This course aims to study politics in France and Italy from 1945 to the present day. It starts from an observation. The French think they know Italy and the Italians, but they convey a lot of clichés about the other country and its inhabitants, and even more about politics in this country. The same goes for the French. Foreigners often share these stereotypes. For example, Italian democracy would be corrupt, clientelist, abnormal, while France would be a republican, authoritarian, centralized and arrogant monarchy. This course intends to destroy these outrageous simplifications. It aims to study the institutions, party systems and political parties, voting mechanisms, cultures and political identities in France and Italy, while following the political evolutions of the two countries over nearly 80 years. It will address the most recent changes in French and Italian democracies, what is sometimes called the "crisis" of democracies with citizens' distrust of politics, their indifference, or their protests against the political classes, their demands for authority or, conversely, for more participative democracy. The central thesis of the course is to go against mainstream interpretations of Italian and French politics, according to which Italian democracy is abnormal and France an exception. Without denying the singularities of the two countries, their histories, their institutional characteristics, the similarities of the present changes of the two democracies and the challenges they must meet will be highlighted. The other originality of the course is that it is located at the crossroads of history and political science: on the one hand, it will defend a conceptual, social and cultural history of politics, and on the other a historical sociology. Indeed, according to us, politics can only be understood in its permanent interaction with the transformations of society and culture. Politics determines changes in society and culture, but is also affected by changes in them. France and Italy are excellent points of observation of these phenomena

The students will gain full knowledge of Politics in France and Italy. That’s the reason why during the first session of the first week, we will start from the students' initial knowledge of politics in France and Italy, this exercise which could take the form of a little game intellectual will not be noted. It will allow the Professor to adjust the level of the different lessons. The course aims to provide a solid knowledge of institutions, the system of parties and political parties, voting mechanisms but also cultures and political identities as they have gradually been built but also by analyzing their decomposition. The goal is to understand and will not be accepted value judgments or ideological and politically biased analyses. The course will have a conceptual dimension, and an empirical dimension and contextualization will be systematically considered. We will not content ourselves with analyzing each case study, France and Italy, and we will systematically make comparisons between the two countries, as we will seek to determine whether French policy has been able to influence or still influences the Italian politics and vice versa. The objective for students is to master the forms taken by politics in France and Italy. This could be useful to them in their future professional life in the private sector, which must always at some point take into consideration the political sphere, for consulting jobs, in institutions, diplomacy, community life, politics for those who are destined for it, journalism, the world of culture or the academic carriers. The pedagogy adopted will be a mix of lectures and, according to the importance of the audience, some or continuous interaction with students. Each week the first course will be a general presentation of a precise topic by the professor followed by a discussion more or less extended with the students based on a text they must read and comment on. The second session begins with an intervention by the professor who finishes the presentation of the first session, answering eventual questions by the students, and followed by a course organized around an essay question. Students must read the readings each week for the first course but also submit during the course one position papers of 300 words on the reading to be done for the first course or on the question discussed in the second session of the week. A midterm written exam will be organized. It will be an essay question of 45 minutes in class (verifier si c’est possible) and after the exam a general briefing of the exam will be done. This midterm exam as the final exam supposed a permanent presence of the students in class and a good knowledge of the texts they have to read. In addition, at the end of the course, a final written exam of one hour will be organized. It will be an essay question. To pass this exam the students must be present at all the sessions of the courses and read all the texts. For all these reasons, this course cannot be choosen by non-attending students.

The course will last from February 2nd to May 9th 2026 It’s organized each week in two sessions of interactive pedagogy The first session begins with an intervention by the professor followed by a discussion with the students based on a text they must read and comment on. The second session begins with an intervention by the professor who finish the presentation of the first session followed by a discussion with the students who must answer to a essay question. More information on the document “Course overview”

Papers and articles

Teaching methods The pedagogy adopted will be a mix of lectures and continuous interaction with students. There is not a Handbook on politics in France and Italy. It means the students must read the text each week for the discussion in class for the first session of the course about the readings and must be regularly present in class. Each week, during the second session of the course, there is a summary or a complement of the first session of the course by prof. Marc Lazar then one hour session during which the students will have all together to answer a question.

The students will have to read the lecture each week but also each student will have to submit two position papers of 300 words during the course, one on the reading to be done for the course, the other on the subject discussed in the Wednesday’s session so called “answering a question”. The position papers based on the readings for the first course of the week consist not of a summary of the texts to be read but of indicating the points that the students do not understand or want to explore in depth or that they criticize. The position papers for the second course of the week consist of a personal answer to the question asked and based as much as possible on readings. During the second week of course, all the students will have to choose the position papers they will do. The position paper for the first course of the course will have to be sent to prof. Marc Lazar some days before (the official date will be given later). The position paper for the second course of the course will have to be sent to prof. Marc Lazar one day before. In addition, at the end of the course, the students will have to submit a research paper of 3000 words (including the bibliography) on one of the subjects that the professor will give at midterm of the course. There is a possibility to write a paper on a topic proposed by the student with the agreement by the professor. The final paper will have to be sent one week after the end of the course (the precise date will be given later). The deadline must be respected. Each day of eventual delay will be sanctioned by one point less. In addition, the oral participation of the students will be evaluated by the professor during all the course and more especially for the collective work realized by the groups of students during the last sessions (weeks 13th and 14th). The position papers will form 30% of the final grade, the oral participation 20% and the final paper 50%. For the students who read Italian and/or French, some texts in these languages could be given instead of the English ones. This decision will be made at the end of the first week. All written assignments (papers position and final paper) must be double-spaced in Times New Roman. Please include page numbers. Type your full name on the first page of the document. Name the file (in .doc) with your last name (e.g., Lazar-paperposition.doc, Lazar- finalpaper.doc).

The students will have to read the lecture each week but also each student will have to submit two position papers of 300 words during the course, one on the reading to be done for the course, the other on the subject discussed in the Wednesday’s session so called “answering a question”. The position papers based on the readings for the first course of the week consist not of a summary of the texts to be read but of indicating the points that the students do not understand or want to explore in depth or that they criticize. The position papers for the second course of the week consist of a personal answer to the question asked and based as much as possible on readings. During the second week of course, all the students will have to choose the position papers they will do. The position paper for the first course of the course will have to be sent to prof. Marc Lazar some days before (the official date will be given later). The position paper for the second course of the course will have to be sent to prof. Marc Lazar one day before. In addition, at the end of the course, the students will have to submit a research paper of 3000 words (including the bibliography) on one of the subjects that the professor will give at midterm of the course. There is a possibility to write a paper on a topic proposed by the student with the agreement by the professor. The final paper will have to be sent one week after the end of the course (the precise date will be given later). The deadline must be respected. Each day of eventual delay will be sanctioned by one point less. In addition, the oral participation of the students will be evaluated by the professor during all the course and more especially for the collective work realized by the groups of students during the last sessions (weeks 13th and 14th). The position papers will form 30% of the final grade, the oral participation 20% and the final paper 50%. For the students who read Italian and/or French, some texts in these languages could be given instead of the English ones. This decision will be made at the end of the first week. All written assignments (papers position and final paper) must be double-spaced in Times New Roman. Please include page numbers. Type your full name on the first page of the document. Name the file (in .doc) with your last name (e.g., Lazar-paperposition.doc, Lazar- finalpaper.doc).