Political Science in Florence: saving the “Cesare Alfieri” tradition

According to the “Gelmini reform”, approved in December 2010, broader and more coordinated functions of teaching and research are allocated to the new departmental structures. In the following months, the governing academic bodies of the University of Florence began to discuss and work on its implementation. On the 24th of September 2011, the Senato Accademico and the Consiglio di amministrazione approved the guidelines for the departmental reorganization. In accordance with the guidelines and rules for the establishment of new departmental structures, in December 2011 the professors and researchers, belonging to the fields of political science, sociology, political philosophy, history of political ideas, history of institutions, history of international relations, and contemporary history proposed to establish the Department of Political and Social Sciences. The promoters came from different departments and faculties, but, except for contemporary history, belonged to the same CUN research area (Area 14: political and social sciences). The primary scientific objective of the new department is to provide a qualified contribution to the study of contemporary political and social phenomena, of their interdependence, and of their historical roots. Taking into account this scientific objective, it is clear why the presence of contemporary history has been considered necessary for the new department, even though its scientific sector belongs to a different CUN research area. A number of inter-­ university and inter-­departmental research centers, previously based in other departments, will join the new department.