POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY II

The course is consistent with the goals of the degree program because it introduces students to the fundamental problems and concepts of political philosophy, with particular focus on the main theoretical and hermeneutic traditions.

Upon completion of the course, the students will have developed the ability to: understand the meaning of the texts and topics discussed in class; recognize their implications for the contemporary scientific and civil debate; communicate in a more appropriate and informed way.

A good level of general education is required.

Course title: The Party Question in Contemporary Political Thought
The course offers a comparison with some classics of political party thinking. After analysing the study on Character and spirit of political parties (1869) in which Bluntschli outlines the features of the liberal parliamentary party, the course will focus first on Weber, who in Parliament and government (1918) analyses the mass democratic party in its complex processes of bureaucratisation and personalisation, and then on the writings of Sturzo (1905, 1919) and Gramsci (1932-1934), which are fundamental for understanding how the Catholic and social-communist traditions have thought about the political party. The last part of the course, starting with Peter Mair's Governing the Void (2013), will be devoted to the crisis of party democracy.

Textbooks:
Johann Kasparr Bluntschli, Carattere e spirito dei partiti politici (1869), in Id., Dottrina dello Stato moderno, III: La politica come scienza, trad. di G. Trono, Vallardi, Napoli 1879, pp. 411-446, 476-521;
Max Weber, Parlamento e governo. Per la critica politica della burocrazia e del sistema dei partiti (1918), prem. di F. Ferrarotti, intro. e trad. di F. Fusillo, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002;
Luigi Sturzo, I cattolici italiani e la vita moderna (1905), Appello a tutti gli uomini liberi e forti (1919), in Id., Appello ai liberi e forti, a cura di M. Garzonio, Corriere della Sera, Milano 2019, pp. 17-99;
Antonio Gramsci, Quaderni del carcere, ed. critica dell'Istituto Gramsci a cura di V. Gerratana, Einaudi, Torino 1975 (parti selezionate);
Peter Mair, Governare il vuoto. La fine della democrazia dei partiti (2013), Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2016.

THE PROGRAMME IS PROVISIONAL AND THE LIST OF EXAMINATION TEXTS MAY SUBJECT TO SOME CHANGES DURING SUMMER 2024

For any further information on the course topics, please refer to:
Damiano Palano, Partito, il Mulino, Bologna 2013;
Donatella Della Porta, I partiti politici, il Mulino, Bologna 2015;
Francesco Tuccari, I dilemmi della democrazia moderna. Max Weber e Robert Michels, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1993;
Carlo Galli, Sinistra. Per il lavoro, per la democrazia, Mondadori, Milano 2013;
Karl-Egon Lönne, Il cattolicesimo politico nel XIX e XX secolo (1986), trad. it. di S. Trinchese, il Mulino, Bologna 1991;
Marco Revelli, Finale di partito, Einaudi, Torino 2013.

For any further information on the nature of political philosophy, please refer to:
Leo Strauss, Che cos’è la filosofia politica? (1959), (ed. by D. Cadeddu), Nuovo Melangolo, Genova 2011;
Quentin Skinner, Significato e comprensione nella storia delle idee (1969), in Id., Dell’interpretazione, il Mulino, Bologna 2001, pp. 11-57;
Alessandro Passerin d’Entrèves, La filosofia della politica, in Storia delle idee politiche, economiche e sociali, (ed. by L. Firpo), Utet, Torino 1972, vol. VI, pp. 587-608;
Norberto Bobbio, Dei possibili rapporti tra filosofia politica e scienza politica (1971), Per una mappa della filosofia politica (1990), Ragioni della filosofia politica (1990), in Id., Teoria generale della politica, (ed. by M. Bovero), Einaudi, Torino 1999, pp. 5-39;
John Rawls, Quattro ruoli della filosofia politica, in Id., Giustizia come equità. Una riformulazione (2001), Feltrinelli, Milano 2002, pp. 3-7.

The final exam will be oral and will be related to the texts and to contents the discussed throughout the course and to the topics addressed within the textbooks.

The teaching style will be traditional. Students’ participation will be encouraged.

Italian

oral