^aUniversity of Bologna and the Johns Hopkins Bologna Center, Via Belmeloro, 11, 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: gianfranco.pasquino@fastwebnet.it

Abstract

This article reviews Giovanni Sartori's contribution to contemporary political science. Sartori, who has just turned eighty, re-founded Italian political science and taught a generation of political scientists. He has made important contributions on democracy, party systems, and on political and constitutional engineering, and has written many significant methodological articles. Conceptual clarity, analytical rigour, methodological awareness, and interest in theory-building have allowed Sartori to become one of the most prominent political scientists of the 20th century.