Course teached as: B029095 - POLITICA COMPARATA 3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04) in POLITICAL SCIENCES Curriculum STUDI POLITICI
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The first part of the course examines the evolution of the comparative discipline and specifies the tradition of comparative politics as a method for the control of causal relationships between variables. The second part of the course discusses a few central concepts of the discipline. The third part is instead devoted to the comparative study of the transformations faced by Spanish democracy following the eurozone crisis (2008-2020).
9 CFU
- Salvatore Vassallo (a cura di) Sistemi politici comparati, Bologna, il Mulino, edizione 2016
- Anna Bosco, Le quattro crisi della Spagna, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018.
6 CFU
- Salvatore Vassallo (a cura di) Sistemi politici comparati, Bologna, il Mulino, edizione 2016
Learning Objectives
Provide the analytical tools necessary to understand, through comparison, the recent processes of transformation of the South European democracies.
Prerequisites
Daily reading of national and/or international press.
Ability to read publications in English
Teaching Methods
Lectures; individual or group research activities
Type of Assessment
Final written examination with a mix of multiple choice and open-answer questions
(to be completed within one hour and half)
There is no mid-term exam
Note: depending on the state of the pandemic emergency, the features of final test could be modified
Course program
The first part of the course presents the evolution of comparative politics as a discipline and then focuses on comparative politics as a scientific research method for the control of causal relationships between variables. The methodological part of the course is then followed by the examination of a few central concepts such as political regimes; parties; electoral systems; parlaments and governments. Finally the course focuses on the study of the Spanish case in a comparative perspective. In the second part, the course examines the political, social and economic evolution of Spain from the start of the eurozone crisis to the 2020 pandemic. It is a period of more than a decade (2008-2020) in which the country faces a sort of political ‘revolution’, with the electoral punishment of the government parties; the affirmation of new parties – such as Podemos, Ciudadanos and Vox - and the development of unheard of forms of social protest. In addition to this Spain faces the growth of mistrust in political institutions and a devastating crisis in the relationship between the centre and the regions, as clarified by the Catalan events. The course will assess the impact of the eurozone crisis on one of the most stable European democracies and compare the Spanish case study with other South European countries. Other democracies will be examined by the students with the help of the textbook by Vassallo.