Insegnamento a.a. 2019-2020

• 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 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 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.

A final exam, in an open-ended short answer 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.

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.