Unit POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
- Course
- Communication sciences
- Study-unit Code
- GP003830
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Vincenzo Sorrentino
- Teachers
-
- Vincenzo Sorrentino
- Hours
- 70 ore - Vincenzo Sorrentino
- CFU
- 9
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2021
- Offered
- 2022/23
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline giuridiche, storico-politiche e filosofiche
- Academic discipline
- SPS/01
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The aim of the course is to present a historical-conceptual genealogy of the principle of transparency. As connected to the idea of popular sovereignty, this principle constitutes a cardinal element of the democratic public sphere. It is central to both the public administration and the political system. The meaning and relevance of the principle of transparency are strictly connected to the particular configuration taken by democratic public opinion. The course proposes to analyze the assumptions and implications - from the point of view of the political culture, the legal system and the public communication system - of the affirmation of this principle. At first we will focus on the correlation between some specific configurations of the public sphere in western political history (democratic polis, pre-modern representative public sphere, modern public opinion), the corresponding forms taken by political communication and the systems of thought to them connected. Then, the attention will shift to the most recent metamorphoses of the public sphere.
- Reference texts
- J.HABERMAS, Storia e critica dell'opinione pubblica, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002 (p. 364)
Non-attending students will have to add the text:
S.CRISTANTE (Ed.), L'onda anonima. Scritti sull'opinione pubblica, Meltemi, Roma 2004 (p. 256) - Educational objectives
- The course aims to provide the tools for understanding the assumptions and implications - in terms of the political culture, the legal system and the public communication system - of affirming the principle of transparency within the modern democratic public sphere; from a not merely normative point of view, but also attentive to the conditions - on the level, for example, of customs and culture of rights - capable of making transparency a practice and not a mere formal principle.
In this perspective, the course will aim to make students acquire knowledge about:
- The different paradigms of public and visibility of power
- The main characteristics of the ancient and medieval public sphere
- The peculiarities of the modern public sphere
- The historical and conceptual genesis of liberal-democratic public opinion
- The theoretical and historical assumptions of the modern public communication system, with its principles and rights
- The lines of transformation of public opinion in contemporary democratic societies
The main skills aimed at are strictly connected to the educational objectives of the Degree Courses involved. Since the theoretical and historical horizon within which modern public opinion has emerged also constitutes the ground in which the principle of transparency and the public communication system connected to it, the knowledge that it intends to acquiring students is an indispensable condition for achieving the above objectives. This applies, for example, in relation to the development of the ability to employ adequate cognitive and communicative tools within the public administration and the political system, to effectively interpret public policies and to actively participate to the improvement of the efficiency of the public sector. It is intended to provide students with the skills to orient themselves consciously and autonomously within the public sphere, also in order to develop communication projects, in particular public and political, which are effective thanks to the knowledge of the cultural context within which they will be realized. - Prerequisites
- no one
- Teaching methods
- The course will consist of face-to-face lessons, where exposure by the teacher will be supported by the projection of slides on all the topics covered. During the lessons, we will also use other tools, such as DVD playback and viewing of video files on the web. It will be encouraged dialogue with the students, giving them the opportunity to ask questions or discuss the topics covered in the classroom.
- Other information
- Attendance is recommended, even if not indispensable
- Learning verification modality
- The evaluation will be done with an oral exam, which will consist of a discussion lasting about half an hour aimed at verifying the level of knowledge and critical understanding of the content of the program. Applications will be to ascertain not only the acquisition of such content, but also the ability to connect from both conceptual and historical perspective the themes covered during the course.
- Extended program
- The aim of the course is to present a historical-conceptual genealogy of the principle of transparency. As connected to the idea of popular sovereignty, this principle constitutes a cardinal element of the democratic public sphere. It is central to both the public administration and the political system. It is therefore not a coincidence that a broad public and scientific debate has developed around it, involving different disciplines.
The meaning and relevance of the principle of transparency are strictly connected to the particular configuration taken by democratic public opinion. The course proposes to analyze the assumptions and implications - from the point of view of the political culture, the legal system and the public communication system - of the affirmation of this principle; from a not merely normative perspective, but also attentive to the conditions - in terms of, for example, customs and culture of rights - capable of making transparency a practice and not a mere formal principle.
Starting from the assumption that the public sphere should not be understood as a given and unchanging space, within which individuals interact communicatively, but as something, which is correlated to historically determined practices, we will try to combine historical analysis with theoretical analysis. At first we will focus on the correlation between some specific configurations of the public sphere in western political history (democratic polis, pre-modern representative public sphere, modern public opinion), the corresponding forms taken by political communication and the systems of thought to them connected. Then, the attention will shift to the most recent metamorphoses of the public sphere, focusing on the role of the mass media in the totalitarian and democratic public sphere, on the theme of the cultural industry, on the role of the image in political communication and, finally, on the impact of new information and communication technologies on public opinion, also in relation to the phenomenon of populism.