The course is aimed at: - providing a good knowledge of the themes, concepts and practices of political participation; - providing research tools on the actors of political participation (parties, social movements, active citizenship, non-formal associations); - providing a basic understanding of the issues and policies concerning democratic innovation, from a national and international perspective; - providing the basic tools for the study of the relationships between media, communication technologies, forms of representation and democracy; - providing methods for the analysis of political participation and democratic innovation practices. Please note that class attendance is mandatory. Considering the seminar nature of the course it is also strongly recommended. The course is based on an 'enquiry-based learning' perspective in the participatory approach of Paulo Freire's pedagogical method.

Dublin Descriptors Students should achieve: Knowledge and understanding: of the forms and processes of political participation, through the acquisition of theoretical skills on collaborative governance models, with particular attention to participatory forms and the relationships between social inclusion and power. The students achieve this basic knowledge through the attendance of lessons and the study of the texts provided by the teacher and discussed in the classroom. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: through the ability to analyse the relationships between participatory institutions and models of democratic innovation, applying the main analysis methodologies. Skills acquired through laboratory exercises in the classroom (on-campus or online). Judgment: a critical reflection on the evolutionary dynamics of the relationship between instances of social and political participation and transformations of institutions and the public sphere. This judgment must be applied in the classroom discussion with the teacher and the colleagues *, during the exercises, and in the preparation of the activities scheduled in the classroom. Communication skills: the students are called to interact in the classroom through questions, exchanges with their colleagues, writing short presentations, and illustrating the proposed texts. Skills that are practiced in the classroom with the organization of moments of discussion and exercise. Learning skills: students are asked to adopt a critical learning method capable of connecting theoretical skills and empirical analysis, focusing on the specification of autonomous thinking. Skills to be enhanced thanks to the argumentation with the teacher and the classmates

1. Political participation and democracy - Representation and participation - Democracy: definitions, problems, and perspectives - Quality of democracy and participation - Theories of deliberative democracy - Activism and participation in an intersectional perspective - Typology of political action and democratic participation - Political participation and democratic governance - Participation and inclusion 2. The context - Neo-liberalism, participation, participationism - Depoliticisation and post-democracy - Platform society and forms of governance - Platform imperialism - Populism and participation - Authoritarian populism - Technopopulism and hyper-representation 3. Spaces and actors of political participation - Political parties - Digital parties and new forms of political organisation - Pressure groups and civil society - Social movements - Urban movements 4. Citizenship - Definitions and general concepts - Citizenship as a device - Citizenship and gender equality - Citizenship and participation 5. Active Citizenship - Definitions and general concepts - What active citizenship is not - Civic engagement technologies - Active citizenship and participatory democracy 6. Common goods - Definitions - Evolution of the concept - Commons - The culture of the "common" - Practices and experiences of the commons 7. Democratic innovation - Definitions and general concepts - Characteristics of democratic innovation - Participatory practices and new forms of shared governance - Deliberative practices and political participation - Critical aspects of democratic innovations 8. Practices of democratic innovation - Practices of deliberative and participatory democracy - Minipublics - Participatory budgets - Online deliberation - Public debate 9. Participation, digital activism, and practices of resistance - Civic networks and platforms - Democratic governance and digital ecosystems - Practices of online political participation - Cooperative platforms - Creative participation - Care Society

Reference books for attending students Sorice, M. (2021). Partecipazione disconnessa. Innovazione democratica e illusione digitale al tempo del neoliberismo. Carocci: Roma. Mangone, E. (2022). Solidarietà sociale. Milano: Mondadori Università. Moro, G. (2020). Cittadinanza. Milano: Mondadori. Putini, A. (2019). Beni comuni urbani. Soggetti, pratiche e retoriche della città condivisa. Milano: Franco Angeli Articoli e materiali indicati in piattaforma Luiss Learn (*) * = available in open access or in Perlego platform Please note that the course is seminar-based and the examination will be conducted through a series of classroom tests and activities throughout the semester. There will therefore be no intermediate assessment test. The reference texts are NOT examination texts in the traditional sense but constitute the bibliographical background to the course. Reference books for NOT-ATTENDING STUDENTS Mangone, E. (2022). Solidarietà sociale. Milano: Mondadori Università. Moro, G. (2020). Cittadinanza. Milano: Mondadori. Sorice, M. (2021). Partecipazione disconnessa. Innovazione democratica e illusione digitale al tempo del neoliberismo. Carocci: Roma.

The course includes lectures with the use of multimedia presentations and seminar activities in the classroom, as well as online activities via the Moodle platform Based on the "enquiry-based" approach, the following activities are planned - role-playing, simulation and classroom presentations; - exercises and debates Guidance will be provided for in-depth bibliography on specific topics. The course is seminar-based in nature and envisages classroom activities and continuous assessment: there will therefore be no mid-term test.

Assessment will be based upon: 1) Attendance and active participation: 20% 2) Class works and group presentation: 50% 3) individual presentation: 30% Not-attending students. Please note that attendance is compulsory at our University. However, for special and motivated cases, it will be possible to take the exam with a "not-attending" program. The exam for not-attending students consists of: 1) an essay (4,000-5,000 words, bibliography not included) to be delivered at least one week before the exam on a topic to be agreed with the teacher (and in any case in the study areas of the course). The essay should follow one citation system between “Harvard Citation System” or APA system (please see also the course's page on Luiss Learn platform) 2) the written test (open-ended questionnaire on exam texts) Further information: See the booklet (also downloadable) provided in the Luiss Learn platform

Topics Topics should be proposed to and discussed with the lecturer. The thesis work will be supervised by the teacher The main (but not exclusive) "macro-areas" of reference are as follows - Active citizenship and communication - Communication of common goods and quality of democracy - Crisis of representation, intermediate bodies, and the public sphere - Deliberative and participatory democracy - Depoliticisation and post-politics - Participatory governance - Economic indicators and democracy - Media, democracy, and social movements - Parties and political participation - Populism, anti-politics, and public opinion - Neoliberalism, inequalities, and democratic participation - Digital activism - Urban participation and governance Requirements Priority requirements - interest in research on deliberative and participatory democracy and on the practices of democratic innovation, empirical studies on active citizenship, analysis of the relations between media and intermediate bodies (parties, trade unions, movements), studies on populism, research on media and participation - ability to master texts in English (preferably also in French) - basic ability to use the main methods of social research (communication and political research) - adequate knowledge of the fundamentals of sociology, sociology of communication, and political science To obtain the dissertation, you must submit a written project including research methodology, accompanied by a (provisional) table of contents and a minimum basic bibliography. The citation system to be compulsorily adopted is one to be chosen from the HARVARD SYSTEM or the APA Style: a concise guide to these systems is available on the Luiss Learn platform.