David Ragazzoni

I learned a great deal when it came to the political theories of various great thinkers, especially the ideas of the Italian School of Elitism, such as Mosca, Michels, and Pareto. Seeing the ways that they described democracy in contrast to how it is broadly spoken about today was probably most interesting to me. Understanding the patterns they identified with regard to organized minorities and their influence on the unorganized majorities as the basic mechanism by which most governments tend to operate (regardless of professed constitution), as well as the social and bureaucratic nature of political parties and the role they play, or feign to play, were amongst the most prominent points of knowledge that I took away from this course.

Readings for every class. Not too long and not difficult readings by any means. Not even necessary to do all of them, but helpful. Must attend a discussion section with the TA who will be grading paper and attendance/participation. Three papers: 1: 4 pages, 2: 5-6 pages, 3: 5-6 pages. Recommended to do lots of in-text citations (as long as you integrate it well and do not quote-plop). Overall workload was quite easy in my opinion. Do not participate in lecture class, but need to participate in discussion section (1x/week)

If you’ve ever wondered “How on earth do the most incompetent politicians keep winning?”, you need to take this course. Firstly, Professor Ragazzoni is one of the most understanding and engaging professors I have had at Columbia. While he uses political science lexicon, he breaks it down in a way anyone can understand. As a class, we examined and dissected a variety of classical and contemporary political theory works. With each reading, we assessed how theory may explain (or deviate altogether from) political power praxis. We focused mainly on European and American literature from the late 1800s to now. HIGHLY recommend for anyone, political science major or otherwise, to take this course if you’re interested in how polarized politics happens, how parties consolidate power, and how bad politicians have historically risen to power, take this course.

Quite an easy course with a good professor. Ragazzoni is a good teacher and very approachable and seems kind. It was a large lecture class of ~150 students, so I never got to know him well or meet with him (office hours recommended to be be with TA as they are doing all of the grading). But I found his lectures clear, easy to follow, interesting, and engaging. Overall seems like a decent guy. Would recommend him.

Readings on political theorists such as Mosca, Arendt, Lippman, Dahl

Discussed many authors' works who all focused on the dynamics between parties, the elite and democracy

This class massively expanded my understanding of political organization and elite leadership in democratic institutions. My ability to critically engage with political theory improved, as well as my confidence in presenting information to my class and professor. This course similarly gace me a better grasp on the processes that guide the democratic system I am part of.

the limitation of democracy the value of democracy are we the best judge of ourselves ?

the literature progressed in a very progressive way hopping from the Italian School of Elitism ----> 20th Century Weimar Democracy ---> Contemporary timeline of 20th/21st century of American and Global democracy. Although this topic was something I have studied for awhile, the catalyzed discussions that were brought about with the help of Professor Ragazzoni was very rewarding each session.

This course is packed to the brim with content surrounding the Italian Elite Theorists, the Weimar Republic, and then more contemporary concepts and facets of American democratic theory.