The course aims to investigate the transformation of modern democracies in the context of the process of Europeanization and internationalization of domestic politics, for thus comparing them with non-democratic regimes. The comparison will be conducted in the context of the new global disorder created by the Russian aggression of Ukraine. It is divided in four parts: (1) the first part consists of the comparative analysis of the political institutions of contemporary democracies, focusing on the established nation states. The aim of this part is to show the functional and institutional differences between nation states and unions of states; (2) the second part consists of a specific institutional analysis of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) as the most significant examples of democratic unions of states. A special focus will be on their fiscal and foreign policies. The aim of this part is to investigate the US and EU role in the global order; (3) the third part consists of the investigation of non-democratic regimes, China specifically. The aim of this part is to understand the nature and role of the most important non-democratic political system; (4) the fourth part will dedicate to the role of the US and the EU in the new global disorder created by the Russian aggression of Ukraine.

Knowledge and understanding: By the end of the course, students will acquire: - Knowledge of how key concepts like state, nation, democracy and market developed differently in Europe and in the United States and understanding of the reasons behind it; - Knowledge of the development and functioning of the European Union in comparative perspective, with a focus on the institutional settings, key political actors and foreign policy developments; understanding of the debates at the heart of the integration process, also in view of the Conference on the Future of Europe; familiarity with American politics, including the Biden administration and the implications of the November 2020 presidential elections on the global order and on the EU; - Knowledge of the development, the current role and the future perspectives of authoritarian regimes, also from a comparative point of view, with a focus on China; understanding of the global role of these regimes and their relationship with democracies. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in their future professional activities, in several ways. In particular, they will be trained in: - Collecting and engaging with relevant academic as well as non-academic literature and grasping the key content; discussing topics and readings in class with the instructor and with colleagues; - Preparing policy briefs, analytically strategic notes or memos aimed at political decision-makers and other stakeholders; - Carrying out research (either academic or for professional purposes) on the content of the course, also applying the relevant methodologies of the discipline; writing academic papers. Making judgements: Due to the emphasis placed on re-elaboration and discussion of the readings, students will be able to: - Critically analyse complex phenomena related to European and global politics and contextualize them in the light of the knowledge acquired in the course; - Develop problem solving capacity and the ability to work as a team; - Thanks to the understanding of the course’s key topics and debates, develop an autonomous and critical judgement about facts of international politics, also taking into consideration a comparative point of view. Communication skills: During the course students will be asked to contribute to the discussion in several ways, primarily through questions from the instructor or through encouragement to present their argued and critical view on a certain topic. Because of this, they will: - Improve the control of course-related terminology in English but at the same time be able to present complex content in an easy accessible form; - Become acquainted with engaging in critical discussion in front of a larger audience, communicating questions or comments in a clear way to the rest of the class, thus stimulating a general debate; - Learn from each other. Learning skills: By the end of the course students are expected to acquire the following skills: - Capacity to autonomously carry out research work on different topics related to the course; ability to present the results of the research in oral and written form, particularly through academic papers; - Capacity to engage with opposite arguments and to develop one’s own position in a well-organized and clear way based on facts or data; - Capacity to compare complex phenomena and develop a broad perspective on assessing problems.

Comparative analysis of democratic political systems in Europe and the United States. Institutional features of the European Union and the United States. Comparative analysis of non-democratic regimes. Relations between democracy and the new international disorder.

S. Fabbrini, A Federalist Alternative for European Governance: The European Union in Hard Times, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2025. S. Fabbrini, Compound Democracies: Why the United States and Europe Are Becoming Similar, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010 S. Fabbrini, 2015. Which European Union? Europe After the Euro Crisis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. S. Fabbrini, 2019, Europe’s Future: Decoupling and Reforming, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. T. Wozniakowski, 2022. Fiscal Unions: Economic Integration in Europe and the United States, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2022. S. Fabbrini, Nazionalismo 2.0. La sfida sovranista all’Europa integrate, Milano, Mondadori Education 2025 Required readings include parts of these books to be read for each week (see weekly programme). All required and further recommended readings are made available on the Luiss Learn page of the course.

The course comprises lectures and seminars. Lectures: The lectures present the main content of the course, its basic concepts, and the topics to be discussed in the seminars. They combine traditional teaching with tools to encourage students’ participation. Seminars: Seminars include an open discussion based on the topics discussed in the current and previous week and on the readings (both required and recommended) assigned for it. Active participation is expected and will be part of the final assessment. At Luiss, course attendance (both lectures and seminars) is compulsory. Students who cannot attend the course must provide official reasons (attested by a specific document, such as a medical certificate).

The grade for the course will be determined on the basis of 2 components: - Midterm exam (1/3 of the grade) - Final exam (2/3 of the grade). Students are expected to take a written exam IN CLASS during the course (midterm). The midterm exam will take place in week 5 and will consist in answering three questions given by the instructor, based on the programme covered from week 1 to week 4 (max. 500 words per question). The midterm exam will last 1 hour. The final exam (in-class, oral exam) will take place during the available exam sessions at the end of the course (booking via web self-service is required in advance) and will consist in an oral examination on the whole programme of the course. Non-attending students, students who did not participate in the midterm exam and students that rejected the grade of the midterm exam will be able to take the Comparative Politics exam starting from the second appello of the first exam session and their exam will consist of an extended version of the final oral exam. The midterm exam and the final exam will all be held in presence and instructions will be uploaded on the Luiss Learn page of the course. Students are required to bring their laptops to class for the midterm exam.

The instructor will supervise up to five students, selecting them among those who scored the evaluation of 30/30 in the Comparative Politics’ exam. Those who scored less than 30/30 are not expected to contact the instructor for thesis supervision. Letters of reference will be written only on behalf of students who graduated with the instructor.