A Global Perspective of the World

"As I always tell students, this is a political science program, but offered by Bocconi. This makes it different, because a quantitative and economic background is very important. In addition, classes provide a global perspective of the world." These are the words of Italo Colantone, Associate Professor at the Bocconi Department of Social and Political Sciences at Bocconi, and Director of the Bachelor of Science in International Politics and Government since 2019. "This program, which due to its structure and international focus has few equals in Europe, aims to train future national and international policymakers," continues Colantone, "placing particular emphasis on three essential moments of policymaking: designing public policies that are both economically efficient and politically sustainable; the implementation of effective public policies; and their evaluation using the most modern quantitative and qualitative techniques. Students therefore acquire a set of skills and abilities through the study of a broad spectrum of subjects: politics, economics, management, law and history."

In practice, students in the BIG program are taught how to manage some of the most important global challenges of recent years, such as immigration, climate change and conflicts. Or how international organizations and regulators work, how public policies are designed, how they are evaluated and, if necessary, how they can be modified. "The BIG class group has a high number of students with an international diploma, even more than the already high number in Bocconi Bachelor of Science programs," continues Italo Colantone, "and all students must complete a compulsory study abroad semester." After they complete the program, almost everyone enrolled in BIG continues with a Master of Science, while only a few go directly to the job market: "These are quite rare cases," confirms the Director, "when a graduate starts working at a company or organization. However, the majority choose an MSc program, which is often in political science, while others opt for economics, management and sometimes even accounting. The quantitative skills provided during BIG open up many opportunities."