Bachelor in Politics: Philosophy and Economics

Program Insight

The Bachelor in Politics, Philosophy and Economics prepares aspiring policymakers to contribute effectively to international organisations, regulatory agencies, public administration, prominent corporations, and lobbying and consulting firms. Throughout their academic journey, students will have the opportunity to live a multifaceted enquiry-based learning experience, in which lectures with top academics blend with testimonials from relevant professionals, mainly from the Luiss Alumni network, laboratories, project works and simulations that will culminate in a “Grand Challenge”. Highly interdisciplinary, the Programme will allow students to critically examine the decision-making mechanisms that shape contemporary affairs from international, political, economic, legal, and sociological lenses and will be further enriched by a Humanities course of their choosing. In the third year, students can specialise in one of the following tracks: Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, and Fundamental Rights Protection.

International Opportunities

Luiss is committed to broaden its international dimension by giving current and prospective students the chance to belong to a dynamic community.

• Student Mobility
• Structured exchange with Utrecht University
• Structured exchange with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• Structured exchange with UC Louvain
• Double Degree in Politics: Philosophy and Economics with Sciences Po Bordeaux

Study Plan

I year - 2024-2025

• Microeconomics (8 Credits)
• The course provides students with the tools necessary to understand the economic behaviors of consumers, producers, and markets. Special emphasis will be given to the functioning and malfunctioning of the market’s mechanisms.
• Contemporary History (8 Credits)
• The course is aimed to give students a deeper understanding of history from 1789 to 1989 and provide them with the tools to make a complex historical analysis of an event and its consequences.
• Statistics (8 Credits)
• The course introduces the main concepts of probability and statistics, providing the methodological foundations for data collection and analysis. The students will then be able to understand and interpret statistical models.
• Sociology (8 Credits)
• The course illustrates the sociological approach to the understanding of many relevant fields of social life; at the end of the course, students will be able to grasp and discuss the main sociological issues.
• Elements of Mathematical Analysis (0 Credits)
• The course provides the basic elements of mathematics useful for learning disciplines such as Statistics and Economics and other disciplines that make use of mathematical models, as well as the main lexical terms mediated by mathematics used in scientific language.
• Lab of Computer Skills (4 Credits)
• The course provides the basis for understanding the working principles of modern digital technologies and their implications on our daily life. Students will be introduced to computer programming for developing an alternative problem solving approach and for understanding the fundamentals.
• Public Law (8 Credits)
• The course is designed both to provide students with a basic knowledge and understanding of the main framework of the public law and its impact on political systems, and also as a premise for further legal courses.
• History Of Political Thought (Distributive Justice) (8 Credits)
• The aim of this course is to provide students with a broad view of the historical underpinnings and evolution of classical and modern political thought. It also provides methodological skills, such as the ability to read historical texts.
• Political Philosophy (8 Credits)
• The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the main paradigms of contemporary political philosophy, fostering their critical thinking skills and their ability to analyze political issues both domestically and globally.
• Behavioral Economics and Psychology (8 Credits)
• This course aims at providing students with knowledge of the main themes of behavioral economics and its applications, as well as an overview of the foundation of utility theory with psychology tools and theories.

II year - 2025-2026

• Lab of Data Analysis for Economics and Political Science (2 Credits)
• At the end of the Laboratory, students will have the ability to collect and process data, the ability to interpret findings and communicate useful results to audiences of both specialists and non-specialists while developing their critical thinking.
• Macroeconomics (8 Credits)
• The course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the economy as a system of firms, institutions, and consumers, with a focus on the main features of policy-making and the role played by the state in the economy.
• International Relations (8 Credits)
• The course provides students with the theoretical and methodological tools to analyze the international system, examining the key interpretative paradigms, the historical development of the discipline, the analytical approaches to international politics, and the key issues of current global politics.
• Political Science (8 Credits)
• The course aims at making students familiar with the key problems, concepts, and tools of political science, as well as with the empirical results produced by the discipline. Students will be able to understand the processes of contemporary politics and compare different political systems.
• International Law (8 Credits)
• The course will develop students’ understanding and knowledge of international law, and the strength of their ability to interact on the main subject matters of the discipline, which permeates the evolution of contemporary international relations.
• Methods of Social Research (8 Credits)
• In this course, students are introduced to the logic of social inquiry, and the practice of social research, learning how to deal with basic concepts and techniques used in social sciences research.
• European Union Law (8 Credits)
• The aim of the course is to provide general knowledge of the EU institutional architecture, EU legal order, and EU internal market and develop the student’s critical approach on EU law matters.
• Academic Writing Skills (0 Credits)
• The course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to write academic texts of various kinds in a clear, coherent and accurate way, as well as the linguistic components and writing strategies suitable for the most diverse contexts and uses.

III year - 2026-2027

• Political Economy of Development (6 Credits)
• This class introduces contemporary research on the political economy of development. Students will learn how to answer main questions regarding the proximate and the fundamental causes of growth and development and connect theories routinely to real-world examples.
• History of Political Institutions (6 Credits)
• The course aims at making the students familiar with the Western political systems and the features of the main Western institutional settings and models, their historical development, and theoretical premises, thus enabling a deeper understanding of contemporary politics.
• Political Sociology (6 Credits)
• This course explores the debates on the relationship between politics and society, between social and political institutions, and between social and political behavior. Students will gain a basic understanding of the theoretical tools, methodologies, and techniques for political sociology analysis.
• 3 Elective Courses (18 Credits)

Additional Credits

• GAP 1 (2 Credits)
• GAP 2 (2 Credits)
• Academic English (8 Credits)
• Second Mandatory Language (6 Credits)
• Other Activities (4 Credits)
• Final Thesis (4 Credits)

Total: 180 Credits

Major: Artificial Intelligence

III year - 2026-2027

• Economics of Digital Innovation (6 Credits)
• The course reviews and critically examines several models and practices of innovation that are linked to the pervasive use of digital technologies and the patterns of competition and collaboration that characterize the contemporary economy.
• Artificial Intelligence for Social Impact (6 Credits)
• This course explores in-depth the nature and features of artificial intelligence devices, providing students with theoretical and practical knowledge about their construction and functions. As a result of the acquisition of these insights, students become able to develop the ability to evaluate the social impacts of these instruments.
• Law and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (6 Credits)
• The course allows students to acquire knowledge to engage with the legal and ethical implications triggered by the use of AI technologies and tools for domestic and international systems.

Major: Sustainability

III year - 2026-2027

• Development Economics (6 Credits)
• This course introduces contemporary research on the political economy of development. Students will learn how to answer the main questions regarding the proximate and fundamental causes of growth and development and connect theories routinely to real-world examples.
• Global Demography (6 Credits)
• This course deals with both demographic methods and substantive analyses. It traces population processes to learn and understand how to interpret trends in mortality and health, fertility, migration, and population age structures.
• Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability (6 Credits)
• This course aims to present students concepts, data, philosophical principles and dilemmas crucial in sustainability studies and for issues concerning environmental ethics as well as economic and political geography.

Major: Fundamental Rights Protection

III year - 2026-2027

• Economics of Inequality (6 Credits)
• The course explores the linkages between economy and global inequalities. It aims to provide students with analytic tools for understanding the main theoretical and empirical issues related to this political and economic topic, such as the redistribution of resources and the presence of poverty in present societies.
• History of Political Institutions (6 Credits)
• The course aims at making the students familiar with the Western political systems and the features of the main Western institutional settings and models, their historical development, and theoretical premises, thus enabling a deeper understanding of contemporary politics.
• Multilevel Protection of Fundamental Rights (6 Credits)
• This course offers a comparative analysis of fundamental rights systems at a domestic and supranational level. It will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of judicial and democratic guarantees, which are applied in contemporary critical contests and scenarios.

Job opportunities

The Politics, Philosophy and Economics program aims at providing excellent basic skills to be able to access the most prestigious master's degree programs worldwide. Professional opportunities stand especially within international organizations, public authorities, regulatory agencies at the national, EU, and international level, public administration and public affairs offices, large companies and consulting firms, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, think-tanks and lobbies, embassies, and communications departments as the interface between public and private entities.