A review of PhD Research Projects conducted within political science PhD Programmes run at Italian Universities

by Stefania Panebianco | Published in issue2 /
This article: Bookmark | Digg | Print

This article analyzes data from a survey conducted in July 2008 in order to map the research methods and themes adopted by PhD students currently enrolled at Italian universities in the field of political science. All PhD students who were enrolled in the PhD Programmes run at the Universities of Bologna, Pavia, Siena, Torino and the ISU (Florence) during the academic year 2007/2008 have been invited to fill in a short questionnaire. The response rate was of 50%, which is a reasonable good result considering the summer recess1.

The largest group of respondents is enrolled at the University of Siena (see Figure 1 for all the percentages). This is not surprising, considering that the University of Siena, together with the University of Torino, currently counts the largest number of PhD students.

Affiliation of survey's respondents Affiliation of survey's respondents

The survey reveals that the PhD programmes in political science run at Italian universities attract mostly Italian students having graduated in political science, and eventually in sociology and communication sciences. One respondent out of 4 was not from Italy. Almost all foreign students were enrolled at the University of Siena. The use of English as the working language of the PhD programme in Comparative and European Politics run at the University of Siena, has attracted students coming from China, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Spain, etc. Many of these students had attended a Master course at the same university before starting the PhD programme.

To be a PhD student in political science is not an accidental choice, but the consequential step of a longer academic career which started either at the undergraduate or post-graduate level. Only rarely PhD students in political science have a completely different academic background. Actually, 80% of the respondents wrote either their first degree thesis or MA dissertation in one of political science sub-disciplines. We can even say that the PhD is partially embedded in the university where it is held: 40% of the respondents either got their first degree at the same University of the PhD programme or attended a Master course there (or even both). This is definitely the case of foreign PhD students; for almost all of them attending a Master course was the prelude to applying for a PhD course of the same university.

With regard to the sub-field of PhD theses, Comparative Politics was the most frequently chosen option. This indicates that Comparative Politics has a predominant role in Italian PhD programmes. One respondent out of three indicated ‘Comparative Politics’ as the main political science sub-field of reference of his/her research; one out of five selected ‘EU politics’; the third largest group chose ‘International Relations’ (see details in Figure 2). The other (smaller) sub-fields were ‘Public Policies’, ‘Political Communication’, ‘Political Theory’, ‘Italian Political System’, ‘Administration and Organisation’. Comparative Politics was also the secondary political science sub-field chosen most often by respondents. In any case, many of the students who indicated other sub-fields of research adopted a comparative method and compared different or similar cases.

Main sub-field reference of PhD theses Main sub-field reference of PhD theses

For what concerns the theme or substantive topic of the thesis, it seems that international reality contributes in a significant measure to stimulate the research interests of PhD students. Many of them decided to conduct research on specific aspects of the war in Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict (and also the suicide attacks), peace and security operations, the US hegemonic role, or decided to analyse crucial public policies (either local, national or European), including anti-terrorism policy and energy security policy. However, the cornerstones of political science were not neglected. Political parties and party-systems (either at national or EU level), parliaments and parliamentary democracies (including parliamentary voting behaviour), governments (and women representation in cabinets), political participation and social movements, democratization processes (in particular in Latin America and South-Eastern Europe) are all areas currently investigated in Italy at PhD level.

In some cases, the dissertation topic was related to the personal experience of PhD students. This was particularly true for foreign students. Chinese students investigate specific aspects of Chinese international reality, while Serbian students are studying the Serbian political system, and the Mexican student analyses the Mexican transition process.

In any case almost half of the respondents declared that they were familiar with the topic dealt with in their thesis prior to their PhD enrolment. They admitted however that the PhD in political science was providing them with new methodological skills and research techniques they had not been previously trained into. The PhD then truly represents an advancement in their scientific knowledge and studies.

Asked to specify the research methodology adopted, the largest majority of respondents showed a preference for a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Only in a few cases, respondents defined their methodology as purely quantitative, while one respondent out of four indicated qualitative analysis only (see Figure 3).

The research methodology adopted to write PhD theses in Political Science The research methodology adopted to write PhD theses in Political Science

The methodological dimension is probably the most advanced aspect of Italian PhDs in political science. Our survey shows that there is frequently the attempt to create new indicators and datasets, and to elaborate new theoretical patterns. Usually, ‘qualitative’ analysis implies discourse analysis (based upon documents and political speeches), case-studies research through process tracing, the use of questionnaires and interviews’ analysis. Quantitative analysis is often rather sophisticated, with the regular use of specific softwares for statistical analysis (e.g. SPSS), structural equation modeling (e.g. LISREL), network analysis, etc. Interviews and original surveys are the most recurrent research instruments.

This survey suggests a few general comments on Italian PhD programmes in the field of political science. During the last 10 years Italian PhDs have changed a lot and have experienced an evident internationalisation process. Italian political science programmes are not self-referential, just focusing upon Italian politics and the Italian political system. On the contrary, they regularly entertain a fruitful dialogue with European political science, they deal with major international themes, theoretical frameworks and methodological instruments, and are fully engaged in the current international debates. PhD students in political science are able to follow (when provided) training programmes in English and can produce their research in English. Very often they have attended Master courses in English and participated in international Summer Schools. In many cases, they conduct their research on the field and spend abroad a period of three to six months. The Italian PhD students seems then more ‘International’ than in the past.

This picture is consistent with the one depicted in the issue n. 1/2008 of IPS, which described young scholars in the field of political science as deeply committed to the active participation in the annual Congress of the Italian Political Science Association (SISP) by presenting papers which are very often written in English.

Probably the internationalization of Italian political science PhDs could be further institutionalised by setting up ‘international PhD programmes’. The creation of international networks could open the recruitment of PhD students to a higher number of universities. A wider representation in terms of nationality and academic background of the students within the PhD programmes could certainly be an enrichment and an advantage for Italian doctoral schools. This is probably an aspect that should receive a greater attention in the next years.

Footnotes

1 A total of 46 questionnaires have been sent back. I would like to thank all the respondents for their kind help. Without their useful information this article could not have been written. Many thanks also to the PhD coordinators, Paolo Bellucci, Giliberto Capano, Alfio Mastropaolo and Leonardo Morlino, who provided me with all e-mail contacts. Data related to the PhDs run at the University of Milano and the University of Trento were not available at the time of writing. They will be added in the next issue of IPS.