The course is divided into two parts.
In the first part will be examined in dichotomous form some basic concepts of political science that have influenced the analysis of public policies: we will discuss the concepts of power and authority, the notions of policy and politics, the differences between the concepts of state and political system. The second part will deal with the main approaches that characterize the study of public policy. Each analytical approach will be defined in terms of its salient theoretical and methodological foundations, lines on research, and research results, open questions arising from critical literature.