OVERVIEW

Political representation: views, discourses, platforms

The course will analytically examine the theme of political representation in modern and contemporary democratic thought. It will delve into the roots of the issue of political representation, the normative criteria for assessing the actions, rhetoric, and decisions of representatives, and the methods of constructing collective identities in pluralistic societies.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at providing students with essential philosophical tools to grasp ongoing transformation in democratic rhetoric and political representation. Students:

• will be aware of the main theories concerning the link between political language and democratic representation;
• will master the main references in contemporary disputes about political representation;
• will be able to compare and assess different types of representative claim. 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students

• will be aware of the main tools of philosophy of ordinary language;
• will be aware of the relationship between language and political representation;
• ·will be able to critically approach different types of representative claims; 
• will master the vocabulary to examine the quality of public debates in contemporary democracies;
• will master examples and normative problems at the heart of contemporary disputes about the quality of public rhetoric in contemporary democracy;
•  will know how to discuss and analyze political speeches;
• will have enhanced important social skills, such as the ability to respect others and their needs, the willingness to overcome prejudices, to express and understand different points of view, and the ability to manage one's own social interactions.

PREREQUISITES

There are no specific requirements. 

TEACHING METHODS

Seminars, debates, problem-based learning, flipped classroom, case-based learning, role playing. 

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course is divided into 3 parts.

Part I. Hobbes, Rousseau and the issue of representation

We will read:

• Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan,
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract

*** students may choose whichever edition of the texts they prefer

Part II. Delegates e Trustees. Responsibility and responsiveness 

We will read:

• Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France
• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist Papers,
• J.S. Mill, Considerations on Representative Government 
• Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? 

*** students may choose whichever edition of the texts they prefer

Part III. The constructivist turn

We will read

• Goffman, E. 2022. The Presenation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin.
• Disch, L.J. Making Constituencies. Representation as mobilization in mass democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
• Salkin, W. 2024. Speaking for Others. The Ethics of Informal Political Representation. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. 
• Saward, M. 2006. The Representative Claim. Contemporary Political Theory 5: 297-318.
• Urbinati, N. 2009. Lo scettro senza il re. Partecipazione e rappresentanza nelle democrazie moderne. Rome: Donzelli.

We will discuss several cases such as Non Statuto” Movimento 5 Stelle (2009); “Statuto dell’Associazione Rousseau”; Roberto Fico “Noi non ci arrendiamo”; Calenda, Chiusura della campagna elettorale 6 giugno 2024; discorso di Nilde Iotti dopo la sua elezione a Presidente della Camera (1979); Solinas, “Attivare lo stato d’emergenza in Sardegna”; discorso di Bob Geldof, Bono e Midge Ure al Live 8 di Edimburgo (2005); discorso di Umberto Bossi a Pontida 1994; Silvio Berlusconi, discorso della discesa in campo 26 gennaio 1994; Joe Rogan Experience #2219 (episodio con ospite Donald Trump) .

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

READING LIST FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS

Specific indications on reference bibliography will be provided by the professor at the beginning of the lectures

READING LIST FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

• Cosenza, G. 2018. Semiotica e comunicazione politica. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
• Pitkin,H.F. 2017. Il concetto di rappresentanza. Soveria Mannelli: Rubettino.
• Urbinati, N. 2010. Democrazia rappresentativa. Sovranità e controllo dei poteri. Roma: Donzelli.

*** all readings can be read in English and/or in the original language *** 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CORRADO FUMAGALLI (President)

FEDERICO ZUOLO

VALERIA OTTONELLI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The course will start on the 19th of February 2026. 

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

ATTENDING STUDENTS

• Class presentation
• A 3000-word essay to be discussed in an oral exam. 

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Oral exam

ASSESSMENT METHODS

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The oral exam aims to critically discuss the essay. Particular attention will be given to students' ability to justify their argumentative choices.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

The exam  aims at ascertaining the student's critical awareness of the normative and theoretical issues and an adequate knowledge of the main positions within the academic debate on the course's topic. 

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact the professor for any information not included in the course schedule.