Course 2026-2027 a.y.

1) Democracy and democratization

a) redistributive models of democracy

b) contractarian models of democracy

2) Elections

a) electoral control of politicians

b) the spatial model of politics

c) PR vs majoritarian systems

d) strategic voting

e) referendums and direct democracy

f) rigged elections

g) democratic consolidation and electoral accountability

3) Backsliding and authoritarianism

a) democratic backsliding

b) limited authoritarian government

4) Unelected policy-makers: lobbies, mafias, bureaucrats

a) lobbies and mafias

b) political monitoring of bureaucrats

c) politicians vs. bureaucrats

d) delegation to central banks

5) Presidential, parliamentary, and federal institutions

a) prime ministers

b) presidents 

c) federalism and decentralization

d) ethnofederalism and ethnic politics

• Lectures

Each lecture revolves around one or two papers, which are going to be dissected in detail, in order to understand the mechanics and the logic of the model (for theoretical contributions) and the data and empirical strategy (for empirical contributions), and derive broader policy and historical implications also in relation to actual cases and examples. Active participation, based on having read the paper(s) in advance of the relevant lecture, is expected.

The partial exams are open exclusively to students who attend the lectures regularly.

1) First Written Partial: 45% of the grade

2) Second Written Partial: 45% of the grade

The written exams assess the ability to define concepts in one's own words, having gained mastery of the conceptual contributions beyond simple passive memorization; the ability to understand the logic, the assumptions, and the empirical implications of theoretical contributions, and to understand the message of empirical contributions, both narrowly in terms of the specific study and more broadly in terms of what they teach us about the functioning of political institutions.

3) Participation: 10% of the grade

Participation involves attending lectures and engaging in class discussion. The discussions assess the ability to deploy the theoretical concepts and intuitions explained in the lectures and presented in the papers in order to understand and interpret actual historical and contemporary political issues and events; to propose what questions remain open based on the contributions of the papers; and to think about implications in terms of policy and institutional design.

In addition, every week students submit a brief comment (a few sentences) with their reasoned reaction to the readings covered in the lectures. The comments assess the ability to engage actively and independently with cutting-edge research reports.

Non-attending students can only sit the cumulative general exam.

The written exam assesses the ability to define concepts in one's own words, having gained mastery of the conceptual contributions beyond simple passive memorization; the ability to understand the logic, the assumptions, and the empirical implications of theoretical contributions, and to understand the message of empirical contributions, both narrowly in terms of the specific study and more broadly in terms of what they teach us about the functioning of political institutions.