2020/2021

2020/2021

DM270

SPS/01 (POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC POLICIES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

2nd semester (01/03/2021 - 28/05/2021)

6

40 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

LIVERIERO FEDERICA (titolare) - 6 ECTS

None

The first part of the course (lectures) aims to introduce students to the normative analysis of public policies through the presentation of some of the main methodological (deontology and consequentialism) and theoretical (neo-republicanism and liberalism) approaches to public ethics. Later on, important normative concepts will be introduced, such as political legitimacy, toleration, equal respect and multiculturalism. On the basis of such methodological and theoretical background, we shall then focus on the study of political corruption as a problem from the public ethics perspective and as the object of public policies. This part of the course consists mainly of lectures whose aim is to familiarize students with the normative analysis of the problem of political corruption. The second part of the course (seminars and debates) aims to develop students' skills of analysis and critical discussion through the application of the methodological and theoretical framework developed during the first part to some cases of corruption and anti-corruption policies in Italy and Europe.

We shall discuss such issues as:
- How to reach stable political agreements in the face of deep disagreement?
- How relevant are the virtue of toleration and the principle of equal respect in the context of hyperdiverse multicultural societies?
- What kind of political evil is involved in corruption?
- Is corruption always ethically wrong or are there cases where it can be justified if it leads to positive consequences for society?
- How should responsibility for corruption in public institutions be distributed? Is it justifiable to hold individual public officials accountable for the systemic corruption of an entire institution?
- What are the duties of public institutions in combating corruption? Is it sufficient to impose restrictive rules and tighten sanctions for violations of such rules?
- What are citizens’ duties in the fight against corruption? Do citizens have a duty to report incidents of corruption?

COURSE PROGRAM

LECTURE 1: Introduction to the course
Required reading
Veca, Salvatore, La filosofia politica, Laterza & Figli, Roma-Bari, 1998, chap. 1.

LECTURE 2: The deontological approach to public ethics (1): duties and rights
Required reading
Fonnesu, Luca, Dovere, La Nuova Italia, Firenze, 1998, chao. 3.

LECTURE 3: The deontological approach to public ethics (2): the principle of equal respect
Required reading
Darwall, Stephen, “Due tipi di rispetto come riconoscimento per le persone”, in I. Carter, A.E. Galeotti, V. Ottonelli (a cura di), Eguale rispetto, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2008

LECTURE 4: The deontological approach to public ethics (3): the virtue of toleration
Required reading
Galeotti, Elisabetta, La tolleranza. Una proposta pluralista, Liguori, Napoli, 1994, chap. 4.

LECTURE 5: Normative theories of public ethics (1): liberalism
Required reading
Ottonelli, Valeria (a cura di), Leggere Rawls, il Mulino, Bologna, 2010, ch. 1.

LECTURE 6: Normative theories of public ethics (2): neo-republicanism
Required reading
Sandel, Michael, Giustizia. Il nostro bene comune, Feltrinelli, Milano, ch. 10.

LECTURE 7: The consequentialist approach to public ethics (1): utilitarianism
Required reading
Fonnesu, Luca, Dovere, La Nuova Italia, Firenze, 1998, ch. 5.

LECTURE 8: The consequentialist approach to public ethics (2): the ethics of virtues
Required reading
Sandel, Michael, Giustizia. Il nostro bene comune, Feltrinelli, Milano, ch. 8.

LECTURE 9: Dealing with conflicts in pluralist societies (1): multiculturalism
Required reading
Galeotti, Elisabetta, “Per un multiculturalismo praticabile”, Quaderni di BDL, 1/2019, pp. 33-45.

LECTURE 10: Dealing with conflicts in pluralist societies (2): public justification
Required reading
Ceva, Emanuela “Rispetto, Disaccordo e Giustificazione pubblica”, Etica & Politica, XVIII, 2016, 1, pp. 35-47.

LECTURE 11: The institutionalist theory of political corruption
Required reading
Lessig, Lawrence, “Institutional Corruption”, Edmond J. Safra Research Lab Working Papers 1 (2013): 1–20.

LECTURE 12: Corruption: a public ethics concern
Required readings
- Picci, Lucio, e Alberto Vannucci, “Che cos’è la corruzione?” in: Lo Zen e l’arte della lotta alla corruzione, Altraeconomia, Milano 2018.
- Ceva, Emanuela e Michele Bocchiola, “L’approccio dell’etica pubblica allo studio della corruzione politica. Un’analisi normativa”, in P. Previtali, R. Procaccini, A. Zatti (a cura di), Trasparenza e anticorruzione tra enforcement e risk management, Pavia University Press, Pavia, 2017.

SEMINAR 1: The political relevance of corruption
Required readings
- Ceva, Emanuela, “Il male politico della corruzione”, Ragion Pratica 50 (2018): 235-52.
- Ceva, Emanuela e Maria Paola Ferretti, “La corruzione dei pubblici ufficiali: un male politico o un problema di etica personale?”, Notizie di Politeia XXXIV (2018): 35-49.

SEMINAR 2: Political corruption and illegality: the case of public procurement
Required reading
Della Porta, Donatella, Vannucci, Alberto, Mani impunite. Vecchia e nuova corruzione in Italia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2007, ch. 4.

SEMINAR 3: Political corruption and distortion of public rules: nepotism
Required reading
Walzer, Michael, Sfere di giustizia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2008, ch. 5.

SEMINAR 4: Political corruption and distributive justice: the access to welfare
Required reading
Sandel, Michael, Quello che i soldi non possono comprare, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2012, ch. 1.

SEMINARIO 5: Nouble cause corruption
Required reading
Miller, Seumas, Institutional Corruption, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017, cap. 4.

SEMINARIO 6: Whistleblowing
Required reading
Bocchiola, Michele, “La specificità del whistleblowing”, Notizie di Politeia XXXIV (2018): 50-67.

SEMINARIO 7: Formal debate

SEMINARIO 8: Formal debate

The 40-hours course includes a first part of frontal lectures in which the main topics of the course will be introduced and illustrated. The second part of the course will be dedicated to seminars focused on the study of political corruption as a problem from the public ethics perspective and as the object of public policies
Course attendance is not mandatory, but highly recommended. Further didactic material will be provided during the lessons to the students. The attendance and active participation in the seminars classes would provide students with the possibility of discussing philosophical themes in a nonconfrontational environment.
Active participation in the seminars can impact the final result up to 25%.

1. Bocchiola, Michele, “La specificità del whistleblowing”, Notizie di Politeia XXXIV (2018): 50-67
2. Ceva, Emanuela, “Il male politico della corruzione”, Ragion Pratica 50 (2018): 235-52.
3. Ceva, Emanuela “Rispetto, Disaccordo e Giustificazione pubblica”, Etica & Politica, XVIII, 2016, 1, pp. 35-47.
4. Ceva, Emanuela e Michele Bocchiola, “L’approccio dell’etica pubblica allo studio della corruzione politica. Un’analisi normativa”, in P. Previtali, R. Procaccini, A. Zatti (a cura di), Trasparenza e anticorruzione tra enforcement e risk management, Pavia University Press, Pavia, 2017.
5. Ceva, Emanuela e Maria Paola Ferretti, “La corruzione dei pubblici ufficiali: un male politico o un problema di etica personale?”, Notizie di Politeia XXXIV (2018): 35-49
6. Darwall, Stephen, “Due tipi di rispetto come riconoscimento per le persone”, in I. Carter, A.E. Galeotti, V. Ottonelli (a cura di), Eguale rispetto, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2008.
7. Della Porta, Donatella, Vannucci, Alberto, Mani impunite. Vecchia e nuova corruzione in Italia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2007, capitolo 4.
8. Fonnesu, Luca, Dovere, La Nuova Italia, Firenze, 1998, capitoli 3 e 5.
9. Galeotti, Elisabetta, La tolleranza. Una proposta pluralista, Liguori, Napoli, 1994, ch. 4.
10. Galeotti, Elisabetta, “Per un multiculturalismo praticabile”, Quaderni di BDL, 1/2019, pp. 33-45.
11. Lessig, Lawrence, “Institutional Corruption”, Edmond J. Safra Research Lab Working Papers 1 (2013): 1–20.
12. Miller, Seumas, Institutional Corruption, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017, ch. 4.
13. Ottonelli, Valeria (a cura di), Leggere Rawls, il Mulino, Bologna, 2010, capitolo 1.
14. Picci, Lucio, e Alberto Vannucci, Lo Zen e l’arte della lotta alla corruzione, Altraeconomia, Milano 2018, ch. 1.
15. Sandel, Michael, Giustizia. Il nostro bene comune, Feltrinelli, Milano, ch. 8 e 10.
16. Sandel, Michael, Quello che i soldi non possono comprare, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2012, ch. 1.
17. Veca, Salvatore, La filosofia politica, Laterza & Figli, Roma-Bari, 1998, ch. 1.
18. Walzer, Michael, Sfere di giustizia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2008, ch. 5.

Examinations will be both written (first part) and oral (second part).
1. The written part will consist of a short paper (4,000 words) on one or more topics related to the course's main arguments and should be debated with the professor prior to the submission (instructions on how to write the paper will be provided at the beginning of the course).
2. The oral examination will consist of an oral explanation of the short paper evaluation and of some questions concerning other topics of the course.
It will not be possible to undergo the oral examination if the short paper is not submitted in time (a week in advance of the oral exam).
In both the written and oral examinations students should prove able to master the concepts, terms and other information provided during the course, and to discuss subjects clearly, concisely and rigorously, and, above anything else, in good Italian prose. They should also show an ability to apply knowledge and understanding in communicating with non–specialists and in debating problems in an open and critical way.

Professor: Dott.ssa Federica Liveriero
Email: federica.liveriero@unipv.it
Office hours: virtual appointments on Zoom