Sociology

ERNESTO D'ALBERGO

1. Knowledge and understanding: on having passed the exam students will have acquired basic knowledge about the relationships between political, cultural and economic sub-systems as well as on political actors, structures and processes in terms of policy and politics.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: through exercises on case studies focusing also on methodologies, students will be able to select basic concepts and indicators to set the analysis and understand the main characteristics of phenomena about which they will have learned basic knowledge. In particular, this regards the ability of analyzing aspects of public policy making, political cultures, specific changes affecting relationships between policy, politics and the market, specific changes affecting political institutions and the rules of representation; processes of political rescaling, changes affecting political parties, interest groups and lobbying, patterns of governance
3. Students will improve their capacity to develop their own points of view as well as critical capacity on the topics studied through active participation in group exercise and debates, as well as preparing both individual and group presentations
4. Communications skills. Students will improve their capacity to communicate the knowledge learned through individual and group presentations on the topics studied and participating in collective debates.
5. Learning skills. Students should improve the capacity to keep up their studies on the topics of this course through the ability acquired to connect concepts, theories and phenomena This ability may be developed through the explicit presentation of these connection, tested through exercises on specific case studies. At the end of the course, students should be able to autonomously explore the issues analyzed through the consultation of political sources and specialized research reports.

After successfully passing the examination the student will have acquired:
1. Knowledge and understanding of the topics outlined in the learning objectives and the course programme
2. Ability to apply acquired knowledge
Ability to find studies and research on the transformations of politics and policies, governance and institutions on different scales, understanding the plurality of approaches
3. Critical and judgmental skills
Ability to orientate oneself between theoretical and conceptual perspectives) of interpretation of the forms and criticality of contemporary politics
4. Ability to communicate
Ability to:
- Present articles or book chapters
- Take part in classroom discussions
- Draft and present a research project

5. Ability to continue studying independently
Ability to use the tools to
- conduct a bibliographic search
- write a concise literature review

Basic knowledge of:
- modern and current sociological theories;
- history of contemporary Europe
- characteristics of constitutional orders, at least as far as Italy is concerned

The course is divided in two parts:
- In the first part, the main categories through which sociology interprets contemporary politics will be presented and explored. After brief historical references to the relationship between society and politics and the political forms of modernity, the transformation processes induced by globalisation and the spread of different forms of neo-liberalism will be examined.
Once the basic concepts of power, hegemony, public policies and actions, governance, politicisation and depoliticisation of public actions and issues have been explained, using these tools the innovative features of contemporary politics and institutions will be explored and interpreted, such as: party transformations and post-democracy; the nature and role of populisms; emerging forms of political communication; contemporary public administrations; the emergence and crisis of transnational governance regimes; the multiscalar politics and governance of the European Union and cities; the role played in relations between society and politics by interest organisations and lobbying, new conflicts, social practices and movements, the role of knowledge carriers and civil society, including the emerging forms of participation.

- The second part will be a workshop. Students will work in groups experimenting how to use one or more of the theoretical and analytical concepts explored in the first part to interpret specific characteristics and critical issues of contemporary political phenomena. To this end, they will be guided in the finding and use of materials and documents of various kinds and in the realisation of a product, which will be presented and assessed.
These have been the topics in recent years:
- 2022/23: Politics & policy of Meloni Administration
- 2021/22: Next Generation EU & the National Recovery and Resilience Plan: policy, politics, governance & management
- 2020/21: Political continuity and change in the Covid pandemics

1) d'Albergo E., Moini G. (eds., 2024), Sociologia della politica contemporanea, Roma, Carocci (entire book)

2) d'Albergo E., Giovanelli G. (2025), Politiche dell'intelligenza artificiale. Arene, strategie, poteri (entire book)
free download at: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/1390

During the course there will be frontal teaching, exercises, and presentations by the students even in a workshop

Students will participate in classroom activities. In the second part (workshop) for the final vote, attendance will be compulsory and verified.

Students who cannot attend the lessons will take a written examination, with essay questions
Students attending the lessons will take a written examination at the end of each of the parts of the course. The final grade results from the average of the grades

The questions cover the entire examination programme