OVERVIEW

The course aims to offer a suitable knowledge of the political regimes and their historical evolution, as well as the systems of government and the main developments of public law in the liberal-democratic regimes.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course deals with structures, values and organization principles of the different political regimes and systems of government developed during the centuries in Europe and North America, as well as their following spread in different cultural environments. Moreover, the course deals with the basic elements of the constitutional theory.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Introducing the knowledge of the constitutional theory, as well as the political regimes and systems of government, also in the light of the recent changes caused by both the devolution processes and the integration ones, especially at the European level; introducing to the concept of multi-level government;
• Deepening the knowledge of both juridical principles and fundamental institutions of liberal-democracies, through their historical development, their different implementations and the problems they face in their implementation in countries without Western cultural traditions;
• Understanding socio-political and cultural reasons which made possible birth and development of the different political regimes, paying particular attention to the liberal-democracies;
• Approaching to the knowledge of both the political and party systems conditioning their working, especially in the relations between Legislative and Executive power;
• Understanding the mechanisms of guarantee of the Constitution and their working, especially the role played by the bodies in charge of the constitutional review;
• Deepening the rules and principles about rights and duties present in the constitutional texts and their practical consequences;
• Developing skills of complementing each other the juridical, politicological and historical approach in the study of the items in question, in order to develop a good ability of critical and multidimensional analysis.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, possibly complemented by slides. Lectures will be given in Italian.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Political regimes:

feudal order, absolute State, liberal State, socialist State, authoritarian State and especially liberal-democratic State

Forms of State:

unitary State, regional State, federal State and other intermediate concepts, paying particular attention to the processes of regional integration, especially the European one.

The different concepts of Constitution and the ideology of constitutionalism. Outlines of comparative methodology.

The systems of government in the liberal-democratic regimes: general principles and analysis of some contemporary democratic experiences: presidential government (USA and Latin-American countries, French Second Republic), semi-presidential government (French Fifth Republic, Weimar Republic and brief outlines of other experiences), parliamentary government (United Kingdom, French Third and Fourth Republic, Spain, Germany and brief outlines of Scandinavian and Benelux monarchies, as well as main Commonwealth countries), directorial government (Switzerland).

During the lectures, other items about the debate on institutional reform in Italy and/or the reciprocal feedback between European governance and national politics could be dealt with. 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

In addition to the lecture notes, the recommended readings are the following:

- M. Volpi, Libertà e autorità. La classificazione delle forme di Stato e delle forme di governo, Giappichelli, Torino, 2016.

- Bardusco, Furlan, Iacometti, Martinelli, Vigevani, Viviani Schlein, Costituzioni comparate, Giappichelli, Torino, 2015

The students who won’t pledge the minimum required attendance to the lectures shall add the following book:

- A. Giovannelli, Aspetti della governance economica nell’UE e in alcuni Stati dell’Unione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2014.

During the course, other readings could be pointed out for foreign students and/or for people interested in deepening the items in question.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ARISTIDE CANEPA (President)

MARIA ANGELA ORLANDI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The lectures are scheduled in the second term, starting on Monday, February 19th, 2018.

Class schedule

PUBLIC COMPARATIVE LAW

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam, on at least three items relating to the course. A written exam can be agreed with the professor, in case of justified request by a student. The examination board is appointed by the Department Council and, except in the case of hindrance, chaired by the professor in charge of the course.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

First of all, the student should demonstrate: knowledge of the course topics, a suitable order in the presentation of the subjects, competence in the juridical, politological historical technical language. The ability to re-elaborate in a critical way the acquired information and the concerned topics will entail a preferential evaluation.

Exam schedule