B0171 - GRUPPI DI INTERESSE E RELAZIONI ISTITUZIONALI

Learning outcomes

The course has a twofold objective. Firstly, it provides students with the theoretical-conceptual tools necessary to reconstruct and analyse the role, the strategies of action and the ability to influence the policy process of some of the most important (and contradictory) decision-making actors in modern democracies: interest groups. Secondly, the concepts and approaches studied will serve to focus attention on the Italian case, and thus on how interest groups relate to key public decision-makers, on the one hand, and on the objectives they seek to achieve in this interaction, on the other.

Course contents

The course has two aims and, in turn, is divided into two separate – but logically intertwined – main parts. In the first part (28 hours), students are provided with the necessary tools to reconstruct and understand the role, the strategies of action, and the capacity to influence the policy process of some of the most important (and contradictory) decision-makers in contemporary democracies: interest groups. This is done following a comparative perspective, with particular attention to the U.S., the European Union, and the main Western European countries. More precisely, the main topics covered include the problem of collective action, intra-organizational analysis, the identification of lobbying and advocacy tactics and strategies, the nature of the relationships between interest groups and political parties, access to key institutional venues, and, most importantly, the varying ability of organized interests to be influential in the policy process.

This will then allow, in the second part (12 hours), for the application of the concepts and approaches examined from a comparative perspective to the analysis of the Italian case, reconstructing the diachronic evolution of the national interest system in the transition between the so-called ‘First’ and ‘Second Republic’. The main aim of this second part, in more detail, will be to verify whether and how (much) the balance of power among different interests in our political and social system has changed over time.

Readings/Bibliography

Concerning the first part: Pritoni A. (2021), Politica e interessi. Il lobbying nelle democrazie contemporanee. Bologna, Il Mulino (tutti i capitoli).

Concerning the second part: Pritoni A. (2017), Lobby d’Italia. Il sistema degli interessi tra Prima e Seconda Repubblica. Roma, Carocci (tutti i capitoli).

Teaching methods

As for teaching methods, the course will be conducted using the traditional ‘lecture’ format (although this method will be lightened by the continuous involvement of students in discussing empirical cases that are presented to illustrate theoretical concepts). Two classes will be dedicated to the administration of intermediate tests for attending students: the first after the initial 26 hours of lectures, and the second at the end of the course. Additionally, the involvement of (at least) one professional lobbyist is planned, who will conduct a workshop at the end of the first part. It is also possible to: 1) dedicate part of the classes to student presentations, adopting more seminar-style teaching methods; and 2) propose small group works to simulate specific lobbying contexts; however, these possibilities will largely depend on the number of participants in the course.

Assessment methods

• For attending students: 100% based on two written tests (10 multiple-choice questions, each worth 1 point, and 4 open-ended questions, each worth a maximum of 5 points) to be completed in 60 minutes at the end of the first and second parts of the course. Attending students who choose to take the exam through the two partial tests will receive a bonus point on the final grade.
• For non-attending students: 100% based on one written test (11 multiple-choice questions, each worth 1 point, and 4 open-ended questions, each worth a maximum of 5 points) to be completed in 60 minutes during one of the exam sessions, covering the entire course syllabus.

Teaching tools

Lectures will be supplemented with PowerPoint presentations, short videos, and (at least) one seminar conducted by a professional lobbyist.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Pritoni