Political analyst and Italian writer, he has conducted research at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Since 1989 he is a professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Bologna, he is a columnist for “Corriere della Sera” and a member of the directive committee of the “Rivista italiana di scienza politica”, where he has been working since 1972. From 1991 to 1996 he was a member in the management committee for “Il Mulino”, a cultural and political journal. Scholar of the organization of political parties and the Italian political system, as well as international politics, he has published, among others, Party Models (1982), translated into six languages; L'Italia che non c'è (1995); Guerrieri democratici. Le democrazie e la politica di potenza (1997); Il potere, lo stato, la libertà. La gracile costituzione della società libera (2004); L'automa e lo spirito. Azioni individuali, istituzioni, imprese collettive (2009). He has also edited the volume L'analisi della politica (1989).