As it is well known, Italy was the first country to begin implementation of the “Bologna process”. The new system of university curricula was established by government in 1999, and is currently being re-styled, although the cornerstones of the new system have been preserved. As we have already mentioned, the traditional university degree (laurea) was replaced by a two-level curriculum: a first-level diploma is awarded after the third year of study (diploma di laurea), while the advanced-level diploma (the laurea specialistica, and since 2008 the laurea magistrale) requires a further two years of study. Another important change to be recalled is the decision to grant each university substantial freedom to choose the names and curricula of degree-courses. Prior to 2001, the names of university courses and degrees were decided by the Ministry, and were the same for all the universities, while each university was only granted a limited degree of freedom when it came to defining course curricula. Since 2001, however, each university has been free to choose the names of its courses and degrees from a wide framework of 42 types of bachelor’s degree groupings and of 104 types of master’s degree groupings2. Although certain standard minimal requirements have to be met in terms of subject distribution within each grouping, universities are now allowed to shape their curricula, thus varying the content also within the same category of degree. For example: while a standard degree grouping has been established (e.g. the national bachelor’s degree programme in Political Sciences and International Relations), unlike in the past, when all universities had to use the same name for this kind of degree (and basically adopt the same list of courses), universities may now choose from a variety of titles (Political Sciences and International Affairs, Politics and International Affairs, International Affairs and Diplomacy, and so on), and curricular content offered may now vary considerably from one programme to another. The 1999 reform provided a real policy window for the discipline, since political science courses were now required as basic or supplementary subjects in 16 of the 42 national bachelor’s degree groupings, and in 32 of the master’s degree groupings. This is an impressive result if we consider that prior to 2001, only the degrees in Political Sciences, International Relations and Public Administration required subjects in the discipline of political science. The question now is: what impact has this radical reform of the university teaching system had? Or, to put it another way: how has this ‘policy window’ been transformed into reality? Have political scientists been able to extend their presence beyond the traditional confines of political science faculties? In attempting to answer to these questions, we will analyse some data about the presence of the discipline in the context of the Italian university system today. More precisely, we will look at the concentration of political science courses at the two level above mentioned – the diploma di laurea and the laurea magistrale.

The presence of political science in the Italian university curricula / G.Capano; L. Verzichelli. - In: ITALIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE. - ISSN 2420-8434. - ELETTRONICO. - 2:(2008), pp. 1-9.

The presence of political science in the Italian university curricula

CAPANO, GILIBERTO;
2008

Abstract

As it is well known, Italy was the first country to begin implementation of the “Bologna process”. The new system of university curricula was established by government in 1999, and is currently being re-styled, although the cornerstones of the new system have been preserved. As we have already mentioned, the traditional university degree (laurea) was replaced by a two-level curriculum: a first-level diploma is awarded after the third year of study (diploma di laurea), while the advanced-level diploma (the laurea specialistica, and since 2008 the laurea magistrale) requires a further two years of study. Another important change to be recalled is the decision to grant each university substantial freedom to choose the names and curricula of degree-courses. Prior to 2001, the names of university courses and degrees were decided by the Ministry, and were the same for all the universities, while each university was only granted a limited degree of freedom when it came to defining course curricula. Since 2001, however, each university has been free to choose the names of its courses and degrees from a wide framework of 42 types of bachelor’s degree groupings and of 104 types of master’s degree groupings2. Although certain standard minimal requirements have to be met in terms of subject distribution within each grouping, universities are now allowed to shape their curricula, thus varying the content also within the same category of degree. For example: while a standard degree grouping has been established (e.g. the national bachelor’s degree programme in Political Sciences and International Relations), unlike in the past, when all universities had to use the same name for this kind of degree (and basically adopt the same list of courses), universities may now choose from a variety of titles (Political Sciences and International Affairs, Politics and International Affairs, International Affairs and Diplomacy, and so on), and curricular content offered may now vary considerably from one programme to another. The 1999 reform provided a real policy window for the discipline, since political science courses were now required as basic or supplementary subjects in 16 of the 42 national bachelor’s degree groupings, and in 32 of the master’s degree groupings. This is an impressive result if we consider that prior to 2001, only the degrees in Political Sciences, International Relations and Public Administration required subjects in the discipline of political science. The question now is: what impact has this radical reform of the university teaching system had? Or, to put it another way: how has this ‘policy window’ been transformed into reality? Have political scientists been able to extend their presence beyond the traditional confines of political science faculties? In attempting to answer to these questions, we will analyse some data about the presence of the discipline in the context of the Italian university system today. More precisely, we will look at the concentration of political science courses at the two level above mentioned – the diploma di laurea and the laurea magistrale.
2008
The presence of political science in the Italian university curricula / G.Capano; L. Verzichelli. - In: ITALIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE. - ISSN 2420-8434. - ELETTRONICO. - 2:(2008), pp. 1-9.
G.Capano; L. Verzichelli
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/64268
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