Political science is the scientific analysis of political phenomena. As such, it analyzes, through the specific methods that guide empirical research in the social sciences, the processes and dynamics that govern politics, with specific regard to the behavior of political actors and how it is shaped by political institutions. As a result, each topic in the course will feature a review of the main theories and tools, as well as the presentation of recent empirical results.

After a short methodological introduction, the course starts by introducing democratic regimes and their characteristics, comparing and contrasting them with non-democratic regimes, and discussing regime change and democratic change. It then proceeds by presenting the process of democratic representation in a democratic political system, in terms of: a) its key actors (citizens, parties, interest groups, social movements); b) the processes of interaction between such actors, in terms of both electoral and non-electoral accountability (elections; interest representation; other processes); c) how both processes are differently shaped by different political institutions. After a specific analysis of the characteristics and interaction processes of political institutions (parliaments, cabinets, public bureaucracies, courts), part of the course is dedicated to public policy, i.e. the actual decisional output of the political system, and how it affects the distribution of power within the system. Finally, the interplay between domestic politics and the emergence of multi-level governance is briefly discussed.