Course 2020-2021 a.y.

• What is a state; formation of the nation-state.
• War, peace, and deterrence.
• The international order and international organizations.
• Terrorism and political violence.
• Authoritarian and democratic regimes; democratization.
• Institutional design: electoral systems in democracies.
• Social cleavages, ideologies, and party systems.
• Accountability, corruption, and clientelism.
• Institutional design: presidential and parliamentary democracies.
• Institutional design: federalism. 

Summarize major theories and/or empirical findings from political science research concerning:

• The origins of nation-states. 
• The causes of conflictual and cooperative behavior of nation-states.
• The causes of political violence and the strategies of terrorist organizations.
• The major differences between authoritarian and democratic regimes.
• The causes of, and problems associated with, transitions to democracy. 
• The relationship between electoral systems and election outcomes. 
• The impact of social cleavages and ideological conflict on voting and party competition.
• The major forms of constitutional design in modern democracies.
• The causes of corruption and bad governance.

• Discuss and critically evaluate major theoretical and empirical research in political science on a variety of important themes in comparative politics and international relations.
• Interpret historical and current events in light of the scientific insights provided by the discipline.
• Assess the suitability and enumerate the possible consequences of major institutional reforms.

• Face-to-face lectures

The course is based on face-to-face lectures. Active participation by all students is expected and encouraged.

• A partial exam, in an open-ended short answer   , multiple choice, or short essay format, is given (worth 50% of the course grade) to evaluate student knowledge of political science research covered in the first part of the course.
• An end-term partial exam, in an open-ended short answer, multiple choice, or short essay format, is given (worth 50% of the course grade) to evaluate student knowledge of political science research covered in the second part of the course.

The aims of the written exams are to assess: 

1) the knowledge of the concepts and the theoretical frameworks political science deploys to understand political phenomena; this includes solving some simple game-theoretic exercises applied to inter-state disputes and to regime transitions

2) the ability to make use of such concepts and frameworks to evaluate hypothetical real-world scenarios (e.g., assess the expected consequences of an institutional reform in a specific context; diagnose the possible drivers of a malfunction in a political system; describe the expected consequences of protests or civil unrest based on the social groups involved.)

A final exam, in an open-ended short answer , multiple choice, or short essay format, is given (worth 100% of the course grade) to evaluate student knowledge of political science research covered in both the first and second parts of the course.

The aims of the written exam are to assess: 

1) the knowledge of the concepts and the theoretical frameworks political science deploys to understand political phenomena; this includes solving some simple game-theoretic exercises applied to inter-state disputes and to regime transitions

2) the ability to make use of such concepts and frameworks to evaluate hypothetical real-world scenarios (e.g., assess the expected consequences of an institutional reform in a specific context; diagnose the possible drivers of a malfunction in a political system; describe the expected consequences of protests or civil unrest based on the social groups involved.)

There are two textbooks:

• B. BUENO DE MESQUITA, Principles of International Politics: War, Peace, and World Order, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2013, 5th ed. 
• W. CLARK, M. GOLDER, S. GOLDER, Principles of Comparative Politics, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2012, 2nd edition. 

A detailed list of required chapters for each week is going to be provided in the long-form syllabus at the start of the course. Additional readings on specific topics are made available through the e-learning platform.