociological study of politics, and in doing so will also focus on the various methods employed in sociological studies of politics.
This shall be followed by an extensive part of the course, during which certain issues in political sociology will be presented in greater detail, namely: power, the establishment and consolidation of the Nation-State, political culture and local-political subcultures, political socialisation, political participation and electoral abstentionism, social and protest movements, political parties and their contemporary transformation, voting behaviour, political communication, political representation and the corresponding transformation of democracy.
The topics included in the programme shall be accompanied by a presentation and discussion of the findings of the latest, most significant social-political scientific studies of each topic dealt with.