Development of the basic knowledge in the positive democratic theory • D1 - Knowledge and understanding: to acquire the conceptual meaning of democracy. • D2 - Applying knowledge and understanding: to allow the autonomous interpretation of political facts in democracy. • D3 - Making judgments: to understand how the openness of the political decision-making processe and the overall democratization process are connected. • D4 - Communication skills: being able to prepare an analytic framework of information on the democratic political phenomena and to communicate them. • D5 - Learning skills: to conceive politics as an interactive process of action-reaction among the actors involved, in the perspective of the struggle for power in democracy.

Advanced knowledge in political science and in policy analysis is recommended

The course focuses, in the first part, on the definition of the democratic regime, from the perspectives of the normative theory and above all of the “positive” theory. The main approaches to studying the conditions of democratization are addressed. The study of the functioning of democracy is focused on two of its main aspects: government institutions and electoral party competition. The second part of the course is devoted to the study of public decision and decision-making processes. The issues of deliberative democracy and rational choice will be addressed, using the formalized approach of the mathematics of decision (i.e. game theory).

Reading list published in moodle https://moodle2.units.it/course/view.php?id=8771 To prepare for the course, the study of the following is recommended: G. Ieraci, Public policies, Turin, UTET, 2016. D. Della Porta, Democracies, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011. W.R. Clark, M. Golder, S.N. Golder, Principles of political science, Milan, McGraw-Hill, 201, cap. 10.

- The concept of democracy; - democracy of the ancients and moderns; - the institutionalization of political responsibility; - alternation of power and democracy; - conditions of democratic institutionalization; - public and ethical choice; - democracy and rational choice; - democracy and decision-making processes; - political coalitions; - evaluate and measure democracy.

Lectures, exercises and seminars

Tutorials: Thursday, from 9.00 am to 12.00

Students will have the opportunitiy either to split their final learning assessment in two parts (with one intermediate test half way through the course and a final test at its end), or to complete the assessment with a single and a overall exam. These written exams consist of questions and exercise focusing on the content of the lessons and on the autonomous studying. The student will have two hours at his/her disposal for each exam.

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